Dupont Artistri Xite P1500 Series Instruction Manual

DuPont™Artistri®Xite P1500 Series Ink
Pigment Roll to Roll Ink – General Process Guidelines
When loading Artistri®Xite P1500 on your printer, schedule
adequate time to complete the process. Keep the following
points in mind:
a. Pigment inks by different manufacturers are not
necessarily compatible and should not be considered
miscible or interchangeable. Even pigment inks supplied
by the same manufacturer may not be compatible, so
it is important that transition from one ink to another is
done carefully and in a way that minimizes chances of
contamination. It is recommended that filters are always
replaced when loading a new ink on your printer. Do not
rinse and reuse filters that have been used with another
ink, as this practice may lead to retention of incompatible
ink components in the filters and potentially cause damage
to expensive printer components.
b. Always use the ink supplier’s recommended flushing
solution when loading or removing their ink from your
printer. Flushing solutions from one supplier are not
necessarily compatible with inks from another supplier.
To avoid any costly mishaps, only use the manufacturer’s
recommended flushing solution.
c. Before removing the incumbent ink from a printer/print
head, print a last nozzle check on paper (if possible) and
retain it as a proof of the print head status. Then follow
the supplier’s guidelines to flush the ink with the proper
flushing solution. Next flush the lines with deionized
water. Using a lint-free cloth soaked in flush compatible
with the incumbent ink, clean the nozzle plate, wiper and
capping station of all remains of the incumbent ink to avoid
contamination. Replace the water in the wiper station
and capping station containers. Remove all remains and
deposits of the incumbent ink from the nozzle plate and
all parts that come in contact with the nozzle plate during
regular maintenance procedures. Repeat the cleaning steps
with deionized water, then flush the lines with a DuPont
recommended flushing solution. Load the Artistri®Xite
P1500 inks and perform several purges to remove air from
the system. Let the inks stand in the system for at least 4-8
hours to allow degassing and removal of trapped air pockets
in feed lines. Additional help on the proper procedure for
loading and using the Artistri®Xite P1500 inks on your
printer, please consult DuPont Artistri Ink Conversion
Procedure and your printer OEM’s Operations Manual.
DuPont™Artistri®Xite P1500 is a premium pigment
ink for roll-to-roll printing
DuPont™Artistri®Xite P1500 inks are utilizing proprietary binder
and pigment stabilization technology for excellent color, fastness
and runnability with mid-viscosity Kyocera piezo print heads.
They may also be suitable for other mid-viscosity printheads. If
you are planning to use Artistri®Xite P1500 on a print head that is
not included in DuPont’s recommended list, we advise that you
thoroughly test to assure compatibility with your printer/print
head, runnability and ability to meet your customer’s required
end use performance requirements. Your ink distributor can
provide the latest information on print head compatibility for any
DuPont ink.
What you need to know if you are new to binder
containing pigment inks
If you are new to digital printing or have been using dye inks or a
binder-less pigment ink, the transition to binder containing inks,
like the Artistri®Xite P1500, may require some adjustments in
your practice.
Typically there are two kinds of textile aqueous pigment inks -
binder-containing and binder-free. Binder-free pigment inks like
the Artistri®PK2600 series usually need a pre and post-treatment
to achieve fastness. Binder containing pigment inks like Artistri®
Xite P1500 or Artistri®Xite P3600 may not need a post-treatment
to achieve fastness; therefore giving you the advantage of
lower process cost, simpler operations, and potentially shorter
production cycle. The binder is a polymer that helps pigment
particles adhere to the fabric by formation of a strong and resistant
coating around the fabric yarns during the fixation step. The binder
imparts characteristics to pigment inks that may be different than
those of aqueous dye inks or pigment binder-free inks.
Installing DuPont™Artistri®Xite P1500 inks on
your printer
It is important that proper procedures are followed when loading
a new ink system on your printer. Experienced pigment ink
users should have no problem performing the ink changeover
themselves. Less experienced users can request technical
support through their OEM, ink distributor or DuPont.

The new inks are installed. Can you start printing
production?
Once you have successfully loaded Artistri®Xite P1500 inks on
your printer, there are a couple of steps you should follow before
starting to print your customers’ production to ensure the best
print quality.
a. You will need to select the best waveform for Artistri®Xite
P1500 inks among those available on your printer. Your ink
distributor or a DuPont Field Marketing Specialist can assist
you (where available) in this task.
b. You will need to create color profiles for the Artistri®Xite
P1500 inks on your system so that colors are rendered
correctly on the fabrics you are printing for your customers.
If the fabric selection changes significantly seasonally or
by customer, create an Artistri®Xite P1500 color profile
for each fabric type. For more details on color profile
generation, consult your printer OEM’s Operations Manual,
or contact your ink distributor or a DuPont Field Marketing
Specialist to assist you.
c. Especially in the first few days of running Artistri®Xite
P1500 inks on your printer, it is advised that you monitor
closely the nozzle plate cleanliness during long runs to
establish a nozzle plate cleaning procedure and frequency
that is suitable for your production schedule and fabric mix.
Maintaining excellent print quality
Improper maintenance can negatively affect print quality
and shorten the life of the print heads. Pigment inks typically
contain higher amounts of solids than dye inks and may require
more frequent print head maintenance than dye inks. Frequent
nozzle checks are recommended to monitor the status of the
print heads and to maintain an in-control printing process.
Misdirected or missing nozzles should be cleared with a cleaning
cycle as soon as possible. If they are allowed to persist, they
will eventually become permanent missing nozzles and will
eventually lead to poor print quality. Never store the print head
in the capping station without thoroughly cleaning the nozzle
plate. Deposits of binder pigment inks left on the nozzle plate to
dry may be difficult to remove.
It is important to consider the effect production volumes or
new fabrics will have on print head maintenance and adjust
the frequency of print head cleaning appropriately to maintain
excellent print quality. When you are printing on fabrics with
a lot of lint or loose fibers, it may be necessary to increase the
cleaning frequency or perform manual cleaning with a lint-
free cloth soaked in deionized water or a compatible flush.
Monitor the condition of the nozzle plate and adjust auto-clean
frequency as necessary. Perform the daily, weekly and monthly
maintenance procedures for the capping station, wiper and
print head maintenance as recommended by your equipment’s
OEM. If there are any concerns on maintaining print quality,
please contact your ink distributor or a DuPont Field Marketing
Specialist to assist you.
Optimizing process parameters for great color and
fastness with DuPont™Artistri®Xite P1500 inks
Excellent fastness can be achieved with Artistri®Xite P1500 inks
and many commercial pretreatments. Some users also find
that the inks perform satisfactorily with their own proprietary
pretreatments. Keep in mind that acceptable print quality and
fastness (depending on end user requirements) may also be
possible on untreated fabrics. Pretreatment wet pickup on
the padder, pretreatment drying conditions and print fixation
conditions should be optimized with your pretreatment supplier
for your fabric selection. Your Ink distributor or DuPont Field
Service Specialist may also be able to recommend suitable
pretreatments for Artistri®Xite P1500 inks. Fixation in tenter
frames (dry heat forced air dryers) and calender dryers is
typically recommended. Adequate fixation can also be achieved
in systems using IR heaters. Pressing is not recommended as it
may yield lower fastness properties.
It is advised that you test your fabrics and optimize the
pretreatment application and print cure conditions for each
fabric type on your fixation unit. For medium weight (~150gsm)
cotton and cotton blends, you can start with fixation at 160-170°C
for 3 minutes. General guidance is to prolong fixation at lower
temperatures and shorten the time at higher temperatures.
The general rule of thumb is to add one minute of fixation time
when you decrease the temperature by 10°C. Please consult your
DuPont Technical Representation for pretreatment advice.
Removing Artistri®Xite P1500 Inks from your printer
When removing an ink from a printer/print head, it is a good practice
to print a last nozzle check on paper (if possible) before initiating
the flushing process. Retain that nozzle check as proof of print head
status. DuPont™F700 and DuPont™KF200 Flushing Solutions are
compatible with all Artistri®Xite P1500 inks. Your distributor can help
you select the best flushing solution for your printer.
After flushing the lines with DuPont flushing solution, introduce
deionized water to minimize any compatibility issues with a
subsequent ink. For more information on the procedure for
removing the Artistri®inks from your printer, please consult
DuPont’s Artistri Ink Conversion Procedure and your printer
OEM’s Operations Manual.
Printer/Print-head Storage with DuPont™Artistri®Ink
DuPont™F700 and KF200 are NOT storage solutions.
They are intended for use as a system flush only. DuPont
recommendations for head storage when using Artistri®inks are
as follows:
a. In cases where the idle time is less than 7 days, it is
suggested that the user simply leave the ink in the system.
The head should be cleaned thoroughly and be fully
capped (sealed) when stored to prevent dripping from
nozzles or drying out. In addition, capping stations with
standing DI water or ink tend to maintain higher humidity
levels near the nozzles and have been shown to improve
nozzle re-start after the idle period.
b. In cases where the idle time is longer than 7 days, it is
suggested to flush the print head with a suitable DuPont
flushing solution and immediately load a cleaning or
storage solution (recommendation from the printer OEM)
for longer term storage. After loading the storage solution,
follow steps listed above in “less than 7 days idle”.
Always consult your specific print-head/printer OEM’s technical
documentation for the best practices for their individual products.

Maintenance and Troubleshooting
Standard printer maintenance:
Clean daily:
• Waste ink drain bottle (when starting the day)
• Flushing stage
• Front roller
• Printing table and media guides
• Front and rear dancing bar
• Capping unit and its surroundings
• Wipers (when finishing the day)
• Print nozzle checks on paper (if possible) daily to monitor
printer and nozzle status
Clean weekly:
• Head baseplate
• Machine’s exterior
Clean monthly:
• Machine’s interior
• Encoder strip
• Capping unit (deep cleaning)
Bear in mind that the following maintenance periods are
suggestions. Maintenance intervals mostly depend on
printer usage, the type of fabrics, and the cleanliness of the
surrounding environment. If the unit is heavily used (16-24
hours run for example), with fabrics with heavy coatings, or in
dusty environments, we would recommend the user increase
maintenance frequency. Always follow manufacturer’s
suggested maintenance.
Troubleshooting Tips:
• Missing nozzles after an ink changeover should come back
with time. It is best practice to perform multiple purges and let
the new ink sit overnight so that air settles out of the system.
• Initial jetting sustainability may be poor as air works its way
out of the system. This can be overcome by printing at slower
speeds before ramping up to normal printing speeds.
• After an ink change, ensure filters are free of trapped air.
If air entrapment occurs and restricts ink flow, bleed air as
necessary.
• Severe starvation may be a symptom of restricted flow
through the last chance filters. Additional replacement of the
last chance filters may be required.
• Do not over-exercise the print heads if you observe starvation
symptoms as this will affect the life of the printhead. If this
occurs, verify all filters and ink feed lines are free of trapped
air, then check the negative pressure setting.
• If the machine is misting, this could be caused by excessive
print gap. Check the print gap to make sure you have the right
height.
• Nozzle plate wetting or dripping from the print head could
be caused from air in the ink lines or not having the negative
pressure set correctly.
• If banding and/or misdirects occur, check the alignment of the
printer and purge the print head.
Technical Data
Storage Temperature and Shelf Life
It is recommended that Artistri®Xite P1500 Pigment Inks
be stored in sealed containers in a clean, dry area, with
temperatures regulated between 10 – 40°C (50 – 104°F). Improper
storage temperatures or storage of open ink containers in
dusty, ambient conditions may shorten the ink’s shelf life. When
properly stored your DuPont inks should last at least 12 months.
Ink Physical Properties
The table below lists the pertinent physical ink parameters of the
Artistri®Xite P1500 CMYK inks.
Physical Properties nP1510 nP1520 nP1530 nP1540
pH, as made 7.0 – 9.0 7.0 – 9.0 7.0 – 9.0 7.0 – 9.0
Viscosity 25°C (cP) 3.0 – 5.0 3.0 – 5.0 3.0 – 5.0 3.0 – 5.0
Surface tension (mN/m) 23 – 29 23 – 29 23 – 29 23 – 29
Jetting Properties
1. De-gassing
DuPont recommends de-gassing ink to achieve <2ppm dissolved
oxygen.
2. Effect of Head Temperature on Viscosity
These inks have been extensively tested on Epson print heads
operation at 25°C. Some customers prefer higher operating
temperatures. Keep in mind that higher operating temperatures
accelerate evaporation of volatile components and may affect
latency and increase maintenance frequency. The graph below
can be used to aid your selection of operating parameters for
your print head.
Temperature (°C)
Viscosity (cP)
15 25 35 45
5.0
4.5
4.0
4.5
3.0
2.5
2.0

The information provided in this data sheet corresponds to our knowledge on the subject at the date of its publication. It may be subject to revision as new knowledge
and experience becomes available. This information is not intended to substitute for any testing you may need to conduct to determine for yourself the suitability of our
products for your particular purposes. Since we cannot anticipate all variations in end-use and disposal conditions, DuPont makes no warranties and assumes no
liability in connection with any use of this information. It is intended for use by persons having technical skill, at their own discretion and risk. Nothing in this publication is
to be considered as a license to operate under or a recommendation to infringe any patent right.
DuPont™, the DuPont Oval Logo, and all products, unless otherwise noted, denoted with ™, ℠or ® are trademarks, service marks or registered trademarks of afliates of
DuPont de Nemours, Inc. Copyright © 2019 DuPont de Nemours Inc. All rights reserved.
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DuPont™Artistri®Xite P1500 Series Ink
Pigment Roll to Roll Ink – General Process Guidelines
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