Hi - I am successfully pressing mugs one at a time - when the machine will cool down each time. I now need to press several mugs and I don't want to have to wait each time.
Do you have any advice? I tried doing the first mug which was put in at 220F idle temp, the temp climbs up to 338F when I then start the timer for 140 seconds.
If I put the second mug straight in, it wouldn't have as long - as the temp is already near 300F... not really sure what to do!! Do I just put it in for a manual timing of say 280 seconds?
We run our mug presses constantly at 200 degrees, and throw mugs through them for 200 seconds each. The presses drop a little in temp when a new mug is put in, although not too much as they are pre-warmed on a hot plate. We start the 200 seconds timer as soon as the mug is clamped in the press.
Thanks - I might try that.. does your machine beep? Mine beeps CONSTANTLY when it's coming down from 300+ degrees... drives me mad... so I would need to some how stop that to run it continuously!!
My heavy duty press likes around 180C for 4 minutes.
My light press likes 230F idle temp, 345F pressing temp for 140 seconds.
I get the best results out of the throw away Chinese press, so I use that a lot. But it never drops to idle temp and I worried about it.
So I tried printing 3 mugs one after the other.
Press mug
When timer goes off, turn off the press
open press remove mug (sort of at the same time as turning it off)
place sacrificial mug in press and close
peel paper and quench mug in hot water
pick up new mug and turn on press at the same time
take out sacrificial mug and put new mug in. Temp at this point is 300F
press start
Close press and temp drops a little maybe 290F then begins to climb
So far that has worked well, and I can print a dozen or so mugs in a row before I decide to let the elephant rest for a while.
But I might try pisquee's method because a lot of his tips and methods just 'work'.
Hi - thanks for the reply. That's actually almost step-by-step the method I have ended up using!
1. switch on press allow to climb to 220F
2. place first mug in
3. timer on - climbs to 360F then counts down from 180 to 0.
4. just before 0, switch off press and take mug out, plunging in to water
5. put next mug in
6. switch press back on and immediately start the climb back to 360F again
7. that then counts down 180 seconds.... then repeat the process
It's working really well actually. The only trouble comes with an image which needs to be printed to the base of the mug. I have to pre-heat the cups for those otherwise the print is really faded towards the base.
I just use two of the tea-light plate warmers (we keep our take away on them usually!) to stand them on which heats the base up. That too works pretty well!
I live in the tropics, so don't have so much problem with bottom of the mug fading because the mugs are fairly warm when I take them out of the carton. Say 25 to 30 deg Celsius before I even stick the paper on.
Also, I noticed a huge difference when I changed to more expensive mugs recently. They are much thinner and the bases are also thinner than the cheap ones.
The temperature seems to reach the base more evenly.
Maybe pisquee or Paul or someone can say more because I'm sure they are using top quality mugs.
The only reason I turn the press off and on between mugs is that I changed to a cheapo Chinese press and I want to rest the element between mugs, and after every tray of 12 mugs I let it cool.
It is about the same price to buy a cheap press here as it is to buy a replacement element.
On the other hand, I stopped 'plunging' the mugs when I heard rather scary crackling sounds as the mugs hit the water. So I dip and turn in fairly hot water.
Not sure whether it is better to quench suddenly or do it slowly as I am. Again, there are people here that have done this for years. I am still a beginner.
We have four presses lined up in a row. And a electric hot plate for pre-heating.
All presses run at 200 degrees C.
Once first mug has its transfer taped on it goes in the first (most left press)
then the next mug is taken from the hot plate and its transfer taped on, and into press 2
same process for mugs 3 and 4.
Once mug 4 is in, there is 100 seconds until mug one is complete,during which time I get another 4 mugs from the store and put them on the hot plate, trim/cut the next set of 4 transfers, and finally wrap mug number 5 when press 1 has about 20 seconds to go.
When the timer on the first press finishes, that mug comes out, mug 5 goes in.
Then I unwrap mug 1 and leave to cool upside down.
It is then time to wrap mug 6, and continue.
The presses stay at full temp the whole time (sometimes for hours on end if we're doing a lot of mugs that day.)
They don't get turned off during a run, and never have dummy mugs put in them.
These are all cheap Chinese presses (similar in appearance to BMS' DF1), which I find easier to use than the Adkins/Jarin presses, and get fine results using them in this way.
So is 200C set as the 'idle' temp for the process above? I dont think mine allows it to go that high... mine beeps when it gets to the idle temp of 220F, then continues to beep until you start the cook. I might look at getting a press which works differently. I'd love to just set the temp and leave it on. I could use my own timer then.
As always, that is excellent info pisquee.
I was a bit doubtful about my Chinese press, which is identical to the DF1+ Genius. But it makes nicer mugs than the expensive one I got originally and makes them much more quickly.
I think the dummy mug idea was for the old style thick heating elements to help the rubber keep its shape. I use the spare mug simply to pull some temperature out of the element before I put the next mug in. But again, I was doind it from guesswork. It is nice to know there is a better way with this press.
