need advice on sublimation please folks

[harry tambo]

hi,i am making a memorabilia plate using coated metal..i,m using a ricoh gx e3300n sublimation printer,and a heat press which i purchased from e bay around the £250.00 price range.desighn work done in coreldraw,which i want the plate to sublimate my text in black as you would expect,however my results are a frosty,dull brown finish.i,m wondering why its not sublimating a nice crisp black transfer!!!please help thanks folks.....

[Renniwano]

My blacks go brown on my items if my press is too hot.. might be an idea to check your temp ??

[Justin]

Are you using a profile with that printer? What paper are you using?

[bms]

Too hot a temp for too long a time. Ricoh inks produce brown fluzzy blacks when you press at similar/ high temps as you do with Epsons. Drop your temp and your time.

[harry tambo]

hi, mate thanks for quick reply.have read that 400c is the best temperature,not shire thats correct as my alarm keeps bleeping at 300c.what do you think the best temperature should be,and how long for a thin metal substrate like i am using.60 seconds and 240c seems to make the coating frosty and the print awful gouty brown??

[harry tambo]

using some paper from china of ebay?profile i don't understand what you mean by profile?at the beginning stage??should i use silicon paper?

[bms]

hi, mate thanks for quick reply.have read that 400c is the best temperature,not shire thats correct as my alarm keeps bleeping at 300c.what do you think the best temperature should be,and how long for a thin metal substrate like i am using.60 seconds and 240c seems to make the coating frosty and the print awful gouty brown??

You are so far above recommended temps it almost unbelievable. I think you may have degrees F and degrees C mixed up. As a guide you could look here for some suggested temp and times, but with Ricoh inks you'll need to reduce them a little, especially on ceramics and metals...
http://www.printerowners.co.uk/temperature-details.php

[harry tambo]

paper from china from ebay?,how does the profile work?

[Renniwano]

With the Ricoh you should be using PowerDriver that's in place of a profile.. I can't comment on the paper as I use Trupix for everything lol

[harry tambo]

ok folks thanks,seems like i,m frazzling it to much.il do some more experimenting.no wonder my heat press alarm is going off ha ha.thanks for the advice.