# Good experiences with US Scrren and T-jet



## skegrie431 (Oct 31, 2007)

There seems to be a lot of people that are disappointed with their T-Jet and the support of US Screen. I think that we, who are satisfied with our t-jets and US Screen also should have a thread. 

I recived my 2:nd t-jet last week, it was the Blazer Pro and of course everything didn´t work perfect from the start, still have som issues, but I´m getting real helpful support from the US Screen Staff och I´m sure that my issues will work out. Like everybody else know, It´s a very new technique. 

/Peo


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## csquared (Sep 8, 2006)

I like this idea Peo.


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## AaronM (Mar 28, 2007)

Thank you Peo. Contact me if I can do anything to help!

Sincerely,
Aaron Montgomery
U.S. Screen Print & Inkjet Technology


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## sodrisc (Apr 6, 2006)

skegrie431 said:


> of course everything didn´t work perfect from the start


i find that statement nothing short of staggering, are your expectations so low after pulling out so much money you think its acceptable it doesnt work properly on arrival?


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## skegrie431 (Oct 31, 2007)

Since working within the printing industry for 15 years I know that every new machine have to run in and be adjusted, as well as the operator. There is very few (if any) advanced printers that is just "plug & play". So, to answer your question, I´didnt expect to just plug it in and print t-shirt like a regular Epson prints on paper. I know it will take a while for me to get everything perfect and like I want it.


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## csquared (Sep 8, 2006)

I have had one problem with my refurbished T-Jet2 and it was my own fault. You *will not *find a machine from any vendor that does not have problems.


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## dudefor20 (Feb 25, 2008)

Most things that are pretty technical do not "work" strait out of the box.. there is a learning curve. With these machines there is some software you have to learn,and you need to understand the basic functions of the machine.I have used them,and seen them in action. They work,sometimes people working it do not have the aptitude for it,or anything really.
I can see how a lot of folks could be like this..
MySpaceTV Videos: Zoolander... "In the Computer!" by Germz!!!

Then say that PC's suck..


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

Please let's try to keep this thread "on topic"  Rude, off topic, or bashing posts will be removed. Any questions, please contact me directly via Private Message, Email or the Feedback forum.​


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## csquared (Sep 8, 2006)

On a happy note here are some more prints from my T-Jet2


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## skegrie431 (Oct 31, 2007)

csquared said:


> On a happy note here are some more prints from my T-Jet2


That looks really good! /Peo


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## sodrisc (Apr 6, 2006)

my comments have been butchered out of this thread, which were in no way offensive, why cant questions be asked of what gets posted on some topics here? go a head rodney post some skewed logic, im done, the very last time i post anything here, take care. 

this post will self destruct via rodney very soon..........


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## csquared (Sep 8, 2006)

I'll try and take some more pictures of some things I have been working on


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## Coyote71 (Jan 21, 2008)

I have had great experience from my T-Jet and US Screen. Learned valuable information at the training class. Excellent tech support. This machine is a work horse. Will get another one!


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## queerrep (Jul 18, 2006)

csquared said:


> I'll try and take some more pictures of some things I have been working on


I am seriously considering DTG, but have been hesitant because of the negative posts I've read. So I would LOVE to see more photos!!! Bring it!


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## printerguy (Dec 26, 2006)

queerrep said:


> I am seriously considering DTG, but have been hesitant because of the negative posts I've read. So I would LOVE to see more photos!!! Bring it!



Here is a picture of a beach towel printed on a T-Jet Blazer Pro.


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## TSW2005 (Jul 28, 2006)

Nice, I like to see the heat press to cure THAT! lol


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## martinwoods (Jul 20, 2006)

printerguy said:


> Here is a picture of a beach towel printed on a T-Jet Blazer Pro.


Where do you find beach towels at a good price?


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## LongLimos (Feb 16, 2008)

*Re: Good experiences with US Scrren and T-Jet*

I recently purchased a used T-Jet 2 with accessories and had some software installation issues. I had read both positive and negative things in this forum about U.S. Screen and T-Jet.

One afternoon last week I called for support a few minutes before their support lines closed and was immediately answered by Sean on the first ring. 

He could not have been more helpful at the end of his day, and really went out of his way to quickly solve my problem. 

I had a very positive first experience with this company and found them to be highly professional, and quick in the resolve of the problem.


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## treadhead (Jul 26, 2006)

Wow!!!

I almost fell out of my chair when I saw this thread!!! 

I'm so used to seeing negative posts about T Jet and USSPI that I typically don't pay much attention to them! 

Great idea Peo!! Why didn't I think of this?? 

Anyway, I too own a refurbished T Jet 2 (from Equipment Zone) and have been pretty happy with the machine AND support from both Equipment Zone and USSPI.

I realize there are issues out there and that there are some people that have REAL issues with this machine and / or company but I think that their vocalness tends to skew reality. 

Was the learning curve steep? Yes
Did I have some problems? Yes
Did I get answers to my problems? Yes
Is the technology perfect? No
Is the technology improving? Yes
Can I make money with this machine? Yes

Thanks to this forum and the USSPI users forum...I've learned a great deal AND have been made aware of potential problems.

For example, I've learned a great technique for pretreating my shirts so that I rarely get the pretreat box anymore on any shirt. This was from another user. Also, although there have been numerous complaints about washability of the new FastInk 3...I've not had any issues as of yet..nor have I had any issues with washability of any of our pretreated / white ink shirts.

Anyway..sorry for rambling! Just great to hear stories from the other side of the coin!


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## skegrie431 (Oct 31, 2007)

treadhead said:


> Wow!!!
> For example, I've learned a great technique for pretreating my shirts so that I rarely get the pretreat box anymore on any shirt.


Hi, 
What is your technique for pretreating? Is there something new I can learn...

I had an issue with my Blazer yesterday, I e-mailed Us Screen an got a answer and a solution after 3 minutes. Thats fast email support!

One other thing I´ve been thinking about is how creative and good at do carpentry we "preattreaters" are. How do your preatreatment-stall look? Here´s a picture of my construction...

//Peo


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

Peo, it appears that you are pretreating in the same area you are printing ? I would be really careful of this as you can get pretreatment on your printheads and it will ruin them, it is a good way of clogging the printhead.
Just trying to help in case the vendor did not tell you about this. It is really important to pretreat far away from your printer.


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## skegrie431 (Oct 31, 2007)

sunnydayz said:


> Peo, it appears that you are pretreating in the same area you are printing ?


Hey, you´re right and I´ve read about that, but I´ve done it for a while and there have not been any problems yet, The printer is about 3-4 yards away but that maybe isn´t enough. My problem is that I don´t have that much workspace... But maybe I should go creative and build a wall beetween...


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

Yea I would be really carefull of that, those printheads are expensive  from my understanding the pretreatment will get in your nozzles and clog them. I do my pretreatment in my laundry room hehe, so it is in a seperate room all together.


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## csquared (Sep 8, 2006)

I like that booth Peo and having that light is a great idea. do you have different pretreats in those two guns (Fastcolor, Fastbright)?


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## skegrie431 (Oct 31, 2007)

csquared said:


> I like that booth Peo and having that light is a great idea. do you have different pretreats in those two guns (Fastcolor, Fastbright)?


hehe, thanks, should I start a website together with IKEA and sell this booth.. Yes, I have FastColor for light shirts in one and the Pretreatment for black shirts in the other one.


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

I have the same thing, 2 sprayers one with fast color and one for dark pretreatment.


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## embroidreamer (Jan 31, 2008)

Coyote71 said:


> I have had great experience from my T-Jet and US Screen. Learned valuable information at the training class. Excellent tech support. This machine is a work horse. Will get another one!


Just happen to have a T-Jet2...Refurbed and ready to go...I love what it can do. I simply can't keep it as busy as it likes to be. Too many other mediums in the shop.


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## treadhead (Jul 26, 2006)

skegrie431 said:


> Hi,
> What is your technique for pretreating? Is there something new I can learn...//Peo


I learned my method compliments of PinkFreud...

First off, I use primarily a 50/50 mixture of pretreatment and water for everything..including black. I know..sounds weird but I've not had any fading or washability issues..even on darks!! (knock on wood)!!

The first thing I do is spray the shirt until it is wet (not soaked) with distilled water.

My next step varies depending on whether I am doing light colors, colors or darks.

For colors, I start at the top of my print area and spray from right to left about 2 seconds and then a 2 sec return pass. I repeat this for the bottom half of my print area. I typically hold my spray gun about 10 inches from the garment. I then use 3" paint roller to roll the solution into the fibers of the shirt. If I have a front or pocket design, I spray them being careful to apply about the same amount of solution.

Now, if I have a light colored shirt (light yellow, light blue, light pink, ash, etc.), I follow the same method except I speed it up to 1 second passes across the shirt. This lays about half the amount of solution on the shirt.

If I am doing dark shirts, I follow the same 2 second procedure as colors but add a 3rd pass across the top and bottom of the print area. This lays down more pretreatment on the shirt.

After pretreating, I use a 16" x 20" heat press and press with light pressure at 330 deg for 10 sec intervals. I typically do two hits of 10 seconds each on one side then turn it over for two more hits of 10 seconds on the other side. Then I typically have to hit both sides again for another 10 seconds each. Sometimes it takes more hits. I make sure the shirt is dry before printing but I don't "over cook" the shirt. I've also gotten to the point where, even on dark shirts, there is minimal stiff feel to the garment and little to none with color and light shirts.

Sounds like alot of time but typically I can get at least one shirt pretreated and ready to print during the time another shirt is printing so there is very little wasted time.

Hope that helps!!


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## Gunslinger (Aug 3, 2007)

Hiya John ... a couple of questions ...

Your variation is close to mine, but you didn't mention pre-treat paper?

And what is the purpose of flipping the shirt over and pressing the other side?


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## treadhead (Jul 26, 2006)

Gunslinger said:


> Hiya John ... a couple of questions ...
> 
> Your variation is close to mine, but you didn't mention pre-treat paper?
> 
> And what is the purpose of flipping the shirt over and pressing the other side?


Hey Michael!!

Good to hear from you my friend...

Yep..I guess I did leave that out. I do use the parchment paper when drying the pretreatment. I use it on the first 2 hits then remove it and use just the upper platen. 

The reason I turn it over is when I have to pretreat the other side for a pocket or front design I have to flip the shirt to dry that side as well. If I tried to dry both sides thru one side of the shirt only, too much heat would be applied to that one side and it would "over cook" and leave the box or that "scaley" looking surface.

By the way, I think I finally figured out how to use that hat attachment!! lol Found a video on USSPI and will try to print one today.

John


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## Gunslinger (Aug 3, 2007)

LOL, my e-mail and site are still in DNS limbo ... either PM or CC the corp. addy [email protected] to contact me, to avoid e-mails to me bouncing back to ya. I found a DVD instruction video for that cap thingie, but it is outdated and showed an older style of one (T-Jet 1 or 2). LOL, it didn't help much. No rush, my friend ... I had to buy a bunch of cheap "trial" caps and ruined a few to get it right (avoid structured caps).

Are you pre-treating both sides, at the same time? If so, is that working out OK? I would be afraid that some of the residue would either pick up or leave behind stuff. I can see that it might be a time saver, but wonder how the prints are coming out?


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

Michael,
I pretreat both sides at once, I just put down a piece of the quilan paper on the bottom of my press and another on the top and then I also flip the shirt over, once it is about half way dry I removed the paper to allow the steam to excape. My prints come out great  and saves another trip to the sprayer.


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## Gunslinger (Aug 3, 2007)

(slapping forehead) ... but, of course! That would do it ... thanks Bobby!


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## treadhead (Jul 26, 2006)

Gunslinger said:


> LOL, my e-mail and site are still in DNS limbo ... either PM or CC the corp. addy [email protected] to contact me, to avoid e-mails to me bouncing back to ya. I found a DVD instruction video for that cap thingie, but it is outdated and showed an older style of one (T-Jet 1 or 2). LOL, it didn't help much. No rush, my friend ... I had to buy a bunch of cheap "trial" caps and ruined a few to get it right (avoid structured caps).
> 
> Are you pre-treating both sides, at the same time? If so, is that working out OK? I would be afraid that some of the residue would either pick up or leave behind stuff. I can see that it might be a time saver, but wonder how the prints are coming out?


Yep..pretreating both at the same time. I've been doing that for quite some time with no problems.


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## treadhead (Jul 26, 2006)

sunnydayz said:


> Michael,
> I pretreat both sides at once, I just put down a piece of the quilan paper on the bottom of my press and another on the top and then I also flip the shirt over, once it is about half way dry I removed the paper to allow the steam to excape. My prints come out great  and saves another trip to the sprayer.


Hey Bobbie..

Good to hear somebody else doing it as well with good results.  

I just tried it and it seemed to work fine. Kinda like my 50/50 mixture of pretreatment. lol


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

Yep it saves me a ton of time  I will usually spray about 10 shirts at a time and then press them. It saves me so much time not having to go back and forth by doing it this way and I have had great results. I have my sprayer in a different room so if I were to do them one side at a time and one at a time it would take forever just walking back and forth hehe.


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## adawg2252 (Dec 12, 2007)

sunnydayz said:


> Yep it saves me a ton of time  I will usually spray about 10 shirts at a time and then press them. It saves me so much time not having to go back and forth by doing it this way and I have had great results. I have my sprayer in a different room so if I were to do them one side at a time and one at a time it would take forever just walking back and forth hehe.


I do the same thing. I either do a dozen at a time (both sides if I need to) or however many I'm doing for the job (if it's less than a dozen).


While I'm printing other shirts I'm generally laying out the other shirts to get ready to go pretreat additional shirts, or I'll have someone loading and unloading while I go spray more shirts. It's a pretty good system having two people (one to pretreat, one to load and unload).


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

Yep I agree, If my husband is home I just make him do the pretreating hehe  That is what works best for me  of course it doesnt happen often enough though.


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## treadhead (Jul 26, 2006)

Typically, I pretreat one shirt (sometimes two) during the time another shirt is printing. Since my pretreat station is also in another room, I do end up running back and forth a bit though.... .

But it allows me to utilize the dead time that the shirts are printing.


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## Gunslinger (Aug 3, 2007)

Yeah, I agree, John ... I'll have maybe half dozen or so pre-treated, but like to keep moving with a long run. So, while a shirt is printing, I am pre-treating and pressing, or curing. But, what I really need is a big screen tv to watch for those moments of waiting around!


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## treadhead (Jul 26, 2006)

Gunslinger said:


> Yeah, I agree, John ... I'll have maybe half dozen or so pre-treated, but like to keep moving with a long run. So, while a shirt is printing, I am pre-treating and pressing, or curing. But, what I really need is a big screen tv to watch for those moments of waiting around!


My big screen stays at my house!! lol.

But I do have my TV on at the shop in a location where I can do my DTG printing and watch the football game that is on that day!!


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## CoopersDesignCo (Nov 14, 2007)

I'm glad to finally see a thread for this. It definitely seems that US Screen gets the brunt of the negativity about DTG printing, but would'nt you say that it seems logical because they seem to do the most advertising and may be the most well known manufacturer of these types of machines? Say that's true, then of course there will be more comments about it in general? I stand my ground when I say that I still believe that US Screen is the furthest along in this technology, let alone the white ink technology. Of course there's a learning curve, it's a complicated piece of machinery, just like an auto press, right? How many people do you know that have bought a press and plugged it in, and then were able to print with it right away? What if you had no idea how to run an auto, but only a manual press, don't you think there would be a learning curve there? Ok, maybe I'm not making a great analogy...but the point remains the same. I bought a Refurbished T-Jet2 from Equipment Zone, a year ago. I DID have a few software issues off the bat, but USSPIT cleared those up with the download of the most updated printer packages and drivers. I'm still believe that it takes a few things to be a successful owner of a DTG machine:

1.) Computer Knowledge (not an expert, but you should be fluent...)
2.) Should be capable with art programs.
3.) Should have some knowledge of the screenprinting process in general. It helps to know what is to be expected of white underbases and such on darks.
4.) Patience. These machines are not PLUG and PLAY. Just use your common sense, and usually you can figure out why something may be wrong, and what you can do to fix it.

I'm always happy to help those that may be having issues with their T-Jet's by simply contacting me via email. I definitely think that this could possibly be the future of apparel decorating....
In other words, I LOVE MY T-JET, and US Screen has been awesome with developing the future of DTG printing!
Ann


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## andy58 (Mar 7, 2008)

It has been a mixed bag


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