DCUB/Plastisol top ink cracking issues

[ericheartsu]

I'm wondering if anyone can shed some light on some issues we are seeing.

We use CCI D-Base, mixed 80% base, 20% white for our DCUB. lately i've been noticing on prints with a plastisol highlight, we are seeing some cracking after a couple of washes. typically the base is run through a 166, and all highlights are 200s or higher depending on the art.

We have an older 8ft sprint gas dryer that we ran these goods through, dryer was set at 340degrees, and our belt speed was at 4. These were in the Chamber for roughly 2.5 mins.

Should i be upping my temp on my dryer?

[blue moon]

I'm wondering if anyone can shed some light on some issues we are seeing.

We use CCI D-Base, mixed 80% base, 20% white for our DCUB. lately i've been noticing on prints with a plastisol highlight, we are seeing some cracking after a couple of washes. typically the base is run through a 166, and all highlights are 200s or higher depending on the art.

We have an older 8ft sprint gas dryer that we ran these goods through, dryer was set at 340degrees, and our belt speed was at 4. These were in the Chamber for roughly 2.5 mins.

Should i be upping my temp on my dryer?

the ink deposit on top of the DC ubase is very thin and will crack unless you make it bulletproof. As long as it is not flaking off it should be OK. This will be more noticeable with spot colors than process prints.

pierre

[ericheartsu]

one of our clients was asking for that to not happen again, so what can i do to avoid this?

[BP]

What was your ink film temp?? How do you check you ink temp?

[noortrd]

cci discharge white have issue . Its cracks on low temp.

[Colin]

Either increase the ink film deposit thickness or add a little stretch to your white.

This assumes a full cure through out your plastisol layer.

[sqslabs]

Not sure what level of cracking you're talking about, but I just checked two of our work shirts that have been washed a bunch, and there is some cracking if I pull on the print, but nothing noticeable when looking at it.  These were printed with 225S top colors.

I can't speak for the DCUB mix that you're using, but we've been really happy with CCI's RFU U-Base.  Plus, its cheap and you don't have to mix it.

As for mesh we run our DCUB through a 150S, double stroke and tops on 180S-225S, usually the latter.  If the issue is not with the UB itself, and I had to make a guess, going a step lower on mesh (or using higher squeegee pressure) for the top colors could possibly give you a print less prone to cracking due to better coverage.  I personally view DCUB prints like printing on a white tee, and when we're looking for a rock solid print, I drop my mesh count significantly.  Of course this could also negate a bit of the hand.

Dryer-wise, we run 360-370 for about 90 seconds (Adelco Jet-Force), and also give the underbase a really good flash (5 seconds) before printing on top.  The longer flash seems to have improved the durability of the prints, as well as color translation from bucket to shirt.

[ericheartsu]

What was your ink film temp?? How do you check you ink temp?

weve checked the dryer with a probe every 4 or 5 months, just to make sure it's still hitting correct temps!

[Homer]

U-Base for us too, smells like cherries!

I would lower the mesh count to 180S if needed.

[Printficient]

What was your ink film temp?? How do you check you ink temp?

weve checked the dryer with a probe every 4 or 5 months, just to make sure it's still hitting correct temps!

After talking to my guru who designed said probe be sure it is calibrated.  To do this involves the tightness of the wires that touch the shirts.  You should combine a temp gun with the probe to establish cure.