Let me start by saying I have 4 years of auto press exp. and 3 years of manual printing exp. but I learn new things everything and when things go great, its awesome. I am not saying I am a vet. at the print-game but I just wanted to state this is not my first rodeo. :o
Hopkins Starting line press 4/4 with custom aluminum pallets.
I can't keep this thing in reg. It comes out of reg. when we are doing print flash prints.
I have tried to level the shaft, arms, pallets, heads, checked all the hard to make sure it is tight, lined all pallets up did center on all heads with the same flat screen and then double-checked with a wooden pallet.
I set the off contact on all heads at 1/8".
The nylon bolts in the reg. gate are all snug and shows minimal wear, should I cut them flat? Maybe belt sand them flat? I am at a loss on why it keeps moving out.
The last test I did was last night, it goes as follows...
note*** (flash was not running so we used taped to print again replicating a flash was done, hope this makes sense) & this is all being printed from head 1. The art is a 5x5 with small letters and fine lines (I chose this artwork for the details to see how much it is moving) We are using a 110 white mesh with a flat screen, white ink, 65 duro.
- Load test shirt 1 on pallet 1, print, mask with clear tape
- Load test shirt 2 on pallet 2, print, mask with clear tape
- Load test shirt 3 on pallet 3, print, mask with clear tape
- Load test shirt 4 on pallet 4, print, mask with clear tape
- 2nd print test shirt 1 on pallet 1, moved out of reg. but not much
- 2nd print test shirt 2 on pallet 2, moved out of reg. but not much
- 2nd print test shirt 3 on pallet 3, moved out of reg. but not much
- 2nd print test shirt 4 on pallet 4, moved out of reg. but not much
:confused::confused::mad::mad:
At this point I feel as if I wasted 8 hours calibrating a press for no reason.
So, I thought I would try the test again and I repeated the steps listed above.
On this 2nd test, everything lined up correctly, except on test shirt 3 on pallet 3, but it wasn't out of reg. nearly as much as the 1st test I did. So how can this be? My pressure, angle and everything is relatively the same (not perfect of course but consistent)
I have the test shirts saved and marked, I will get a photo of them and post it back here later. I have contacted Hopkins and they haven't returned my call yet, I have been waiting for a few days, hopefully I'll get a call this week.
ANY help is greatly appreciated.
Re: hopkins starting line press issues
wearfareco -
I feel your frustration. I had a Riley 6 color / 2station and had the same problems at times. The off contact was hard to adjust and the micros were so-so.
Here's what I know that I had to fix in my technique while using this press and it made a big difference when I had to do a print-flash-print:
If you live in a humid area, run your shirts/garments through the dryer first to get rid of some of the moisture in the garment...or just do it in any environment. I live south of Houston, so it's moist! Seriously....do it! Even if you only have a flash unit, get something you can lay the item on, flash it till it reaches 250 or so, and then stack the 'dehumidified' items on top of each other.
After than, start printing and your registration may be much better. The flash time you are doing on a 'moist' shirt may cause the movement after you flash it because of a slight drying. But if you've already driven out moisture, the flash won't affect it, and reg should be better. Make sense?
The RH was a a small footprint press, I liked that, but when I had a chance to sell mine and get a Workhorse Mach 6/6 for a couple hundred more, I jumped at the chance.
With some tweaking, you can make the press work.
Re: hopkins starting line press issues
Perhaps the balanced pressure needs to be considered.