What is wrong with DTG machines?

Eric · April 10th, 2009, 03:23 PM

I have the GP640. Mine is not set up for darks. I use it for printing on white cotton or cotton twill only. I do a lot of reverse applique in my shop and I print the fabric on my mimaki, as I have a very odd niche.

I print my design, embroider it, and the cut it out with my Laser Bridge. either tradional or reverse.

THe printer was kinda funky to get used to, but now I really like it.

DoxaGarments · April 13th, 2009, 12:07 PM

hello, we have HM-1 and its for sale, reason: it does need attention (like daily printing and head cleanings) take 10-20 min a day which is not a big deal, but must be done to keep printer running properly.
We selling it because we are not print shop and we have our clothing line, and we only work 15-20 hours a week on our company.
We did some work for people, I even did few orders of 100 shirts, but its not my interst to print for others.
you can make good money if you can generate good amount of customers who wants small orders like 5-20 shirts, since you can charge them 8-15 bucks a shirt.
Or if you do single custom shirts you can charge someone up to 20 bucks, but you need to have those customers.

Designboi · May 5th, 2009, 11:25 AM

The Brother GT782 is the new white ink solution. And if you talk to people who own the GT541, there really is little to no maintenance. There are cheaper machines out there and there are machines that print on black. But they are the ones that need maintenance, have expensive ink, get clogged, etc.

Supertprinting.com · May 6th, 2009, 02:49 PM

The interesting thing is that the Brother has the most expensive ink available.

Maintenance on the Brother is the same as the Epson based printers if they use only CMYK ink. Performance of the Brother is however more consistent than some ( but not all) of the Epson based printers which were much cheaper to buy.

There are plenty of successful printers out there right now printing with white ink. But it isn't for everyone, because printng daily and daily maintenance are the keys to success with white ink. It is not the kind of thing where you can print once a month and have it be worthwhile.

The Brother with white ink will need similar maintenance as the Epson based printers with white ink- most likely. The reason is that the white ink formulation will be very similar to the other white inks. Rumor has it that when the white ink machine starts shipping, ink prices for the Brother will decrease, but it hasn't happened yet.

Designboi · May 6th, 2009, 03:33 PM

Although I respect your opinion SuperT, I would have to disagree. Just from talking with people who have had both it seems the GT is a lot less hassle even without taking in to account white ink. The GT541 averages $.41 a shirt. With how often people are doing cleanings with a lot of the Epson based printers out there, we actually do have cheaper ink since ours isn't spitting ink out as much.
Brother is also using their own heads for white ink and the white ink is on a closed circuit so you can back up the ink from the lines if it is going to be sitting for a long period. This way you don't waste ink, you just put it back in the cartridges.

If anyone in the Midwest wants to put their DTGP head to head against a Brother, I'd be willing to take the challenge.

Supertprinting.com · May 7th, 2009, 03:27 PM

We average about $.20-$.25 per shirt (including total ink useage- cleanings etc included).

But I agree that the Brother is a good printer. I see that you are a distributor and I am glad that you have confidence in your product. That's a good thing.

I am just an owner.

JeridHill · May 14th, 2009, 01:45 PM

I agree with SuperT...

(and how are you doing btw?)

The reality is, regardless of the machine, if someone doesn't make the sales, they are more than likely to go out of business. I say regardless, but that may not be 100% accurate either. Some machines have caused so many problems, but the vast majority of people with those types of machines are not selling them, they are trying to get their money back from the company that sold it to them.

I have seen the original tjet make someone $20,000 in profit in 4 days flat. And I have seen people buckle under and sell their machine because they couldn't get business for it. I am always telling people, build a customer base first before you purchase a machine, otherwise you might end up selling it in a short period of time.

gotburned · May 20th, 2009, 11:02 AM

I sold T-Jet's for about 6 months for U S Screen and I will tell you that his(Scott's) practice was to sell the equipment no matter what you said! Now you know why he is Out Of Business! It was a great machine until he tried to build it in house. They do require alot of love and maintance if you do not use them alot! I left U S Screen because I had a REAL problem with his biz practices. A year later he went under.

Belligerent Wear · June 4th, 2009, 10:25 PM

I can't speak for anyone else selling theirs, but mine's up because I just don't have the time to run a side business along with my "real" job and other commitments. I had help, but that help isn't here any more.

They aren't "maintenance free", but they're also not hard to keep happy. Just do the daily cleanings, run the nozzle checks, and if it's going to sit for a long time, then flush it out and fill with distilled water.

The printing itself is pretty easy once you get the hang of your graphics software, and *that* part is mess free and low hassle.

I've used mine exclusively for printing on light shirts and have had no real problems other than one that I caused when I first got the machine (forgot to snap in the print head so it was over the capping station, ink dried out and caused numerous clogs. Replaced printhead and all is good again).

Anyway, in answer to your question, I'm sure everyone has their own reasons for selling, but there's not some epidemic problem with DTG machines if that's what you're worried about. $1.50 shirt, $0.50 max for ink, sell for $10-12...still not a bad gig to get into, especially if you know anyone with a store that's willing to sell your stuff or if you're active in a schoolboard or church group that does a lot of event type stuff. I've found that even one or two regular customers plus one-offs can be plenty to keep you busy.

jmimageworks · June 25th, 2009, 12:46 PM

the Tjet we have is pure rubbish, if it is not one thing it is another. prints are not consistant the head glogs frequently and thats with strict daily maintenace schedule. With all the time put in to this machine it will never pay itself off so far this technology is still too new to be really profitable. BTW US screen is out of business they are gone along with $12,000 of our companys money.