Quarts or Infra Red Flash?

[Logoman]

I have always used Infra Red Flash but lately have had a lot of problems with the Panel going out. I take it a part and find the broken coiled wire and fix it but not long after that it happens again. I am thinking of changing to Quarts, any suggestions?

[IntegrityShirts]

Manual or automatic production?  Or a better question, how much "off time" will it have between prints?

If auto, go quartz. Period.

If time between flashes is too long, quartz flashes will cool off and take a bit longer to come back up to temp to flash so you have to learn how long to flash based on how cool the tubes are.

In the end though, the answer is still probably quartz haha.  Once up to temp they are way faster than IR.

[Baron265]

A quartz flash is going to cost you a substatial amount more than an IR flash. It will also require more amperage. An IR flash can draw 10-20 amps and the same size quartz could be 30-50.

The quartz has the advantage of not being on all the time, so it's not heating your shop or burning shirts and pallets. Your flash time should also decrease. If your shop has residential electric service, you will probably save money on your electric bill. The quartz flash will require more amps to use, but it won't be on all the time. If your electric service is billed on peak demand, you'll probably pay more.

Another suggestion is to seek out a higher quality IR panel. There are differences between manufactures.

[inkbrigade]

We only use quartz now a days. Would never use ir again.

[mk162]

Maybe I will buck the trend here.  It's a matter of how your shop runs.

I prefer IR if I am printing alone.  I can't load and unload fast enough and stopping to reink screens just kills everything.

For long runs, quartz is great.

They both have their place, in another few months I will probably say quartz is way better, I am just still learning to use it better.

[MrBreeze]

quartzexpress.com...once you go quartz you will never go back.  Call Neil at quartz express.  Great unit, not over priced.  We have been using quartz on our manuals and autos for years. 

[ZooCity]

I like both so long as there is a temp or intensity control present. Quartz is deluxe though and versatile from manual to auto.

Baron is right on the money regarding commercial v residential service. If you have a commercial utility account a quartz pushes you onto demand billing, don't do it.  The cost for us is three times over normal per kwh for all our usage. It's not cool.

[cbjamel]

The other big question is do you have the power to run quartz, most quartz are 3 phase and lower amps in turn, but with single phase high amps and single phase.

Shane

[ZooCity]

I didn't think of that, that's a lot of panel space on 1ph.  Not to mention the cost of wire, plugs and breaker.