Galaxy double mug press

[louise1977]

Hi, I recently bought a Galaxy double mug press I have it set at 199 for 150 seconds. Its ok apart from any black that's in the print comes out brown. Do I lower one or both. Bought a dvd when I first started about sublimating mugs done by a London bloke name Lee hes also done countless clips on Youtube. He says let the temperature go to 198-200 then put the mug in where the temp will drop. Very true of course but then let the temp rise back up to 198-200 before starting timing and leave in for 3 minutes. I followed his instructions and the paper was charred when I took them out. Which goes to show all makes of mug press are different. Ive learned a lot over the last 6 months and am still doing so but can never seem to get the colour black looking good. Is it temp or time. Its costing me mugs.

[socialgiraffe]

What ink and paper are you using?

[louise1977]

Well ive used quiet a few papers and the one I have at the moment is about the best had it off ebay cant remember what its called would have to look. My ink im afraid is cheap its Inkexpress the Refill man he calls himself also on ebay. To be fair ive only started using it today in the hope of it been the answer but im afraid it doesn't look like it is. I cant really afford Sawgrass

[socialgiraffe]

The problem is you are caught between a rock and a hard place. There is no quick fix on this but here are my suggestions...

Firstly, have you installed a profile for the inks and paper you are using? If not ask your supplier of ink if they supply an ICC profile. If they don't or have no idea what you are talking about then my suggestion would be to ditch it and start again, however if you want to carry on then ask Paul (a forum member) for a custom profile, they cost £25.00

Black is notoriously difficult to get right. It may surprise you that if you had said you are using Sawgrass ink I probably would have said that is your problem. By the sounds of it you are burning the ink, Firstly, I would start with these settings:

Idle temp 170
Cooking temp 180
Time 180 seconds

Press and look at the results, if all the colours except black are fine then it will probably need time increasing or decreasing. If all the colours are burnt or faded you will need to adjust your temp.

Don't forget to only press a small area of a mug, that way you can reuse the mug (dip in water to cool) a few times until you hit the "sweet spot".

If it still does not work then there is the obvious answer as to why stuff on ebay is considerably cheaper than a well known supplier. As a side note, check out Sublisplash inks from Dye Sub Supplies and a Ricoh. From my understanding the black is miles better than Sawgrass.

Lastly, I understand budget constraints and the cost of supplies. But trust me, those that have purchase decent, reliable kit and supplies from reputable suppliers have never regretted the additional outlay. It might be worth saving a few more pennies to get it right.

[louise1977]

Hi well first of all id like to say a big thanks . I printed some black squares and used them has samples for printing. Whilst it isn't absolute jet black it is a considerable improvement. It appears my temperature setting was far to high and needed not to be in quiet so long. Thank you you've helped me considerably. The next step will be a better quality ink.

The problem is you are caught between a rock and a hard place. There is no quick fix on this but here are my suggestions...

Firstly, have you installed a profile for the inks and paper you are using? If not ask your supplier of ink if they supply an ICC profile. If they don't or have no idea what you are talking about then my suggestion would be to ditch it and start again, however if you want to carry on then ask Paul (a forum member) for a custom profile, they cost £25.00

Black is notoriously difficult to get right. It may surprise you that if you had said you are using Sawgrass ink I probably would have said that is your problem. By the sounds of it you are burning the ink, Firstly, I would start with these settings:

Idle temp 170
Cooking temp 180
Time 180 seconds

Press and look at the results, if all the colours except black are fine then it will probably need time increasing or decreasing. If all the colours are burnt or faded you will need to adjust your temp.

Don't forget to only press a small area of a mug, that way you can reuse the mug (dip in water to cool) a few times until you hit the "sweet spot".

If it still does not work then there is the obvious answer as to why stuff on ebay is considerably cheaper than a well known supplier. As a side note, check out Sublisplash inks from Dye Sub Supplies and a Ricoh. From my understanding the black is miles better than Sawgrass.

Lastly, I understand budget constraints and the cost of supplies. But trust me, those that have purchase decent, reliable kit and supplies from reputable suppliers have never regretted the additional outlay. It might be worth saving a few more pennies to get it right.

[socialgiraffe]

Glad to be able to help, black is the most difficult colour to get perfect and it will be very difficult to achieve without good quality ink and a decent profile. Good quality ink doesn't have to be Sawgrass or Sublisplash, these are recommended for "newbies" as they are the easiest to work with. You simply put the cartridge in the Ricoh, install the driver and you are up and running.

A very good investment would be a Epson 1500W, a refillable system from City Inks Express and a very good quality ink such as Sublinova from Dye Sub Supplies. Total outlay would be in the region of £600.00, but that will get you a massive 6 litres of very good ink from a reputable supplier who will supply you with a profile and help you get going. However there is a little bit more of a faff to the setting up etc. If you can be bothered then this maybe a good compromise between cheap ink and reliable ink.