DTG maintenance common misunderstandings and avoidance methods
Digital T-shirt printing machine as a high-precision equipment, the quality of its maintenance directly affects the printing effect and service life. However, in practice, many users are not familiar with the characteristics of the equipment, easy to fall into the maintenance of the misunderstanding, but to accelerate the loss of parts. The following common misunderstandings deserve attention.
Misunderstandings: excessive cleaning nozzle, frequent use of strong corrosive cleaning fluid
Printhead is the core component of the printing machine, many people believe that “the more diligent the cleaner”, and even daily rinse with a high concentration of cleaning fluid. In fact, the nozzle hole diameter is very small, strong corrosive liquid (such as undiluted alcohol, industrial cleaners) will corrode the edge of the nozzle hole, resulting in uneven ink; and frequent disassembly and cleaning will destroy the nozzle sealing structure, triggering ink leakage.
Correct practice: according to the frequency of use of cleaning, every day before the start of the equipment comes with a weak alkaline cleaning fluid for a brief rinse, once a week for deep cleaning can be. Avoid using hard brushes or cotton swabs to wipe the spray holes when cleaning, you can use the “pressure rinse + natural drying” way to reduce physical damage.
Myth 2: Ignore the fabric dust, resulting in wear and tear of the drive system
T-shirt printing, the fabric on the cotton wool, chemical fiber fibers are easy to fall off, if not cleaned up for a long time, the dust will accumulate on the conveyor belt, gears and other transmission components. Many users are only concerned about the maintenance of the printhead, but ignored these “invisible source of wear” – dust into the gear meshing, like sandpaper to intensify friction, resulting in a decline in transmission precision, printing pattern misalignment.
Correct practice: after each batch of printing, use a soft brush to clean the surface of the conveyor belt, weekly dismantling of the transmission bin side cover, with compressed air to blow the dust on the gears and guide rails, if necessary, coated with a special lubricating grease (pay attention to avoiding the motor and circuit interfaces). At the same time, add a dust net in the feed port to reduce the fabric dust into the interior of the equipment.
Myth 3: the use of cheap alternative consumables, that “can print can be”
Some users to save costs, choose non-specialized ink or poor quality fabric pretreatment agent. These supplies are often coarse particles, easy to block the printhead; and poor quality pretreatment agent in the chemical composition may corrode the metal parts of the printhead, but also lead to printing pattern color loss, halo. In addition, the use of recycled cartridges, if the seal is not good, will trigger ink leakage, damage to the motherboard circuitry.
Correct practice: Give priority to the equipment manufacturers to select the special ink and pre-treatment agent, the composition of which is more compatible with the equipment. When replacing ink cartridges, check whether the sealing ring is intact and avoid using old cartridges that are deformed or leaking ink. Even if you choose to replace the consumables, you need to conduct a small batch test to confirm that there is no risk of clogging and corrosion before use.
Myth 4: Long-term non-calibration of the equipment, relying on “empirical parameters”.
Printing machine nozzle position, the amount of ink and other parameters will be used with the time of slight changes, but many users are accustomed to using the initial parameters or “adjusted by feel”. For example, the distance between the printhead and the fabric is not calibrated in a timely manner after the offset, which will lead to blurred edges of the pattern; ink output parameters are not updated according to the thickness of the fabric, the color may be too dark or too light.
Correct practice: Perform equipment calibration once a month, check pattern alignment and color uniformity by printing test strips, and adjust printhead position and ink output according to the test results. Replacement of different thicknesses of T-shirt fabrics, you also need to recalibrate the height of the printhead to avoid improper distance affecting the printing effect.
Myth 5: Idle completely off the power, ignoring basic maintenance
When the equipment is idle for a long time (such as vacation shutdown), some users will be directly stored without power, neither cleaning nor protection. In this case, the ink residue in the printhead will gradually dry up, blocking the spray hole; body surface dust and fabric fibers may seep into the crevices, corrosion of metal parts.
Correct practice: Before idling, the printhead should be completely cleaned, and the holes should be soaked with a special moisturizing solution to prevent the ink from drying out; the surface of the machine should be covered with a dustproof cloth to avoid the accumulation of dust. Even if it is not in use, it is recommended to turn on the machine once a week and let the equipment run for 5 minutes with no load to protect the transmission parts through the internal lubrication system.
The core of the maintenance of digital T-shirt printing machine is “moderate maintenance, accurate matching, regular calibration”. Avoid the above misunderstandings, according to the equipment manual and the actual use of the scene to develop a maintenance plan, in order to effectively extend the life of the equipment, to ensure stable printing results. If in the maintenance process encountered specific parts of the maintenance problem, you can further explanation, in order to provide more targeted advice.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
