My Vastex EconoRed dryer not working properly. I have 2 questions. Pics attached

[Mark @ Hurricane Printing]

This morning I turned on my Vastex EconoRed InfraRed dryer and all of the sudden it is not getting up to curing temps. My Vastex is an older model but gets the job done and I do not have a user manual and I have contacted Vastex in the past pertaining to ther issues with it but its such an older model they could only point me towards the new models manuals....it is an 8ft dryer with two heating elements.

I will attach some pics and maybe a 48 second vid if it loads.

I believe my coil is bad because on the front control of the dryer I have 4 status lights: Power, Coil, Output and Ground. When I turn it on the "Power" light illuminates as it should and it stays on...but the "Coil" and "Output" come and go...and also the "Coil" light seems to flicker very lightly at times when it is not illuminated.

My questions:

1 - Shouldn't the "Coil" light STAY illuminated like the "Power" light? In my mind I feel is should stay on to show me the coil is functioning properly and feeding the elememts. I feel the "output" light is the one that should come and go because once the heating elements hit the desired temp the output light should go off....meaning the output light should only stay on when the heating element kicks in to get to temp..and once it hits the temp the output light goes off. Am I right in this thinking? Output to me is meaning the output of the elements. I do not know...this is all just guesses. Maybe the output is supposed to stay on at all times also meaning there is not kicking on and off and it stays on telling me it is putting out heat?? Again..Im just guessing. Is there way to test the coil if I remove it?

2 - Being my dryer is out of commission until further notice, curing shirts with my flash is acceptable right? I printed two shirts (one color) and sent them under the flash..I stood there with my temp gun and they hit 340 range and I left it under the flash for about 30 seconds...shooting temp gun in all areas of the image in that 30 second time frame. This is a cured shirt now, correct? I will do a wash test....I just have 18 more shirt to go and I think this is how I have to finish them up.

Thanks for your time to read about my dryer issues. (if the vid loads, the vid is sideways..i held my phonr wrong..sorry about that.)

[Frog]

I can't address your specific Vastex questions, but as for flashing for a full cure, I can say that many of us have probably needed to use a flash as an emergency full cure device at some point.
I think that the biggest concern is full, even coverage with consistent results.
I've never trusted the outermost 1" or so when the panel is only marginally larger than the design, so I have been knopwn to move the shirt around a bit.
I also remember seeing an obvious out-gassing, vapor, steam, whatever just before cure temps were reached.

As you stated, a wash test is the only true test, and then you have to hope for real consistency in each shirt's position, and dwell time under the panel.
It is also wise to use a dedicated platform rather than your shirt boards to reduce premature failure from warping, especially with wood or MDF.

[Binkspot]

I would assume both the coil and output lights should come on and off. Coil to indicate it is getting a signal from the controler. The output indicating power to the heating elements. If the coil light is flickering it may indicate a problem with the temp controler. You can trace the wires to make sure how its wired and more then likely if you pull the cover there will be a wiring diagram. With a good multi tester and a little time you should be able to narrow it down to what the issue is. I would also try to contact Vastex again, they have always been extremely helpful trouble shooting problems.

[Mark @ Hurricane Printing]

I would assume both the coil and output lights should come on and off. Coil to indicate it is getting a signal from the controler. The output indicating power to the heating elements. If the coil light is flickering it may indicate a problem with the temp controler. You can trace the wires to make sure how its wired and more then likely if you pull the cover there will be a wiring diagram. With a good multi tester and a little time you should be able to narrow it down to what the issue is. I would also try to contact Vastex again, they have always been extremely helpful trouble shooting problems.

Ahhhh!!...I wasn't even thinking temp controller. Well I had to come to work today...when I get home later on I will pull the cover off again and have a look at that controller...thank you....hopefully It's a loose wire in the controller area.

[Frog]

I would assume both the coil and output lights should come on and off. Coil to indicate it is getting a signal from the controler. The output indicating power to the heating elements. If the coil light is flickering it may indicate a problem with the temp controler. You can trace the wires to make sure how its wired and more then likely if you pull the cover there will be a wiring diagram. With a good multi tester and a little time you should be able to narrow it down to what the issue is. I would also try to contact Vastex again, they have always been extremely helpful trouble shooting problems.

Ahhhh!!...I wasn't even thinking temp controller. Well I had to come to work today...when I get home later on I will pull the cover off again and have a look at that controller...thank you....hopefully It's a loose wire in the controller area.

Loose usually means fried which in turn usually means high resistance due to corrosion.

[ScreenFoo]

I've seen a few temp controllers that use a relay to step up current/voltage for the mercury contactor, doubt it would be the case if they use a solid state relay, but it might be worth looking for.  Pretty much any mechanical relay/contactor is a wear item...

[Mark @ Hurricane Printing]

I've seen a few temp controllers that use a relay to step up current/voltage for the mercury contactor, doubt it would be the case if they use a solid state relay, but it might be worth looking for.  Pretty much any mechanical relay/contactor is a wear item...

it is a mercury contactor.

[Mark @ Hurricane Printing]

I fixed it! It wound up being the temp knob. I removed all the connections to it and emery papered all contact points...reconnected all wires and it started right up...working like a charm now.

In the process I figured out a few things I could never wrap my head around. My temp knob has a timer within the knob (I will attach a pc of it if the site will let me..its been rejecting my pics lately and the pics do meet the requirements..so I have no clue whats up with that.) Anyway, that timer is not the kind where you can set it ....its just a timer that does a full rotation every 30 seconds. I always assumed it had something to do with the belt speed but could never figured out the correlation between the two. Well come to find out that 30 second timer is actually a timer for the relay switch to kick on and off. It kicks the relay on every for seconds..then shuts it off for 10 seconds...and so on and so on. It all hit me..this is how the temp is regulated to keep a certain temp of the elements. Once everything was working properly my "coil" light and "output" light shine brightly for 20 seconds then kick off...and you can hear the timer kick the relay on and off...it was a huge "AHHHH" moment for me.

Thru the years of having this dryer (I bought used) I just never paid attention to the light sequencing or that "random" clicking noise I heard....I just looked to see that the power light was on and never thought about anything else. So this whole issue was a blessing in disguise. I understand more about my dryer and now know what to look for incase something isn't working right.

Going to try to attach a pic..if it loads you can see the arrow within the knob...that is what does a full rotation in 30 seconds. When the arrow point hits the temp the knob is set on it kicks in the coil for 20 seconds....then off for 10 seconds.

It all makes sense now hahaha

[screenxpress]

I have an idea why the site may be rejecting your pics lately.

You might want to change your settings on the camera (phone?).  That picture loaded in at 34 inches Wide and 45.333 Height.  Just a bit big.