Mug oven recommendations. Single or double fan…

[gazfocus]

Looking at the photo do a couple of things...

Firstly, put a steel ruler (or something straight) to make sure there is no "air" where it blurs. If you are unsure what I mean then ask and I will post a picture.

Secondly, if it happens, put the clamp to one side. Get another mug but turn the clamp upside down. If the blurring appears in the same place then it can not be the clamps, but if it is on the opposite side and at the bottom it would indicate the clamp has deteriorated.

By the way, if I was knocking out this sort of design and not full wraps I would consider purchasing mug presses instead. Stand alone ones and have as many as 5-10 on the go at once.

Interestingly, I did check the mugs with a steel rule and there is a gap where it blurrs. However, there’s also a gap on the side that’s printed good, just not as big a gap.

The top picture is the side that’s blurred and the bottom picture is the side that hasn’t.

[socialgiraffe]

I would say that I am about 90% certain that is your problem and the only reason you have managed to get some good prints is because of the quality of your mug wraps and pure luck.

Using the green wraps in an oven is superb but your mugs must be perfectly straight with no gaps at all. If there are gaps as shown you are relying on hit and miss. You could try brand new wraps as they will be tighter, but its not the solution.

You could also try the red silicon wraps as my understanding is that they are better at dealing with slight curves etc.

[gazfocus]

I would say that I am about 90% certain that is your problem and the only reason you have managed to get some good prints is because of the quality of your mug wraps and pure luck.

Using the green wraps in an oven is superb but your mugs must be perfectly straight with no gaps at all. If there are gaps as shown you are relying on hit and miss. You could try brand new wraps as they will be tighter, but its not the solution.

You could also try the red silicon wraps as my understanding is that they are better at dealing with slight curves etc.

Do you know the best place to get the red wraps from? I had some samples from xpres of the Schulze ones but they are super thick and you need a tool to get them onto a mug. I wonder whether you mean the likes of what signzworld sell like the attached?

[socialgiraffe]

I do mean the ones similar to the ones sold by the companies you mention without the requirement of a tool.

They are considerably more expensive, but on the plus side, once purchased you only need to replace the silicon and not the wire clamp.

[gazfocus]

I do mean the ones similar to the ones sold by the companies you mention without the requirement of a tool.

They are considerably more expensive, but on the plus side, once purchased you only need to replace the silicon and not the wire clamp.

Thanks. Will order enough for an oven load and see how they go

Sorry [MENTION=10249]Jabman[/MENTION] for hijacking your thread.

[Jabman]

Thanks. Will order enough for an oven load and see how they go

Sorry [MENTION=10249]Jabman[/MENTION] for hijacking your thread.

No worries mate, it’s all good to know! [emoji1360]


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[JMugs]

Do you know the best place to get the red wraps from? I had some samples from xpres of the Schulze ones but they are super thick and you need a tool to get them onto a mug. I wonder whether you mean the likes of what signzworld/longforte sell like the attached?

The clamps you have shown in your post are the type I used many moons ago on mugs and big ones on 1 litre steins. As the silicon stretched I just adjusted them. I bought a big sheet off ebay and cut it down when they eventually tore, super cheap way. I just popped them on by hand, so easy enough.

Janners

[gazfocus]

The clamps you have shown in your post are the type I used many moons ago on mugs and big ones on 1 litre steins. As the silicon stretched I just adjusted them. I bought a big sheet off ebay and cut it down when they eventually tore, super cheap way. I just popped them on by hand, so easy enough.

Janners

Thanks. I’ve ordered 16 as a test so I can do a full ovens worth and see how that goes. I’ve also got our local rep from xpres coming on Tuesday to pick up some of the failed mugs to take back to their HQ for further investigation.

So far we’ve tried

1. new wraps (still the green ones).
2. printing the papers the other way (so changing the grain of the paper).
3. Different paper (srace and trupix).
4. Wearing cotton gloves to wrap to eliminate oily skin.
5. Different timings on the oven.

It’s 100% an issue with the mugs. The issue is xpres say we are the only ones reporting issues (probably we are the only ones using large quantities of mugs in ovens). If we used mug presses we likely wouldn’t have the issue as the mug presses would compensate for the lumps and bumps.

Ps I tried to reply to your message about the ovens before Christmas but your inbox is full.

[socialgiraffe]

It’s 100% an issue with the mugs. The issue is xpres say we are the only ones reporting issues (probably we are the only ones using large quantities of mugs in ovens). If we used mug presses we likely wouldn’t have the issue as the mug presses would compensate for the lumps and bumps.

Ps I tried to reply to your message about the ovens before Christmas but your inbox is full.

So here are a couple of options.

You could turn the clamp "upside down" and try another mug. Print one mug at a time because if the mug is going to spoil it will spoil regardless of the quantity in the oven. So you may as well save a few pennies when looking at this.

Also, as an option. Get Xpres to send me a box of mugs which I will l print for you. The design can be anything you like as I am not trying to "score" a box of mugs, but figured it will be a good way of seeing if the issue is your process or the mugs. If you want, ping me one of your most problematic designs and I will print that. Happy to do this for you as you have spent A LOT of money and still none the wiser. You need a completely independent viewpoint on this.

If you have someone closer who is not having any problems printing and using ovens then give them a try if you prefer. The key factor is to only give them XPRES mugs and a design to try.

Not sure if it was my Inbox you were referring to but it only has one message in it.

[Jabman]

We bought a dedicated 70l sublimation oven from "that company we are not allowed to say on this forum" which is FANTASTIC and is still available from alternative supplier Neil Brothers:
https://www.neilbrothers.co.uk/sublimat ... -oven.html

That oven looks pretty good. Just a few questions if you wouldn’t mind.

How many mugs do you manage to sublimate at a time?

Is this an unbranded machine?

Thank you

Jabman