Please help. I’m about to throw my Freesub pneumatic mug press out the window!

[bigj2552]

at the end of the day here...
with sublimation, there are so MANY variables, it really is down to what paul, and i, and others have said...PRACTICE....and then some more..
yeh you might go through 2 x 36 mugs, but it will get you the result you looking for - write ever time/temp/pressure increase / decrease downon note pad - go forward in increments of 10 +/-

not every machine out any factory will be the exact same.....not every paper / inks will work same as the other guys, not every mug/mouse mat or what ever will print the same, as each person had individual pressure / times / temps settings.....

you get where i,m coming from here...even if you go down the "cough" supported route, there will still be things to alter / tweak till you get the perfect result
so many variables it boils down to practice, trial n error = learn - how much cash you spend learning ( wasting mugs ) depends on how quick your own person learning curve is - some people get it very quick, others cant grasp some basic fundamentals and it takes em longer = more cash = more frustration

[rickycalla]

We had the exact same problems. A least 2 boxes of mugs from Magic Touch wasted using an eBay mug press. Moved to Xpres mugs. Slightly better but still high wastage. After P&PLive (speaking to listawood) we got some trupix paper from them. Big difference but not near 100%.

So. The answer. LISTAWOOD!! The saviours. Lol

Genie Mug press, mugs, paper. Easy. I would say perfect. And a great company. And without a doubt worth the extra money we tried to save.

In my experience practise isn't always perfect

[PaulWong]

Hi Paul. Here are some examples:

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[PaulWong]

Yes I have been preheating the mugs, heating the base of the mug for a bit longer also. And I tape them to the mug.

[PaulWong]

Thanks for all your suggestions so far guys.


As a novice to this game, seeing blurry patches on every mug I’ve produce on varying time/temp/pressure has made me wonder if the problem is occurring because of the mug press itself. I guess i’m just looking for is some reassurance. If the blurry patches are typical when testing then that’s fine, I will persevere (and perhaps buy a box of better quality mugs to try). But if it could potentially be a problem with the heat press then I would rather try a different press and stop wasting my efforts on the Freesub one.


Having had a close look at the press it looks to me like the clamp doesn’t sit perfectly across the face of the mug, or in other words there are certain areas where the mug does not seem to be clamped as tightly as others. Could this be causing the issue? Does it matter that the clamp it’s not perfect all the way around?

[pisquee]

Search the forum for others talking about the pneumatic presses - don't think anyone has managed to get them to work properly - gave up on the one we got in, don't have time to faff about, it just did not work anywhere near well enough to turn out commercially viable mugs - the pneumaticness didn't give enough pressure, and it didn't heat up high enough to work properly - so no matter how much we preheated the mugs, or how long we left them in the press we got nowhere really.
This is using good quality mugs, paper, inks etc, which get fine results out of standard horizontal generic chinese mug presses!

[Paul]

what is your pressure like? heavy? if so, do it light pressure. just tight enough to close your press with two fingers

[Andrew]

Have you turned the mug the opposite way in the press yet? This will help figure if it is the press. If the blurred part is then at the top you know it is that part of the press.

Secondly, as the problem print area is around an inch from the bottom you need 5o check the mug. Get a ruler or straight edge and place it up the side of the mug. Make sure this is vertically over the faulty print area as well. Look at it side on and see if the contact from mug to ruler is consistent. Blurry patches could be due to a dip in the mug as an alternative to the press.

The press should really be fitting neatly around the mug and look like it is closing squarely rather than any angle. When mug is in and secure you need to get down to that level and look at either side to see how the element is touching the mug as pressure should be exerted all of the way around.

[wayupnorth]

It may be possible to put a thin strip of paper between the element and mug, clamp it and see if the paper can be pulled out. Repeat for the whole mug and it will tell you if there is a problem.

[Disky]

I've got mine working a treat now, I was getting some weak areas at the bottom of the mug and no matter what I did it was always the same

UNTIL:

i now now fold a bit of paper until about 3mm thick and tape it to the bottom of the mug so when it activates the press, the mug sits slightly higher and I get a good full print.

i use truepix paper with it.