Stains on 3d iphone cases any clues ?

[nikaki]

Dear All,
These strange marks appear after the vacum often in our sublimation process.
We print with the Ricoh 7100 A3 printer with Sawgrass inks
Drying time around 20 minutes.
vacumming around 150C. 14 minutes.
any clues anybody ?
Thanks in advance
Nick Zoe cases

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[hexis75]

I have the same problem while printing on golden film. Cant find out why.

What kind of sublimation press do you have?
I think the problem comes from high temperature.

[nikaki]

Hi Hexis75.
Thank you for your reply.
We use a professional Vacuum press
with a tray that accommodates 4 cases.
We have this problem with these marks recently.
I will post some more photos.
We are using both transparent clear film and also the silver film that the manufacturer recommends.
We suspect that maybe these stains are from humidity or moisture.
The strange thing is that these marks and stains appear after the vacuuming and only in the dark areas.
Before the vacuuming they are not visible if you look at the film.
WE have suspicions on moisture and humidity..?
any comments anybody ?

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[g1njeremy]

I have the same press. I would say your temperature and time is much higher than mine. I'm assuming you're not using the low-temperature ink provided from the supplier, in which case I cannot help much.

Nonetheless, you should dry your film first before pressing. What's the definition of drying? At least hang the film for 24 hours after printing. Hope that helps...

[nikaki]

Thank you for your reply.
Its interesting your point of view.
The supplier has recommended to use Sawgrass inks for the Ricoh printer.
How did you realise that we have the same press ?
Also please what do you mean about low temperature ink ?
We have been told from the manufacturer of the Vacuum to dry the inks for 20 minutes after printing.
Looking forward for your reply
Thanks again.

[g1njeremy]

Thank you for your reply.
Its interesting your point of view.
The supplier has recommended to use Sawgrass inks for the Ricoh printer.
How did you realise that we have the same press ?
Also please what do you mean about low temperature ink ?
We have been told from the manufacturer of the Vacuum to dry the inks for 20 minutes after printing.
Looking forward for your reply
Thanks again.

We might not have the exact same press but I'm sure they both work on the same principle by using film as the transfer medium.

By low-temperature ink I mean low-temperature dye sublimation ink, in which the ink will transfer at lower temperature than normal ink. Low temperature is important because judging by the look of your case, we have the same one. And I know these cases if pressed at 150 C would experience more shrinkage than desirable. Do test your cases with real phones or dummy.

I'm not really sure what the purpose of the drying is...Though I'm sure it's got more to do with the film rather than the ink. FYI, you can see Society6's video on how they make their iPhone case and you can see a snippet on how they dry their film.

If I were you, I would also test on matte cases to see if they suffer from similar problem.

Hope that helps...