7014 vs SF2, when to toss the odd ink.

[CSPGarrett]

So we have come to enjoy printing 7014 Legacy on both auto and manual.  But we do have about 8-10 gallons of Street Fighter White LB at the shop.  I think the ink is okay, but doesn't wow me when running it compared to Legacy (especially the flash times).  At what point would you just chalk up the loss on the SFWLB or would you keep the gallons in the background incase a particular job came up?

Sometimes I get myself in a situation where I say I will use the SF to use it up...but it ends up of course hurting production. Common rule of thumb is the cost savings of using up the $38.99 gallon (x10 gallons) of ink doesn't even come close to the cost of lost production.

Anyone else have issues with SFWLB?

[Printficient]

If you really like the Legacy then you could mix in the SF in small quantities to use it up.  I have had lots of my customers do the same in reverse with Xenon white.  They will mix in their stubborn whites with Xenon and voila a nice printing white.  RMonks did this recently to get a poly white to print.

[CSPGarrett]

That is a good idea, I have done that in the past with odd sample gallons such as Glacier White but never through about it for using up all 8 gallons.  We may do that since I have about 8 runs to do today and tomorrow of decent size (100-500 units per run) and can go through a good amount of white with the step back feature.

They are both low bleed so not bending too many rules there.  I just notice the print difference between the two is drastic (mostly in the opacity area and flash times).  SFLB is very similar to IC's Knockout White.

[jvanick]

We've done the same to use up white inks we didn't like.

We pretty much only print Wilflex these days...  we tried to switch to Rutland inks as they're available to us locally -- both Snap White and Tidy White and had all kinds of awful results with it, mixed it into quick white at about 15-20%, and got rid of it.

I guess you do pay for quality.

[CSPGarrett]

We had "heard" that rutland made a good white, as you know all shops work differently and have different quality control.

I know Tech Support sells Wilfex, we had been eyeing up their Wilflex catalog.  But for the most part, I already know that we should stick to Legacy for now since we know it runs smooth and I can burn the midnight oil testing new inks later.

I just got to the shop and am about to mix it up.

[alan802]

We've done the same to use up white inks we didn't like.

We pretty much only print Wilflex these days...  we tried to switch to Rutland inks as they're available to us locally -- both Snap White and Tidy White and had all kinds of awful results with it, mixed it into quick white at about 15-20%, and got rid of it.

I guess you do pay for quality.

We had a few issues with the Snap but over 2 years with using the Tidy I can say it's in the category of premium white inks.  I tested it directly with Epic Sprint and Quick white about a year ago and due to performance and price the Tidy white is what we use today, but it's slightly modified to make it more auto friendly.  At times we've used it on it's own without cutting it with a longer bodied white ink but it climbs the squeegee too bad to use it on longer auto runs.  Just by noting how many white inks are out there it's no surprise that the same ink gets two different reviews from different shops.  Because there are some really good white inks out there for not a lot of money if you're paying over $300 for a 5'er of white ink it better be fantastic.  If we didn't get the Tidy for such a good price I'd go back to the Miami white but I still say that Tidy is in the upper tier of white ink.

I liked the Sprint and Quick but over time they separated and were susceptible to overworking without working them too hard.  Right out of the bucket they were great, sheared at fast speeds and low print pressure, but taking it in and out of the bucket half a dozen times it began to harden and got grainy.  If we could keep them from losing their initial consistency I would love them.