Heat Press DK3 - Digital Mug Press

I have had problems with this press and when you get support, they make you repair it yourself with PDFs even if it's under warranty. Also, the pad needs to be replaced too often. I'm not making this mistake again buying an overpriced press because I think it's superior to the cheap ones. I'd rather have a cheap press work for a year or two with no issues and then replace it once it dies - rather than to pay $700 for this and have problems within the first few months. I bought it from an authorized retailer not on here. The price is more here but that may be due to inflation.

Thanks It's a great

Update: We recently tried out a new mug press from another company. I'm not allowed to mention other websites or products not sold on Amazon, but I can tell you that we paid about $250 for it. It handles 15oz as well as 11oz mugs, does a beautiful job, has no easily touched super-hot parts, and replacing the heating element costs only $30 and a couple minutes of your time. So for 1/3 the cost you can get a press that does everything the DK3 does and does it much better, with far less maintenance hassles and costs.------------------------------Original review:We purchased three of these DK3 presses to replace the $100 mug presses we had been using. They worked fine at first, but quickly became problematic. The main issue is that the green pad on the heating element begins to wear out after just a couple hundred mugs, which results in uneven heating on the mug. The manual states that pressing multiple sizes or uneven mugs can wear out the pad prematurely, but we only press one size of smooth-sided mugs. Increasing the pressure helped, but not for long, so about 300 mugs is the maximum we can get out of one pad. Contrast that with the $100 mug presses we had been using, one of which has now produced well over 1300 mugs and the pad shows no signs of wearing out. You *could* replace the entire heating element, but that costs $150! (the heating element on the $100 would be easy to change, but the company doesn't sell them or offer any repairs/replacements, for that matter).I'd be willing to live with replacing the pad (costs about $25 for pad/glue) every few weeks if the DK3 did a better job than the cheap presses, but it doesn't. Also, replacing the pad is a tedious process that takes over 24 hours! First, you have to remove the old pad, which takes forever because the pad won't just peel off. It breaks apart leaving chunks stuck to the heating element, it took me 2-3 hours to get it all off. Then you have to use automotive gasket glue to attach the new pad and clamp two mugs back-to-back to keep pressure on the pad for 24 hours while the glue sets.There's no doubt that the DK3 is well-made and easy to use. But the high maintenance costs (partly money, but mostly time), coupled with the fact that it doesn't work any better than a press costing 1/8 as much, makes me really regret this purchase. The ONLY advantage the DK3 has would be the ability to handle larger mugs, if the pad replacement wasn't such a nightmare I'd probably stick with it for that reason alone. Plus the fact that the $100 presses are basically a disposable item, you can't get warranty service or maintenance parts. Please note that while we do have a press that's done 1300+ mugs, 4-500 is a more typical lifespan (still more than the DK3). When they wear out, we just throw them away.A couple other things I wish I had known before purchasing:1) The beeper is *incredibly* loud. I had to open the case and wrap the beeper in multiple layers of electrical tape to make it tolerable.2) When inserting/removing the mug, your fingers get very close to some extremely hot metal parts, especially the adjustment bolt that protrudes out right at the sleeve opening. I now have a couple of burn scars on my fingers to prove it.

I've had this press for about 5 years now and it always performs very well. I am not a high volume producer, and use it to make one of a kind gifts for...well, everybody - lol. I've made several hundred mugs over the years without a hitch, and if I ever need another (and I doubt I would, cause this is built to last), I'd be getting another one of these babies.

Have had 2 for about 5 years if not longer. They work great. Never had a problem with either one. Just turn it on, set it for the temp we need and it just works. Best mug press on the market! We will be adding 2 more soon. You should buy one if your thinking of doing mugs.