Fumes and Operating Temperatures

[SDT]

Greetings,

I have been looking into getting a Geo Knight DK3 Mug press so I can make my own mugs at home but I have a couple of concerns

1. How bad and toxic are the fumes that are emitted when pressing mugs ? Does it require a well ventilated area or vent hood? (I will be using a sawgrass printer if that makes a difference)

2. What ambient temperature should a room be that the mug press is in? I ask this because my only two options for running this press is either in my basement (which is not very big and enclosed) or my non heated garage but I am concerned it will be too cold in the winter time to run the mug press in the garage as it is not much warmer than the outside temperature.



Thanks in advance

[pw66]

Best to have some form of extraction if natural ventilation is limited. A small inline extractor and some flexible hose is more than adequate. Available from screwfix. Technically for industrial/commercial print operations the HSE recommend extraction rates of 10 times the volume of the room, but working from home you shouldn't have a problem.

Temperature of the room shouldn't be a problem. Maybe in the winter you will need to allow a few extra minutes for the press to reheat between mugs - the thermostat shuts down when the press is in the closed position so there is a slight temperature drop off. Pre heating mugs will take longer slightly, if they are very cold.

[webtrekker]

Humidity causes more problems than temperature. Make sure you store your transfer paper where changes in humidity won't affect it too much.

[SDT]

Best to have some form of extraction if natural ventilation is limited. A small inline extractor and some flexible hose is more than adequate. Available from screwfix.

When you say extractor do you mean like a bathroom exhaust fan ?

Temperature of the room shouldn't be a problem. Maybe in the winter you will need to allow a few extra minutes for the press to reheat between mugs - the thermostat shuts down when the press is in the closed position so there is a slight temperature drop off. Pre heating mugs will take longer slightly, if they are very cold.

The way the rep I talked to at a company I was looking at buying the DK3 from made it sound like you just set the temp, put the image on the mug with heat tape, and throw the mug in mug press once its up to temp, press and wait for the timer to go off. He said about 4.5 minutes per mug... The preheating is that done using the press and longer times or putting them in an oven first ?

[SDT]

Humidity causes more problems than temperature. Make sure you store your transfer paper where changes in humidity won't affect it too much.

What humidity should I be shooting for ? my basement is about 60 degrees and between 40 - 45% humidity with a dehumidifier running. And am I just worried about when I print on the transfer paper or also after it is printed on? For example if I were to have the printer upstairs where it is drier and print out the transfer and then take it to the basement or garage will the 15 - 60 minutes its sitting in the more humid environment effect it? For a lack of better words how temperature/ humidity sensitive is it ? hope that makes sense.

[pw66]

When you say extractor do you mean like a bathroom exhaust fan ?



The way the rep I talked to at a company I was looking at buying the DK3 from made it sound like you just set the temp, put the image on the mug with heat tape, and throw the mug in mug press once its up to temp, press and wait for the timer to go off. He said about 4.5 minutes per mug... The preheating is that done using the press and longer times or putting them in an oven first ?

[/COLOR]

You do just set the temp, but when the mug is in the press for 4.5 mins there is usually a small drop off in temperature during that time. Cold mugs and a cold room will make that worse. You need to alow some 'dwell time' between pressings for the press to return to temperature. If you print several mugs back to back without any dwell time then you end up with a temp drop off large enough to effect the finished result.

Keep your paper in a warm dry place in the house. Any paper absorbs moisture and sub paper is no exception. Put a few sheets of regular paper in your basement or garage and try printing on it a few days later with your houshold printer. The results will be bad.

Damp sublimation paper will bleed into the substrate when pressed ( it might even shrink slightly), leaving a ghost image.

[logobear]

I am not aware of any off gas issues, so don't think you need to extract.
Cold mugs will take longer to cook, AND - probably with greater variations.
Also, you are doing fiddly things with your fingers, so you don't want to be cold either.
Mug making involvesuite a bit of waiting around, so do it where you are comfortable.