|
Hey everyone —
If your shop slows down over the holiday break (and again in January/February), that downtime is one of the smartest chances you’ll get all year to protect the investments that make you money: your screen printing and embroidery equipment.
When production is slammed, maintenance turns into “we’ll get to it later.” Later becomes breakdowns, missed deadlines, and expensive emergency parts. The slow season is your window to get ahead—clean, inspect, adjust, and reset everything so you start spring running smooth.
Your manuals already tell you what to do (and when)
Nearly every press, dryer, conveyor, compressor, exposure unit, and embroidery machine ships with a maintenance schedule in the manual. It’s not “nice to have.” It’s the roadmap for:
- preventing premature wear
- keeping print quality consistent
- reducing downtime and service calls
- extending the life of belts, bearings, clamps, platens, heads, motors, and electronics
If you don’t have the manuals handy, now’s the time to download them and print the maintenance pages. Put them in a binder (or a clipboard at each machine). Then log what you do and when.
Use downtime to do the things you can’t do mid-rush
Here are high-impact maintenance wins you can knock out during the break and the slow months:
Screen printing equipment: “clean + inspect + calibrate”
- Deep clean press heads and components: remove built-up lint, spray adhesive overspray, ink dust, and grime that causes sticking and inconsistent motion.
- Check and tighten basics: hardware, clamps, squeegee/floodbar holders, indexing components, pedal switches, and air lines (if pneumatic).
- Lubrication & wear inspection: follow the manual intervals—don’t guess. Look for dry points, unusual noise, play in moving parts, cracked hoses, and tired cylinders.
- Platen/print surface cleanup: scrape, degrease, and re-tape. Check platen level and print height adjustments.
- Air system health (for air-driven equipment): drain compressor tank, check filters/regulators, inspect for leaks, and confirm pressure stability.
Dryers & flash units: “safe heat is consistent heat”
- Clean lint out of dryers/vents: lint buildup reduces airflow, increases dry times, and raises fire risk.
- Inspect belts/chains/rollers: look for fraying, tracking issues, tension problems, and worn bearings.
- Verify temperatures and dwell: check with a reliable temp method and document your “known good” settings for common garments/inks.
Embroidery equipment: “small maintenance prevents big headaches”
- Full lint and thread dust removal: especially around the rotary hook/bobbin area and thread path.
- Needles, bobbin cases, and wear parts: replace needles, inspect bobbin cases for burrs, check thread guides for grooves.
- Check tension and thread path: clean tension assemblies and confirm smooth feeding.
- Hoop and frame checks: tighten hardware, inspect for cracking/warping, and verify alignment.
Make it a “Maintenance Week” with a simple plan
A good way to actually complete maintenance is to schedule it like production:
- Pick 2–3 days during the holiday break + 1 day each week in January/February
- Assign machines to specific people
- Print the manufacturer maintenance checklist from the manual
- Create a log sheet for each machine (date, tasks done, initials, notes)
- Order common wear parts now so you’re not stuck later
The payoff: fewer surprises, better quality, smoother spring
Maintenance isn’t just avoiding breakdowns—it improves day-to-day results. Clean components, properly adjusted machines, and consistent settings mean:
- cleaner prints, less rework
- fewer thread breaks and mis-stitches
- less operator frustration
- more reliable production scheduling
Have a safe holiday break—and let’s start the new year with machines that run like they should.
|