Colour fade on sublimation iphone backs

[Nets]

My set up is b1100 and Airtanium ink.
I have printed about 1200 of these, they print fine.. but have sampled two on my iphone, after about 3-4 weeks you get a bleed of all colours not too bad but you can notice it, I consider myself a light user. the ones that have been returned have badly run and faded, I would say that these are heavy users of the phone.

[smitch6]

dorset supplier i think is BMS (Martin)
he's a member on here, have you rung him to ask his advice
or if it's not BMS try speaking to the supplier they should always be the 1st port if call if there's a problem with the product

plus if it is Martin he is VERY knowledgable

[Andrew]

You've probably been doing these for as long as most others so some of these problems are going to come from unchartered territory. Sounds like the coating could be to soft and weak under heat which would be a big problem ongoing.

Do you have photos of the problem?

[John G]

The fading will happen, the sub metal isn't UV proof so will fade. IMO!

[Andrew]

We do a large amount of the sheet metal (4 or 5 thousand large sheets a year) and never have issues. Doubt they are using the same coating by the sounds of it.

[John G]

(4 or 5 thousand large sheets a year)

WOW - now that's a big order!

[Nets]

Maybe its because these ali plates have not been tested to be handled so much. I am thinking that uv has made no difference here, or maybe it the combination of heat from the phone and constant handling of this product....
These cases are available from most sub suppliers and are all purchased by them from the same supplier in china... anyway guys..please note that there is an issue with colour bleed on this product.

[Justin]

Have you tried the one piece units from Magic Touch?

[bms]

Would be good to see images of these - if you want to email them to us or post up here. I have one of these on my iPhone and would classify myself as heavy(ish) user by the constant charging of the phone every couple of days through use! The only time I've seen runs post sublimating is on some mugs that aren't dishwasher safe and get put through the dishwasher causing the coating to breakdown and the inks running - but this is as a result of heat, steam, chemicals and lots of water (not really the combination recommended for iPhones!). We've sold thousands of these covers to multiple customers so not sure we can generalise the conclusion that there is a colour bleed issue just yet. I'm at a loss really see how a 'bleed' or 'run' occurs as the inks aren't going to re-gas and bleed into each after sublimating, but images would be good to look at to see what this is and go from there.

Justin - don't the one piece units need the special jig as opposed to sublimating onto metal?

[Justin]

Justin - don't the one piece units need the special jig as opposed to sublimating onto metal?

Yes, they do. Not as cheap to print/start printing but end result is excellent. If the member is having problems with his cases because of the metal this would be a good alternative. I've only printed samples of the alu case inserts myself but they've been excellent, no issues so far.