Quartz flashes for manuals

[Printhouse]

I know that in a past discussion about flashes there was a mention of some folks running quartz flashes on their manual presses.  I am seriously considering moving up to a quartz in the very near future.  As I am getting busier and busier with larger jobs coming in I am finding myself seemingly wasting a lot of time counting my flash times.  I have been looking at a unit from QuartzExpress.com.  Anyone out there that is running a quartz unit that could provide some info either for or against the idea?  For the price of the unit it seems like it would be a wise investment in the long run.  Thanks guys!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Quartz-Flash-Unit-/190723315678?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c67fed7de

[Frog]

I have a question. Who here with an IR panel flashes for 18 seconds?
From their ad:
Benefits:
Speed: eliminate waste wait time
A 100 shirt order with a single flash requires 18 seconds per garment which equates to a 30min wait time.
Now add multiple flashes and your production overhead more than doubles!
Quartz unit saves time, money, and energy!


Why can't they just sell it on its own merits rather than trying to dazzle a newbie with exaggerated bull?

[Printhouse]

I have to agree with you on that one!  I personally flash my whites for 5 seconds between strokes and then 10 seconds prior to hitting the next color.  I am using a workhorse 18 x 20 forced air primus flash.  I was considering putting 2 flashes on the press, one at station 2 and one at 5 or 6.  I am running an 8 color press.

[Nick Bane]

never had to wait for flash times with my omni flash on a manual press.

[Prosperi-Tees]

I have a cheapo BBC Econo flash and my flash times are no more than 5-6 seconds.

[Printhouse]

I have a BBC flash that I have not even used, maybe I will throw it in the mix tomorrow and see if it seems to flash better.  If I would flash for 5 seconds between colors they are definitely on the verge of being wet to touch..... At 8 the are tacky and 10 you can just feel the tack barely.

[Prosperi-Tees]

I run the flash maybe an inch or less above the platen.

[Printhouse]

I will lower mine tomorrow and try it.  I am 1.5 inches or maybe a hair more right now.

[Nick Bane]

yeah if your flash times are taking too long, turn up temp if possible, or lower panel closer to the platten.

[Inkworks]

I'd love to have a quartz flash on the manual to keep all that heat out of the shop. Having an IR flash sitting there oozing heat while someone prints bugs me, particularly in the summer. It doesn't bug me $1750 though...yet..

We flash 4-10 seconds depending on the print with our current IR, sometimes with the flash 3/8" or closer to the shirt to speed it up.

When the time comes to upgrade, and it will as our current flash is too small for many jobs, I'll seriously look at a quartz unit.

[Prosperi-Tees]

Seriously I don't think anyone printing alone on a  manual with 4 or more platens can print faster than IR flash adjusted properly can flash. At least I can't unless its a small left chest print then sometimes I have to wait a second.

[ZooCity]

I have a question. Who here with an IR panel flashes for 18 seconds?
From their ad:
Benefits:
Speed: eliminate waste wait time
A 100 shirt order with a single flash requires 18 seconds per garment which equates to a 30min wait time.
Now add multiple flashes and your production overhead more than doubles!
Quartz unit saves time, money, and energy!


Why can't they just sell it on its own merits rather than trying to dazzle a newbie with exaggerated bull?

That's quite the exaggeration but we have times up to 8-10sec using the IR.  Mostly due to our typical fabric selections which are thin ringspuns and blends.   

An IR flash slows us down is in a p/f/p/f situation where the first flash is as long as you need to load a shirt and print but the second is as long as you need to print the second hit which is not long at all.  We also suffer timewise when running the manual with one printer and one or two loader/pullers which gets you moving over 350pcs an hour easily, if the flash can keep up.

Ironically, our brand spankin' new M&R Red Chili is still sitting in the corner looking all red and purdy so I can't help out on the quartz purchase decision.  Why is it not plugged in and on the press?  God knows.  Insanely busy for one and we also flashed considerably less this year since hooking up the larger dryer and running wb and discharge.  Haven't had that order that's forced me to do the monumental task of plugging it in (plug's all ready to go and just hanging there) and adjusting the settings....yes that's embarrassing but when it comes down to fishing on my day off or tinkering with a flash unit, guess which one I'm doing? 

But I will say this- get a quartz unit with intensity control if you print on blends.  Even though I haven't used our quartz yet I know I needed it because our IR height is always about 1" or so off the garment but we use a PID controller on it and the temp varies wildly from fabric to fabric and print to print.  Height adjustment should really only come into play for thicker/thinner substrates in my humblest of opinions. 

[ZooCity]

Those guys may not be exaggerating much if you consider some of the cheapo deals out there though.  Just a thought.

[Frog]

They actually reference an 18" x 24" Black Body for the comparison.

Cost: Average purchase cost of a standard black body 18”x24” is $800.
An average screen printer prints 20 jobs per week.
Example: 100 Shirts at 1 flash per shirt= 30min in “wait overhead”
Average screen printer = $10 per hour (depends on location)
“Wait Overhead” per 100 shirt at 1 flash per shirt= $5

[Gilligan]

I flash for 10 seconds, but my flash is high and we're slow.

Takes me longer than that to load a shirt so no need to rush the flash.  But yeah, 18 is quite exaggerated!