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While the Epson ET-8550 is not a dedicated DTF printer, it is a little beast. Every printer comes with its own pros and cons and the 8550 is no exception to the rule. It's a great wide-format printer (Print up to 13 x 19 paper) and for the price, what you're able to do with it is amazing. The only thing required is that you convert this printer for DTF and all that is needed is that you remove the front rollers. If you perform your daily maintenance to keep the inks moving. Shaking the inks, doing your nozzle checks and printhead cleanings, shoe shining, and wet capping. Every printer requires maintenance, and some more than others. The 8550 maintenance is not as daunting as you may think, especially if you use good inks this CenDale Ink I recommend and have a proper maintenance routine.
Desktop DTF Printers typically cost $2,000 and above. Those desktop printers like the Panda 1800 or any other L1800 based printer sold by a large company is just a converted L1800 with a white ink circulating system. The speed between the 8550 and L1800 are close to the same, and the maintenance is the same as well unless your L1800 has a white ink circulating system. White DTF ink has a different composition than all of the other inks and can be the most problematic ink because if it sits too long in the printhead tubes it can rubberize and clog your printhead.
The 8550 produces beautiful color accurate and vibrant prints. Here's some examples:
As you can see, the prints are clear, beautiful and vibrant from the Epson ET-8550. Some people use this printer for sublimation as well, but with sublimation is you'll only be pressing on white shirts and polyester fabrics. If you convert this printer to do DTF printing, you can press on a multitude of fabrics and any garment color. To get some cheap blank t-shirts, check out AllDayShirts. There you can buy shirts of many different fabrics, sizes, and colors for a very low price. I recommend the Gildan G500 blank shirts as they work perfect for DTF Transfers becauase of their heavy duty stitching. The Gildan G640 is a great shirt if you like a more breathable and lighter fabric.
As long as you are doing your daily maintenance, you shouldn't have any issues with this printer. If you use the Inks I recommended, you shouldn't experience any clogging either if you do all of your maintenance as well. Overall, the Epson ET-8550 is a great printer and it makes some beautiful DTF transfers. At under $1000, you can't beat the utility and ease of use with this printer. Compared to some of the other converted printers, this one has one of the most streamlined maintenance process.
If you want to have the full step by step guide to setting up the Epson ET-8550, purchase the Ultimate DTF Make T-Shirts From Home E-Book. You will be guided through the entire setup. Supplies, printer conversion, software setup, design tools, A.I. tools, troubleshooting, and maintenance. Anytime the E-book is updated you will receive an updated copy to your email free of charge. If you want to know the supplies I use, click here to go to the supplies section of the website. Have fun and make some beautiful DTF transfers!