Anyone know anything about these or similar? Pro's vs. con's, etc...
http://www.dtgamerica.com/summit_520_garment_printer.asp
http://www.dtgamerica.com/summit_520_garment_printer.asp
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Direct to Garment printers
- Thread starter formanek
- Start date
Christian @ 2CT Media
Active Member
Avoid... it is an Epson printer with rewritten firmware that is glitch prone. Check out www.easytprinter.com their product is an Epson printer also but they don't mess with the firmware so issues are easier to diagnose and fix. They are also significantly lower cost than most DTG machines, I personally know the engineer who developed this machine and he personally will help you with any issue that may arise with his machines.
qmr55
New Member
Very true! I was under the impression that it would be a production machine, could be either!
signage
New Member
Also if you are not doing mostly black/dark shirts you will be throwing away a lot of money printing with white ink. The reason is when the damper fill while printing the white ink is being pumped into the waste tank, also when the cleanings are running the white ink is being pumped into th waste tank!
Graphics2u
New Member
I've seen these advertised, and can't help but wonder about them?? New price is less than most similar models are selling for USED?? Although this is priced at a point that seems reasonable for what you are getting. It just makes me a little cautious. What else do you know about these and the manufacturer?
Christian @ 2CT Media
Active Member
I know a lot actually, we have been trading work and they are building us a custom machine.
The machines are built from an Epson R2000, The frame is tubular steel, The Chassis is Formed plastic, and they utilize all the Epson drive mechanics and sensors. The machines retain all Epson functionality including wireless capabilities. They are using MultiRIP to drive the printer without the Epson drivers.
What else would you like to know?
The machines are built from an Epson R2000, The frame is tubular steel, The Chassis is Formed plastic, and they utilize all the Epson drive mechanics and sensors. The machines retain all Epson functionality including wireless capabilities. They are using MultiRIP to drive the printer without the Epson drivers.
What else would you like to know?
We have been looking into a number of DTG machines. With a few exceptions, we have ruled out all of the Epson based machines in favor of the higher end units due to reliability and maintenance issues.
Be sure to get real world reviews from owners before you decide, especially if you are printing white ink or not printing every day. The ink costs are VERY high and maintenance on many of the low cost machines is very time consuming. Check out the t-shirt forums, they have lots of info on the various DTG's
If you are not printing white, look at the Brother GT-541, which is very reliable. If you are printing white and would like to stay with the Epson based units, I would look at some of the middle tier printers like BelQuette or NeoFlex.
Rob
Be sure to get real world reviews from owners before you decide, especially if you are printing white ink or not printing every day. The ink costs are VERY high and maintenance on many of the low cost machines is very time consuming. Check out the t-shirt forums, they have lots of info on the various DTG's
If you are not printing white, look at the Brother GT-541, which is very reliable. If you are printing white and would like to stay with the Epson based units, I would look at some of the middle tier printers like BelQuette or NeoFlex.
Rob
WildWestDesigns
Active Member
I keep on thinking about this one. I'll be at an embroidery trade show(but it also does a little of all the apparel decorating venues) in a couple of months here in town and Brother is usually there (I do use their embroidery machines) and I always gravitate to that one.
Another big plus that I have with that is that you can cure the inks with a regular heat press.
Christian @ 2CT Media
Active Member
We have a client/vendor who uses a brother GT-541 and swears by it... He says that the only other machine they'd consider is the larger Brother.
Christian @ 2CT Media
Active Member
I'm stuck getting one of these printers, due to the agreement we made with this company. I just hope its worth something to someone so I can recover something for my lost time and materials into these guys.
mark galoob
New Member
i actually have the brother 541 gt and for the most part its a rock solid machine. the only issue i have with it is the prints fade much faster than screen prints.
mark galoob
mark galoob
Turnergraphics
New Member
DTG ink costs
What are the ink costs of printing on white and dark? Printing on dark was costing about $4 per shirt the last time I investigated. That was years ago.
What are the ink costs of printing on white and dark? Printing on dark was costing about $4 per shirt the last time I investigated. That was years ago.
AnthonyRalano
New Member
What the sales people tell you and what actual dtg owners tell you is not always the same. Much maintenance required. You have to keep it clean and make sure the head can be capped properly. After just a couple of shirts you will get rubberized ink on your wiper and capping station. If you do not take the time daily for this without a doubt you will have problems. Depending on the company you are dealing with you cannot always expect speedy tech support. If you promised an order to someone you will have to troubleshoot quickly or it will not be filled. I love dtg printing and it is great because you can fill small orders and large orders. For anything over 200 shirts I will say that screen printing will save you so much time. It can seriously take a long time to print on the back of a shirt depending on the graphic. Dtg printing is great for a company who can fix their own printers. If you have to call a tech out for your large format printers then imagine that x20. You also have to pretreat your dark garments to make sure the fibers are flattened. You need a small area to do this away from your printer, but preferably near a heat press. I would read t-shirt forums so you can get an idea of what other people experience day to day with this printer. In the end dtg printing is amazing and a great way to make money and you will have tons of cool shirts.(if you don't neglect daily maintenance)
AnthonyRalano
New Member
Just realized this thread is older than dirt.
Turnergraphics
New Member
Thanks Anthony. With maintenance aside, what do you estimate a full size print to cost for both white and dark?
Thanks
Thanks
AnthonyRalano
New Member
It can vary on how this you want the ink to go down. Anywhere from .75 to 5.00. If it is a dark garment with a white underbase and you have it on 4 pass it can be up there. So many times it is not. Then you have your pretreat cost. Pretreat. Pressing time after pretreat, pressing time after printing. Capping stations that need to be replaced more often than standard printers, white ink filters, sleeve platens that you will eventually need. You will no doubt make money and get many orders if you have a dtg printer. If you are a one man operation you will spend time dealing with this and not enough time for everything else. If you have a design or production staff that can take this on then you will be fine. You also have to take into consideration that people understand that they are paying a higher price when they are getting a smaller run of shirts. No screen printer will give someone a great price for full color front and back on 12 shirts. You can do a test print at a very small size just to make sure your colors a good. So your test print cost is next to nothing.
WildWestDesigns
Active Member
Be careful there, not all cure with pressing. In fact, some say using a conveyor oven produces better quality. But if you use a heat press, try to do it with the lightest "touch" that you can (some recommend "flash curing", before actually pressing). If you use a Kornit, I do believe you need to use an oven and then an oven that can take out a lot of moisture in the environment. I'm sure there is going to be a couple of Kornit users out there that say you don't need an oven, but I think the majority would highly suggest one.
AnthonyRalano
New Member
This is for the DTG M2. They recommend pressing, but I will say that I have one press that you have to close slowly or you will get smudging.