entry level conveyor dryer for water based ink, Vastex Little Red X2

[emma.nuelle]

I need to get a conveyor dryer. I would like one that cures all inks, including water based. I am looking for an entry level one, I am not a high volume shop. I would like a quality dryer that can maybe be expandable in the future.
I am looking at the Vastex Little Red X2. Is this a good one for water based inks? Anybody has one? Can you share your experience?
thanks

[domineight]

I have one of these. Been running it around 7 months or so.
They're good little dryers, primarily I run plastisol transfers through it but stretch that to printed tee's too. They keep up with my requirements but I've yet to push a waterbased direct print through one. It would be doable albeit at a slow belt speed which I personally would find frustrating.

The only thing I don't like about this particular dryer is the heat panels seem a little short - They run from edge to edge on the belt, but the actual housing to hold the heat panel is maybe 7-8' larger, so would have been nice to have that overhang so you know what's on the edge of the belt is getting the same (or roughly the same) heat the centre of the belt is, I do notice the transfer prints I put on the edge of the belt are a little softer than the centre of the sheet, I'm running things faster than I would with direct printing though.
A small gripe I know but all in all it's a solid inexpensive little unit.

I had a Vastex econored 1 dryer in the past for the same uses - One panel @ 3500? watts from memory compared to this lilred's X2 elements @ 2500watt each. Both performed very well for my uses, I'm liking the extra length of the heat chamber on this lilred though.

I must say the belt tracking feature on these vastex dryers is much improved over what I experienced with the older econored - I bolted it all together, flipped it over, threw the belt on and guessed what I thought the tension should be in a "Yeah, that'll be right" fashion, and the belt hasn't moved from dead centre! Perfectly flat too. In the past they had used a stupid system of a V bar to create tension/tracking which caused a pinch in the centre of the belt and essentially cut the belt in half over time.

I understand Vastex have some different thinking to most regarding waterbase in that they believe the extraction of air is the best solution for waterbase as opposed to what we currently view as forced air directed into the garment being the accepted choice - I personally don't have an opinion but can see sense in that reasoning.

The only thing I would be cautious of with these small chambered dryers is watch where you place them. I've had issues in the past where I have placed the dryer in a position to be affected by airflow/vacuum sucking heat out the dryer - Too close to a doorway while another doorway was open sort of thing. Small heat chambers with a bit of airflow can be a little dicey, you can work around that though, and it isn't solely a Vastex issue, any manufacturers small infrared dryer can behave the same.

For what it's worth, I've been curious about Ranar's dryers. The 36" wide turbo-jet-star despite the funky name seems good value. I know nothing about them though.

[emma.nuelle]

Thanks for the feedback. I hope to make my decision soon.

[Nation03]

For what it's worth, I've been curious about Ranar's dryers. The 36" wide turbo-jet-star despite the funky name seems good value. I know nothing about them though.

I have the Ranar Curestar 6000. No forced air, but it's a nice little dryer. Keeps up decently with my auto. Belt tracking on that one has been a nightmare, but that's probably more on me. Wish every manufacturer would just have something similar to M&Rs patriot belt.

Turbo Jetstar looks like it would be good for water based. I've done Plasticharge with my dryer, but it was super slow and the shirts had to go through twice. Not recommended.

[Biverson]

I've got an Econored II and like it. For infrared dryers you can't really go wrong with Vastex. Great warranty and good product. I've done WB and discharge (mostly plasticharge). The X2 will work for wb. What are you using for a press? If manually then the X2 should work fine for your production speed. I've got an auto and the Econored can struggle a bit on large jobs. For WB I use Green Galaxies warp drive so I can run it through for 30 seconds, hit 280-300 and they're good. I've had good luck with plasticharge at 60 seconds too. If you can spare an extra $900 I'd suggest you jump up to the Econored II-30.


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[emma.nuelle]

I have a 4/4 Riley Hopkins press. Are you suggesting that I will have better results with WB on the econored, or that the econored is just a better dryer. Thanks for the input.

[Sbrem]

The water needs to be evaporated before the ink will cure with water base inks, this is why the larger shops will have larger driers, for longer dwell times. Whatever you try, wash them a few times to see if the inks are set. Customers don't like their prints to fade immediately as a rule, so test, test, test.

Steve

[emma.nuelle]

I will test, test, test.
Thanks for the tip.

[Shanarchy]

I've got an Econored II and like it. For infrared dryers you can't really go wrong with Vastex. Great warranty and good product. I've done WB and discharge (mostly plasticharge). The X2 will work for wb. What are you using for a press? If manually then the X2 should work fine for your production speed. I've got an auto and the Econored can struggle a bit on large jobs. For WB I use Green Galaxies warp drive so I can run it through for 30 seconds, hit 280-300 and they're good. I've had good luck with plasticharge at 60 seconds too. If you can spare an extra $900 I'd suggest you jump up to the Econored II-30.


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We also have an ECII 30" and are running an auto. Not ideal, but we get by until we can upgrade our electric to put a bigger dryer in. I've shied away from attempting waterbase or discharge because I assumed the production numbers would be too slow. What are you estimating you're getting for pieces per hour with both?

[Biverson]

I've got an Econored II and like it. For infrared dryers you can't really go wrong with Vastex. Great warranty and good product. I've done WB and discharge (mostly plasticharge). The X2 will work for wb. What are you using for a press? If manually then the X2 should work fine for your production speed. I've got an auto and the Econored can struggle a bit on large jobs. For WB I use Green Galaxies warp drive so I can run it through for 30 seconds, hit 280-300 and they're good. I've had good luck with plasticharge at 60 seconds too. If you can spare an extra $900 I'd suggest you jump up to the Econored II-30.


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We also have an ECII 30" and are running an auto. Not ideal, but we get by until we can upgrade our electric to put a bigger dryer in. I've shied away from attempting waterbase or discharge because I assumed the production numbers would be too slow. What are you estimating you're getting for pieces per hour with both?

I don't do a lot of WB, mostly just white Green Galaxy with Warp Drive so I can run them through quicker. Most orders for WB are around 100 and takes us 45 minutes to run them. We're by no means a high production/pace shop. Getting there. Did a 600 shirt order 2 week ago and we were at 200/hr plastisol and the dryer was maxed out to where I like it.


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