Ink Experts supply ‘UK Heat Press’ digital heat press machines.

These machines offer fantastic value for money whilst being reliable, robust and easy to use.

Setup of our Clam heat press machine is very straight forward.

Unpack the clam press machine

All our heat presses are supplied in the factory supplied shipping container and are brand new units (unless otherwise stated – i.e. ex-demonstration units)

The package will contain the following items-

  • Clam Shell Heat Press Machine
  • Yellow foam mat & Black rubber mat*
  • UK specification power lead
  • Power up setting sheet
  • Basic instruction manual

*Yellow foam and black rubber mats are both required. Yellow foam mat sits on top of the base platen. Black rubber mat sits on top of yellow foam.

Use the correct power source

Clam Shell heat presses draw a considerable amount power and voltage.

They therefore require a stable electrical current from the main supply.

Ensure the heat press power lead is plugged directly into a main outlet wall socket.

DO NOT use a multiple adaptor, extension lead or other alternative power source as this will cause the electric supply to short or trip fuses.

Set temperature & time

  • Turn the power on using the red switch on the side of the digital control module
  • Open the Clam Press so the heating element is raised away from the lower platen bed
  • Press the OK button
  • P1 will appear on the digital display – P1 refers to temperature (Celsius*)
  • Use the UP and DOWN arrows to set the desired temperature
  • Press the OK button to confirm and save
  • P2 will appear on the digital display – P2 refers to time (seconds)
  • Use the UP and DOWN arrows to set the desired time
  • Press the OK button to confirm and save

The press is now set and will being to heat up to the desired temperature that was selected.

Allow the temperature to reach your set amount. When temperature is reached the press will beep.

Clamp the press closed and reopen to stop the beep.

*Temperature is set to Celsius (c) from factory, this can be changed to Fahrenheit (f) if preferred.

Adjusting Pressure

  • Always adjust pressure when the clam press is in the open position.
  • Pressure is adjusted by rotating the black pressure adjuster on top of the heat press.
  • Rotate clockwise for tightening / increasing pressure.
  • Counter clockwise for loosening / reducing pressure.

 

Pressure is alerted and adjusted depending on the product being heat pressed.

Pressure is adjusted by ‘feel’, this can take some practice but will become quite natural over a short period of time.

Change temperature scale (c or f)

  • Turn the power on using the red switch on the side of the digital control module
  • Press and hold the OK button for around 5-7 seconds
  • P3 will appear on the digital display – P3 refers to temperature scale
  • As standard the press is set to Celsius (c)
  • To change press the UP or DOWN arrows
  • Temperature scale will change between C (Celsius) and F (Fahrenheit)
  • Press the OK button to confirm and save
  • This will save the temperature scale of your choice.

Recalibrate digital temperature reading

It is possible for the digital temperature reading to be inaccurate to the true physical temperature of the heating element.

An infrared thermometer can be used to check and test the true temperature reading of a heat press.

Industry standards allow for around a 5% variation between digital and physical temperatures.

This can however be more. In these instances the heat press control module can be simply recalibrated to fix the error.

  • Turn the power on using the red switch on the side of the digital control module
  • Press and hold the OK button for around 5-7 seconds
  • P3 will appear
  • Press the OK button again
  • P4 will appear – this is the recalibration area
  • The digital display will read ‘0’ / ‘Zero’
  • To recalibrate press the UP or DOWN arrows to adjust the digital temperature reading
  • When the desired adjustment has been made press the OK button to save the temperature adjustment

When recalibrating the digital temperature reading the UP and DOWN arrows are used to change the digital reading from ‘0’

Example:

Digital temperature display reading – 180 Celsius
Physical temperature – 170 Celsius
Press the DOWN arrow until the digital display reads -10 (minus / negative 10). This will lower the digital reading by 10 degrees. The heat press will then increase heat to compensate to give a true temperature of 180 Celsius.

Digital temperature display reading – 180 Celsius
Physical temperature – 190 Celsius
Press the UP arrow until the digital display reads +10 (plus / positive 10). This will increase the digital reading by 10 degrees. The heat press will then decrease heat to compensate to give a true temperature of 180 Celsius.