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screen printing => Ink and Chemicals => Topic started by: ebscreen on September 26, 2013, 07:21:48 PM
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Does anybody use the Wilflex software and one of the scales they can connect to?
Particularly for the Epic PC Express system? (think it's be overkill on anything else)
From what I can tell it looks like the bee's knees, but first hand experiences are
always welcome.
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Yep.
Nobody can't mix ink. Unless they do not stir well.
We use the PC system.
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Dont know about the mixing system but keep the scale out of a breezy area or it will go crazy
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Got the whole shebang yet have not hooked it all up. Really like the Sartorius scale though.
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The Sartorius scale seemed to be kind of expensive and as far as I know, but I might be wrong, it should work with any scale that can be hooked up to your pc. Will set our system up next week then I will know more.
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Not sure if they still do this but some of the majors will hook you up with the scale and software if you commit to their products
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we use the Epic PC system, the Wilflex software is loaded on an old Windows 98 machine, the Sartorius scale connects via serial port.
no issues with software - works great
the one thing i love about the scale talking to the software is if you put too much of one pigment in, there is a button that says "auto correct for errors". press the button and the software will recalculate how much more you will have to add of the base and other pigments. i frequently accidentally add too much PC Extra White - its so heavy that i cant put any back in the pigment bucket - its already sunk to the bottom of the bucket.
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I was waiting for that D!
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I was waiting for that D!
i love the autocorrect for errors button.
although i do somewhat miss using the rutland M2 system and autocorrecting for errors with a pad of paper and a pen.
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we use the Epic PC system, the Wilflex software is loaded on an old Windows 98 machine, the Sartorius scale connects via serial port.
no issues with software - works great
the one thing i love about the scale talking to the software is if you put too much of one pigment in, there is a button that says "auto correct for errors". press the button and the software will recalculate how much more you will have to add of the base and other pigments. i frequently accidentally add too much PC Extra White - its so heavy that i cant put any back in the pigment bucket - its already sunk to the bottom of the bucket.
This is a great point. The Extra White PC weighs 19 lbs per gallon! Heavy stuff! I always find that it is best to weigh the base, and then ALWAYS weigh the Extra White PC first ... that way if I over add, i can pull some back out.
The scale link is awesome. The new Sartorious scale from PolyOne - Sartorius PMA 7501 - has been updated to include a custom formatted USB connector to communicate to the Ink Management Software. All communications to the IMS will be via USB instead of a 9 pin cable.
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we use the Epic PC system, the Wilflex software is loaded on an old Windows 98 machine, the Sartorius scale connects via serial port.
no issues with software - works great
the one thing i love about the scale talking to the software is if you put too much of one pigment in, there is a button that says "auto correct for errors". press the button and the software will recalculate how much more you will have to add of the base and other pigments. i frequently accidentally add too much PC Extra White - its so heavy that i cant put any back in the pigment bucket - its already sunk to the bottom of the bucket.
This is a great point. The Extra White PC weighs 19 lbs per gallon! Heavy stuff! I always find that it is best to weigh the base, and then ALWAYS weigh the Extra White PC first ... that way if I over add, i can pull some back out.
The scale link is awesome. The new Sartorious scale from PolyOne - Sartorius PMA 7501 - has been updated to include a custom formatted USB connector to communicate to the Ink Management Software. All communications to the IMS will be via USB instead of a 9 pin cable.
Rob - will Wilflex/Nazdar sell just the USB cable? when the win98 machine dies its going to be interesting to find a computer with a serial cable (unless i buy an adapter card)
we have the PMA 7500 scale, would it work with this scale too?
thanks
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Wilflex has this part number for connecting your 7500 scale to a newer (USB) computer - Sartorius YC012-USB-SBI Transfer Cable. Cost is ~$100.
They have ONE of these in inventory. Not trying to say you should order now, I assume they can get more. BUT ... might be prudent!
Hope this helps!
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Sounds interesting. Ill just use my USPS scale though.
:D
LMAO
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Ahhh, just eyeball spoonfuls Brandt. It'll be close.
Thanks for the info dudes. The correct for errors sounds awesome, we've all been there.
The version of Wilflex IMS that we have looks like it only supports serial connection so that's
what I had planned on, but a USB version sounds uhh, more modern.
I'm having a buddy build me a stainless table with inset holders per PC container as demonstrated
by a few folks on here. Original idea was to slide the scale down the table as you go along the mix,
but now that I think about it, moving the scale is probably a bad idea.
I do believe that any scale with a computer connection will do the same thing, basically just
tells the computer what it's seeing. Sartorius is the most common over here though, we share
them with the auto paint guys. (eyeball that!)
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Ahhh, just eyeball spoonfuls Brandt. It'll be close.
Thanks for the info dudes. The correct for errors sounds awesome, we've all been there.
The version of Wilflex IMS that we have looks like it only supports serial connection so that's
what I had planned on, but a USB version sounds uhh, more modern.
I'm having a buddy build me a stainless table with inset holders per PC container as demonstrated
by a few folks on here. Original idea was to slide the scale down the table as you go along the mix,
but now that I think about it, moving the scale is probably a bad idea.
I do believe that any scale with a computer connection will do the same thing, basically just
tells the computer what it's seeing. Sartorius is the most common over here though, we share
them with the auto paint guys. (eyeball that!)
our ink table was given to us by a competitor of wilflex - the scale was battery powered and sat on a tiny wheeled platform - add an ink and push it down the line. it was all fine and dandy until someone wasnt paying attention and pushed it off the table.
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Clip ...
The version of Wilflex IMS that we have looks like it only supports serial connection so that's
what I had planned on, but a USB version sounds uhh, more modern.
.... Clip
You should update your software. Wilflex releases new versions fairly often. Current version is 7.4.14 released in April 2013. Jsut back up your database first! following is a link - you need to register to get the password.
http://www.polyone.com/en-us/about/businessgroups/Inks/Pages/WilflexIMS.aspx (http://www.polyone.com/en-us/about/businessgroups/Inks/Pages/WilflexIMS.aspx)
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When I downloaded the version of the software we have now I went through hell getting it to install. It would
only work on one computer, and that was a coincidence of sorts. I'll give the new version a whirl, if I can remember
my login info.
I could see a rolling scale ending in disaster here as well. Maybe all the inks on a giant lazy susan table...
I think I just found a use for the manual press.
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The Sartorious 7500 has a really high list price new but used are very affordable. As eb said, it's commonly used in the auto paint biz and they're everywhere. Got ours for $300 I think. They will literally adjust for heavy breathing.
We have the RJ/serial adaptor but I'm not sure it's even the right one. Auto correct sounds awesome. So far a fave has been the recycle option, incredibly handy and keeps the PMS ink storage area from taking over the whole shop.
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The Sartorious 7500 has a really high list price new but used are very affordable. As eb said, it's commonly used in the auto paint biz and they're everywhere. Got ours for $300 I think. They will literally adjust for heavy breathing.
We have the RJ/serial adaptor but I'm not sure it's even the right one. Auto correct sounds awesome. So far a fave has been the recycle option, incredibly handy and keeps the PMS ink storage area from taking over the whole shop.
we have tried the recycle option before, but with the amount of designs that we have to reprint - every reprint has to match the first run. we were afraid of the colors getting too muddy or not having the ink on the shelf for the reprint.
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we have tried the recycle option before, but with the amount of designs that we have to reprint - every reprint has to match the first run. we were afraid of the colors getting too muddy or not having the ink on the shelf for the reprint.
You don't have to worry about muddy colors. The recycle is purely mathematical -- that is if you have a ink that uses white, black, magenta --- the ONLY options to recycle that recipe into must contain those items.
That is why if you want to mix 100 C (only contains white and yellow) and search for inks you can use to recycle into your mix -- you get less than 10. Yet 100 C could recycle INTO hundreds of mixes -- anything that contains white and yellow.
Does that make sense?
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That's kinda what we are using recycle for. As we've built up our standard spots the goal has been to pick really clean colors that have a simple pantone formula. I'm just not super into having hundreds of pantones in storage, prefer to keep going through the ink and mixing fresh, even though plastisol "never dries", time will affect it.
The recycles I've ran have all been perfect. The only mud you'll get is if you have some cross color contam from a wow run already in there. This can be a huge feature for controlling those on press color tweaks when dialing in a sim pro job that's up on press and one color needs bumped over one way or the other. It can be so tempting just to splash some warm red in and go because there's always that feeling of rushing when a job's up but we all know you need to record it to have any hope of hitting it next time. So if going from 102c over to 108c for example, you can pull the color, use the 102c as recycle material to mix the 108c. Next time, the 108c might be mixed up from scratch but will be the same ink and you'll have that repeatability without an extra bucket of ink kicking around. I know these two are commonly used but I mean if you have some oddball ones that will sit on the shelf for years and years.
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How we roll
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Tony DOES have a nice ink room.
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Rob, would the sartorius 7500 work with the Nazdar Colorstar system? Or will nazdar only sell that as a package?
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Rob, would the sartorius 7500 work with the Nazdar Colorstar system? Or will nazdar only sell that as a package?
Stu: The Nazdar Color Star ink formulation software is available as a standalone program, that can be downloaded to any PC. What I’m unsure of is the connectivity between the Sartorius scale and the program versus the Mettler Toledo Scale that Nazdar normally uses. I will check things out when I get back to the office, but in the meantime you could send an email to Nazdar’s Tech Services team at inkanswers@nazdar.com
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Thanks for the reply! I've been looking for that email address. I saw it the other day in an email that I saw in my junkmail folder for some reason and forgot about it. I have some pretty specific questions about the ink itself.
If I can buy the colorstar software and use it with the same scale as the wilflex, that would be pretty sweet. I currently use the online version and it works ok, but it's missing a bunch of formulas and I don't have internet in the shop, so I have to make sure I copy down the formula before I head out to the shop.
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That's what I'm aiming for Tony.
Do you move the scale along at all or does it stay stationary?
And M3 or C3? I looked hard at both, but Wilflex is the leader out West here,
in terms of availability. (Midwest stocks quarts of PC's)
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You might check out Source one's pricing, sure you have to buy in gallons, but the cost is likely much less than what you would pay at midwest. I do buy from midwest, but in this case it would be on a, "gotta have it now" basis where the price of overnight shipping would be more than the cost at midwest.
You might have a better discount than I do with midwest. I need to talk to them about this as I think they have me on a 'graphic printer's' discount schedule which get's me decent pricing on flatstock supplies, but the price of shirt ink is kind of out there on some stuff.
Also, I think that Rob mentioned that they can get quarts, but it isn't in regular stock or something. I plan to try to buy ahead on this stuff so I don't have to be in a hurry like I was recently.
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That's what I'm aiming for Tony.
Do you move the scale along at all or does it stay stationary?
And M3 or C3? I looked hard at both, but Wilflex is the leader out West here,
in terms of availability. (Midwest stocks quarts of PC's)
M3 for us. Used to have the scale on wheels but the little roller table broke. This is just as easy.
And it is 12 ys old. Cleaned every day.