How do I check a screen printing shop’s direct-to-garment printer maintenance history?
Ask for the service log, the print-head replacement history and the daily cleaning routine. Then print a test sheet with fine detail and solid colour, and see whether lines, banding or missing nozzles appear. A printer with no records deserves a technician’s inspection.
These machines depend on daily care. Ask the owner what the cleaning and head-maintenance routine is, who does it, and what happens when the shop is closed for a few days. Dried ink in the lines and clogged nozzles are common reasons for repairs, and a shop that has been careless will often show it in the results.
Request every invoice for repairs, print heads, dampers, capping parts and software or firmware updates. Note how often the same fault returns. Ask how much ink and pretreatment the shop buys each month and whether the printer is used steadily or sits idle.
Run your own tests. Print a detailed image with a gradient, small text and a large solid block on a few garment types. Look for banding, colour shifts and white-ink problems, and see how many cleaning cycles it takes to pass a nozzle check. Have a qualified technician check the printer, and ask your lawyer to confirm whether it is owned outright or under a lease or service contract. Ask how often the printer sits unused, because long idle spells are hard on it. Ask also what the shop would do for a rush job if the printer failed during a busy week.
Key takeaways
- Ask for repair invoices and print-head history, not only the owner’s word.
- Run a detailed test print on several garments.
- Confirm the printer is owned, not leased, before it counts in the deal.
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Sources
This answer is checked against primary sources. Links were last confirmed on the dates shown.
- 01Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentHow to conduct due diligence when buying a business
- 02Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentEquipment valuation: How to do it
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