Is it possible ot overcure the ink?

[Denis Kolar]

Andy.
The ink cracks when it is slightly stretched. I have some that I printed before with Wilflex white and those are not cracking when stretched.
I will take a pic tonight when I get a chance. I was also told to look on the inside of the shirt if I could see the ink from inside, in case I had pressed the ink too hard. That is not the case, the ink stayed on the top of the shirt and I can not see anything inside.

MrBreeze.
It is electric and it has two small fans in the middle that push the air to the inside of the dryer, but only to the middle of the dryer (it covers the whole width of the tunnel/belt but only on the half way of the heat chamber). Also, it has two exhaust fans.

[JBLUE]

If Wilflex was working for you why did you step away from it?

I think you have another problem than just your ink. You should have no problem laying down a great print with a 156. Our lowest mesh for the manual is a 156. We dont even have a 110 in the shop. I know this is stepping away from the thread a bit sorry.

[Denis Kolar]

If Wilflex was working for you why did you step away from it?

I think you have another problem than just your ink. You should have no problem laying down a great print with a 156. Our lowest mesh for the manual is a 156. We dont even have a 110 in the shop. I know this is stepping away from the thread a bit sorry.

I did have a quart sample of Wilflex and I printed some shirts with it. In the meantime I switched to the white that everyone was raging about.
I recenntly started printing and I heard a lot of people were using 110 mesh, now I have sold half of mine 110's and I will kep just a few and start from 156. I will do 156, 200 and 230 for spots.

Thanks

[MrBreeze]

Are you flashing and hitting these a second time?  If you are it is possible that you are over flashing the first print.

[Denis Kolar]

Are you flashing and hitting these a second time?  If you are it is possible that you are over flashing the first print.

I flash for 5-6 seconds and usually the first layer is tacky but no ink stays on my finger. I did the same thing on blacks as I did on reds, the only difference is the mesh count.

[JBLUE]

If Wilflex was working for you why did you step away from it?

I think you have another problem than just your ink. You should have no problem laying down a great print with a 156. Our lowest mesh for the manual is a 156. We dont even have a 110 in the shop. I know this is stepping away from the thread a bit sorry.

I did have a quart sample of Wilflex and I printed some shirts with it. In the meantime I switched to the white that everyone was raging about.
I recenntly started printing and I heard a lot of people were using 110 mesh, now I have sold half of mine 110's and I will kep just a few and start from 156. I will do 156, 200 and 230 for spots.

Thanks

Just an FYI. I have heard from someone else that they are having the same problem as you with that white. I have some of it too but I have not had that issue yet. I wont be getting any more of it. It seems like it needs to cure at a lot higher of a tepm.

[Denis Kolar]

Just an FYI. I have heard from someone else that they are having the same problem as you with that white. I have some of it too but I have not had that issue yet. I wont be getting any more of it. It seems like it needs to cure at a lot higher of a tepm.

I think that too. I was told from a salesperson that it is overcured

[JBLUE]

Bull poo.......lol

[Denis Kolar]

from what I am seeing, that looks undercured to me. 25-30 sec in the dryer is not the measurement, it is how long is it at temperature. Get your temp gun and see how long is the shirt in there and above 300 deg. If it is only a sec or two, you will need to slow down your belt. If they are getting out at 380 right now, they might be even hotter when slower, so I would drop the temp too so they are still getting out at 375 or so. I know that is hot and you will have problems with 50/50's but for most jobs, I would imagine it should do. For bleeders, you might have to slow down and drop the temp even more.
pierre

I realized what you were asking (I was tired that day).
I measure the temp about foot inside the dryer, it was around 360-370. It takes a good 5-6 seconds before they exit the dryer. I can not measure deeper in the dryer due to the tight opening on the exit. I think that the cure temp is OK, unless my temp gun is completely out of whack.
I will try again with different temp gun or a donut probe if I manage to go to Lakewood to see Sparkie.

[JBLUE]

Hers the thing about temp guns. I do not know what one you have but if its one from home depot its probably off. I have one that I paid around 140.00 bucks for that is dead on. My buddy runs an aerospace company that use ones that cost thousands of dollars and have to be calibrated regularly. He took my good one and one I bought at Home depot for 30 bucks bucks and tested them. The Ryobi one from HD was inconsistent and and read anywhere from 20-40 degrees less. My good one was within 5 degrees either way every time. It is also important to keep a good battery in it as that will affect its readings as well. Just an FYI in case yours is off.

[asecominc]

Sorry to bring up an old topic, but how long do you typically have the shirt in the dryer for the ink to cure?  I've been told it needs to be in for at least a minute???

[Ripcord]

I like to have them in there for a full minute. That might be longer than necessary but I'd rather err on the side of too long than too short. If you bring the temperature quickly up to cure temp and then quickly back down (short dryer time), it may still be undercured. It needs to remain at full cure temp for a little while to cure all the way through.

Also, as others said, the edges of a print will not reach the temperature that the center does. Many people make the mistake of taking the temperature reading only in the center and assuming it's the same on the edges.

I like to cure my ink on the hot side too, just to be sure. When you're running a lot of shirts through one after another, your dryer will cool off because the shirts carry the heat out of the tunnel. I've never experienced "overcuring", even when I've baked the living daylights out of a print. I think the shirt would scorch before this happened.

You should be able to stretch a fully cured print hard without any cracking, unless the cracking is caused by a thin ink layer rather than an undercure.

[RICK STEFANICK]

and what white would that be that everyone was raving about.. i think i missed that white of the week.. 

[printing194]

Which $150 IR gun are you using, post link if possible. Thanks

[Frog]

Which $150 IR gun are you using, post link if possible. Thanks

Pretty old thread to hope to get JBLUE to see and respond (depending on how he has his notifications set up)
I don't know what gun he has, but here's an example of a step up
https://www.amazon.com/Fluke-Infrared-Thermometer-Degree-Range/dp/B01N9W6P54

Or for a little less https://www.amazon.com/Fluke-62-Infrared-Thermometer-Series/dp/B00U4EP04I