mini 3d machine mugs

3D Sublimation
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bigj2552
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Re: mini 3d machine mugs

Post by bigj2552 »

this one is odd.....

got the other mug machine down here as well now.....followed settings in the Manuel & youtube...360sec x 190c for 1 11oz mug...

put pic around mug....put green clamp around mug.....preheat machine to 190c - pop in....press timer....press vacuum OFF

beep all done....a nice pure white 11oz mug with sod all on it :confused:...nothing at all...same blank i put in at start

you tried the mugs yet justin ??


edit - my first thought was mugs are crap....then paper....but paper cant be as i been using the same stuff all week....
so out with the other mugs i got left.....same problem is present...no image printed

even tried the single mug in the blue mold with the vacuum on....still the same - no image printed
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Re: mini 3d machine mugs

Post by bigj2552 »

just found this vid on YouTube guys.....
apparently these machines DONT WORK for mugs - ONLY PHONE CASES.......others are having the exact same problem i have now...
i hope he/the others and myself are totally wrong here....or i will not be a happy guy at all with supplier :mad:

read the comments on his channel....others comment were removed he says....hmm..i wonder
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galerion
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Re: mini 3d machine mugs

Post by galerion »

Justin said here that he'd done a mug so hopefully he's doing something different to you and you can work it out.
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Re: mini 3d machine mugs

Post by bigj2552 »

galerion;87728 wrote:Justin said here that he'd done a mug so hopefully he's doing something different to you and you can work it out.

he has only done the phone cases as far as i can read through the threads ;-(
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Re: mini 3d machine mugs

Post by galerion »

He wrote "I tried printing a mug using a mould. The mould is for 11oz mugs so I got a couple of 'vein' marks down the print where the mould gathered up a little. Hopefully they'll come with a slightly smaller mould for 10oz but I'm not sure.
I didn't leave the mug in long enough to show you a decent photo but it did print right up to the handle which was good."

I have to say if you tried using a wrap so no vacuume needed i'm stumped as to what could be going wrong cus the only thing the machine would need to do is heat up and its proven that it heats up cus you've done phone case
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Re: mini 3d machine mugs

Post by bigj2552 »

galerion;87730 wrote:He wrote "I tried printing a mug using a mould. The mould is for 11oz mugs so I got a couple of 'vein' marks down the print where the mould gathered up a little. Hopefully they'll come with a slightly smaller mould for 10oz but I'm not sure.
I didn't leave the mug in long enough to show you a decent photo but it did print right up to the handle which was good."

I have to say if you tried using a wrap so no vacuume needed i'm stumped as to what could be going wrong cus the only thing the machine would need to do is heat up and its proven that it heats up cus you've done phone case

thanks for that..been a long day and my eyes are knackered - tried the green clamps and also tried the blue mold WITH the vacuum :confused: - NADA - NOTHING pure blank

that dont make sense here.....it heating up all right...burned my bloody fingers tonight lol

what do others do when they fire mugs with clamps into halogen ovens ?? is it not a similar process ?
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Re: mini 3d machine mugs

Post by galerion »

From what I can see the halogen are set to 204c/400f and take 15-17 mins so maybe you need to increase the time the mugs are in there.
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Re: mini 3d machine mugs

Post by Justin »

My mug sublimated but needed longer, this will probably be your problem. I'll take another look when I get a chance. No reason at all why it shouldn't work with a wrap though.
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Re: mini 3d machine mugs

Post by bigj2552 »

bigj2552;87727 wrote:just found this vid on YouTube guys.....
apparently these machines DONT WORK for mugs - ONLY PHONE CASES.......others are having the exact same problem i have now...
i hope he/the others and myself are totally wrong here....or i will not be a happy guy at all with supplier :mad:

read the comments on his channel....others comment were removed he says....hmm..i wonder
........................
kinda sums up the new mini 3d machine for anything else but phone cases Image - thank god they were cheap, thats all i can say here Image
just to add to the above vid....if you scroll down the comments you will see this below -

We literally tried everything to get this to work, including taking out the separator (metal plate between the heat element and the kettle part of the machine) to try to increase the heat using a mug wrap. The fluctuations in the heat are pretty wild - 230c to 190c
After 750sec., during our testing, I took out the mug, and only the top rim of the mug had started to sublimate (the top of the mug was too hot to touch, but the bottom of the mug was much cooler)

*Don't take out the separator when using any mug attachment and the pump*

The basic support response was typical BS - your inks are wrong, the printer is wrong, the paper is wrong, etc. {we use the Ricoh 7100dn, SublijetR inks, and TexPrintR - so the response was, well, uneducated to say the least]

China support also kept suggesting our times were too high >> example: If you try to use the irregular mug fixture at 800sec. the machine turns itself off to "protect itself" apparently. Literally just died on us (came back to life after we unplugged it and waited several minutes before plugging it back in)
To sublimate a mug takes roughly 15min (900 sec) in a convection oven - so I have no idea where they got their times from in the instructions or on their how-to video. >> The same mugs and prints that didn't work in the machine worked perfectly in the oven.

I cannot stress how much professional time (literally days) was spent to get this thing to work with mugs. Our testing was highly methodical, using new mugs, and prints every time (as mentioned above, every sublimation that didn't work in the machine worked in the oven) The temperature. fluctuation and uneven heat in the machine is too great, we believe, for a proper sublimation to take place.

However, we have been more successful with the phone covers [even heat, as the mould is almost right up against the element)
In this case, take *out* the separator for better heat.
We got best results at 190c/400sec. (again, way above their recommended settings)

So our conclusion is that this machine only partly delivers on what it promises - phone covers [using the phone cover attachment/pump]. Again, we had only partial sublimations take place using all of the other attachments [and we tried them all] or mug wraps after days of through, methodical testing.

If you have better success, please let us know, but I think this is not the machine for us.
We dropped our dispute with Aliexpress as we will be using the machine (as long as it lasts) for phone covers.

We are now looking at the 3D-Vac-U-Press VP3030 from a local distributor (better support - someone I can yell at if it doesn't perform as promised). If we go with this one, I think I can utilize most of the attachments from the ST-1520 (with some modification) in the new machine. [[if anyone has good or bad info on the VP3030, let me know]]
If we don't, we'll be going with the GK multi-press machine.

Hope this helps.
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Re: mini 3d machine mugs

Post by Justin »

Video of a 10oz mug just printed using a damaged 11oz green wrap in the 3D machine:
This was cooked for 20 mins. If you're using it as an oven you need much longer times.

Are you aware of the hidden time/temp/vacuum settings on these machines?
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