Movement in press - my ghosts are ghosting!

[Printcess Jen]

Hi there,
I have a stahls maxx clam heat press and am having a problem when printing dye sub items. There seems to be some movement in the platen causing slight ghosting in places (not the whole image!).... i have come to this theory as i have tried the following;

- adjusting pressure - its even worse when the pressure is light
- opening and closing very gently
- using extra tape to hold image in place - this seems to have no impact at all
- removing lower platen teflon cover to avoid any slippage and to get extra grip from the silicone pad to hold garment in place
- checked the images themselves
- and extra teflon sheet on top to avoid movement - this was even worse!
- tested even pressure with a piece of paper in each corner - no issues there
- ensuring t-shirt

I have had the press looked at by a technician and they cannot see there's a problem.... all the above point to the top part of the press moving - possibly when the upper platen comes up? having a medium pressure makes it tricky to gently lift the top platen up however light pressure creates a worse ghosting effect

when printing an a3 image onto a dye sub t-shirt the nearest left corner area seems to ghost ever so slightly, sometimes it could be more in the middle but it is never the whole image just parts of it which i cant get my head around.

Has anyone else ever had this issue and if so how did you solve it?
I appreciate there needs to be some movement in the upper platen to ensure even pressure but when it comes to printing good quality dye sub images the random ghosting is a real pain!!

I can post images if that would help?

And the ironic thing on this current job is that there are ghosts in images and they are ghosting!!!!

Help!!

[JMugs]

Try using "3m Scotch Weld 75" it's a tacky adhesive for use with heat. Spray your sheet place on fabric, and it sticks gently. Press and peel off. On fabric there is no noticeable residue.

I get the same problem sometimes, but much reduced since using the "3m". I use very light pressure....

Janners

[Printcess Jen]

Thank you Janners i'm definitely going to give that a go! Its the bain of my life at the mo! Where can i buy that spray? i can even see where the press is 'wiggling' ever so slightly along the left hand side of the press, so frustrating!

[JMugs]

A quick internet search will show up if there is somewhere local to pop in and buy a can, shop around on the internet as prices can vary quite a bit. I shop around when I need it then buy 6 or so to make the most of the postage.

Janners

[pisquee]

Best place we've found to buy it is here:
http://www.transair.co.uk/sp+3M-NO75-Sp ... P208061116
We buy in batches of 12 cans, which AFAIR gives us the best unit cost and free shipping

[Mikejohno1]

Just browsing through old threads and I’ve exactly the same press as you Jen and exactly the same problem you had. How did you solve it in the end? I’ve borrowed a swing press off a mate of mine and not experienced a ghosting problem once. I think I’m just gonna sell my clam press and buy a swing press tbh