Direct to garment plotter (DTG printer) maintence tips

DIRECT TO GARMENT PLOTTER (DTG PRINTER)  MAINTENANCE TIPS

In this Digital world, direct-to-garment printers have carved their place in the printing industry. They offer high versatility to print on garments whether single piece or a small lot.

In just span of time, direct-to-garment printers are moving forward from an un-proven category of machines, to being identified as very high-yielding printers. However the DTG printers come with their own baggage. They indeed need regular printer maintenance to ensure good print-head life.

It is of great importance that one should be aware of the maintenance procedures of the printers to get best out of them. It directly relates to return on your investment into the printer.

The best way is to create a dedicated maintenance schedule and strictly adhere to the time. This will not only help you prolong the print-head life, but will help you fulfill your orders timely. Here are few DTG plotter maintenance tips from us for you.

1. Controlling the Environment

Where does the printer live think about the environment humidity, heat & dust, etc? It is good to have it in a controlled office type environment. Keeping it away from anything that would cause dramatic temperature changes throughout the day is important.

As it is because we want to avoid any in coagulation print-head drawing those kinds of things. Ideally room temperature should be between 20 to 25 ℃ with relative humidity between 40-60%.

2. Ink Flow

Ideally the ink tank for White ink should be with the agitator, which keeps stirring the inks periodically to prevent settling of heavier pigment particles. If it’s not there, shake the ink cartridges well at the start of the day.

You can also ensure to shake the cartridges periodically. This keeps the ink mixed and stops the ink residues from settling down. Even if you’re not printing with your Printer every day it’s important to power on the printer on a frequent basis.

Remember that ink purges ink every time you turn on the printer.

3. Nozzle Check

Printing a nozzle pattern should be done on a regular basis before printing a job. Perform a nozzle check every day even if you are not using the printer. This helps you & your printer giving the best performance that particular day. A poor or missing nozzle has to take care of immediately.

Any clogs left unattended will turn to permanent blockages rendering the print-head unusable. Maintain daily record of printer nozzles to ensure consistency of behavior. It is good idea to use a magnifying glass to study the nozzle pattern.

4. Capping Station

Capping station produces vacuum around the print head nozzle plate to suck ink through using the pump inside the station. Vacuum pressure clears the nozzles, preventing ink to dry. It also prevents the contact of air to the ink on print head nozzles.

This ensures that the ink doesn’t dry on print-heads avoiding head blockages. Frequent suction of inks in DTG printer leaves behind solid particles on the surface of capping station. It results into weak or insufficient cleaning action.

5. Wiper Blades

After cleaning, the printer uses wiper blade to wipe the surface of print-head clean. Wiper blades moves to and fro to clean the nozzle plate by gently rubbing it.

If there are deposits of unwanted particles on the surface of wiper blade it results into scratching or damaging the delicate nozzle plate. Periodic cleaning and replacement of wiper blades is extremely essential.

6. White Ink Flushing

By the time you are well aware about the sensitivity of white ink for the print-head. If your ink is causing frequent and persistent clogging of nozzles (you have to take considerable efforts in the morning to recover white ink nozzles), it is good idea to flush the white ink line with Splashjet’s CLI-Flush-Transfer Ink.

This procedure is a bit cumbersome, but you will be able to sleep peacefully in the night. This procedure has to be essentially done for long term shutdown of the printer such as long weekends or vacations. While this is a safety process, due precautions have to be taken to ensure smooth transition.

7. Flushing with Cleaning Solution

To keep your printer free from clogging, cleaning solution is needed. It is important to flush the printer when not in use as it removes the left ink residues from settling & clears the ink lines.

Final Thoughts on DTG Printer Maintenance Tips

Keeping your DTG printer in regular maintenance will be one of the most important elements on your to-do list. Whether you own an inkjet or laser printer, above Printer maintenance tips will help you maintain your printer in good working condition.

More info:
Tel: 86-025-86628894
Whatsapp: +86 18851084450
E-mail: janezhang940213@gmail.com
Website: www.oricprinter.com
Address: Central Road 323, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China