As the temperatures change, so should the settings on your garment printing equipment.
Why it is Important to Adjust Your Conveyor Dryer Temperatures in the Winter
For most of us across the country the cold winter months are here. The days are shorter and the temperatures outside keep dropping. As the season changes from spring-to-fall and fall-to-spring, customers are ordering different garments. T-shirts and shorts are less popular while hoodies, sweatshirts, long sleeves and other cold weather apparel become the name of the game. The shift in what garments falling off your dryer is not the only change related to your conveyor tunnel. Colder weather also means adjusting your conveyor dryer temperatures. For most screen printers, there is little to no heating or cooling inside their shops - hot in the summer and cold in the winter. With shop temperatures dropping, the ambient temperature change might mean adjusting your dryer setting. That hot summer shop air helps the dryer oven stay hot by keeping the air surrounding it hot. Conversely, in the winter, the cold shop air pulls the heat away from the dryer which lowers the tunnel temperature. This means that a dryer running at the same settings all year round could have a lower heat chamber temperature in the winter compared with the summer. Without making any adjustments your t-shirts and other garments going through the dryer could be under-cured (which might lead to unhappy customers).
Solutions for Your Changing Conveyor Dryer Temperatures
There are three main ways for how to adjust your conveyor dryer temperature and setting for these colder fall and winter months. First off, raise the temperature of your dryer. The increased temperature will compensate for a lower ambient temperature. Second, you can slow your belt speed down. Third, do a combination of raising your dryer temperature and slowing down your belt speed. No matter which option you choose, always run a temperature check using Thermo-Tel Heat Sensitive Tapes or a Temperature Probe Donut. You always want to make sure you are properly curing shirts.
To Summarize
- Colder winter weather means adjusting your conveyor dryer settings.
- As the temperature falls, slow down your belt speed, increase the temperature or both.
- Always test your new settings.
