Fedar FDA3 DTF Printer 13 Inch with RIP Software

The Complete Kit configuration combines three separate devices for an inline DTF workflow:

• Fedar FDA3 printer: Prints CMYK plus White on roll fed PET film.
• Combined powder shaker and oven: Applies powder by vibration, then melts and cures it in the heated section of the same chassis. No separate A3 oven is needed.
• Fume purifier: Captures fumes near the shaker oven. Its model number, airflow rating, filter stages, filter life, and replacement filter cost are not published.
• Riin RIP software: Prepares artwork, processes color and white layers, and sends print jobs through the Hosonsoft software stack.
• Starter consumables: CMYKW 1kg starter ink set, one 13" film roll, and 1kg fine powder.
• Setup material: Self installation manual and video instruction.
• Coverage and help: 1 year limited printer warranty plus US based phone and email support.

The fume purifier remains a third, separate device. It is not built into the printer or shaker oven.

Three configurations let you purchase the equipment your shop needs now:

• Printer Only at $3,295: Printer, Riin licence, CMYKW 1kg starter ink set, one 13" film roll, 1kg fine powder, setup material, 1 year limited printer warranty, and US based support. Shaker oven, purifier, stand, and onsite installation are excluded.
• Printer plus Shaker Oven at $4,495: Adds the combined two in one powder shaker and heated curing oven. Purifier, stand, and onsite installation are excluded.
• Complete Kit at $4,800: Adds the separate fume purifier. Printer stand, onsite installation and training, and the 120V to 220V step up converter are excluded.

Fedar's parent, Zhengzhou New Century Digital Technology Co., Ltd, is publicly listed on China's NEEQ exchange under ticker 874360. It holds the national “Specialized & Sophisticated Little Giant” designation, and its audited FY2025 report records 560 employees and R&D spending equal to 3.94% of revenue.

At the published 1.2 m2/h in 8 pass, our calculation places machine output at roughly 59 to 79 decorated shirts during eight hours of uninterrupted printing. That is machine output, not finished shop output. Film changes, nozzle checks, powdering, pressing, cutting, and packing use time from the same day.

A one person shop producing full size transfers will usually find the FDA3 comfortable around 20 to 30 pieces per day. Around 40 pieces uses more of the print window, while 60 pieces can occupy nearly all available printing time. Artwork size and film area matter more than piece count because small transfers can be nested across the roll.

As a weekly planning guide, below about 200 full size transfers the FDA3 remains comfortably matched to a small shop. Around 200 to 250 per week places it at working capacity, while sustained production above roughly 250 to 300 per week makes printing a business constraint. Its comfortable film volume ceiling is about 24 m2 per week, or roughly 105 m2 per month; above about 450 full size transfers per week is not practical on one machine in one shift.

The shaker is a shaker oven, not a vibration only powder applicator. Film enters the unit, receives powder through vibration, and passes through a heated section that melts and cures the adhesive in line.

The printer measures 720 x 390 x 320 mm, but the shaker oven needs more bench length. Published A3 shaker dryers run 35.7 to 47 inches long and weigh 36 kg or more. Our equipment layout calculation places the printer and shaker at roughly 64 to 75 inches end to end before adding film roll and output clearance. Plan near 7 ft x 3 ft for the production line, plus separate room for the purifier, heat press, supplies, and cooling.

• Use a rigid bench rather than a folding table.
• Leave top access open for the head, dampers, and capping station.
• Plan a two person lift for the printer, which is 42 kg gross.
• Shipping is free within the contiguous US. Printer only packing may be a wooden crate measuring 860 x 450 x 460 mm at 30 kg net and 42 kg gross, or a carton measuring 890 x 470 x 410 mm at 30 kg net and 36 kg gross.

The printer draws 200W. The shaker oven is the larger electrical load, but its exact wattage and amperage are not published. Comparable A3 shaker ovens span 1.17 to 1.8 kW, which is category information rather than an FDA3 rating. The shaker oven is a resistive heating appliance that behaves electrically like a space heater, drawing close to its nameplate load while heating during a production run. Have a licensed electrician confirm circuit needs from the delivered equipment rating plates. Do not assume the full set can share a standard 15A circuit. A heat press should also be included in electrical planning.

For planning only, a 120V example using a 1.17 kW shaker, the 1.8A printer load, and an assumed 1.4A purifier load totals about 13.8A. That exceeds the 12A continuous load allowance of a 15A circuit but fits within the 16A allowance of a dedicated 20A circuit. Using a 15A shaker example raises the total to about 18.2A, exceeding the continuous load allowance of a 20A circuit and requiring the shaker on its own circuit. These are category based calculations, not ratings for the unidentified bundled shaker and purifier.

The starter package supplies the materials needed for initial setup and testing: CMYKW 1kg ink, one 13" film roll, and 1kg fine powder. Pigment DTF ink is aqueous and feeds through the bulk tank system.

Optional service choices include:

• Onsite installation and training: Minimum 2 full days, $1,500 plus travel.
• Remote technical support: $100/hour.
• Financing: available through Affirm.
• Prepurchase consultation: Contact Us for a production estimate built around your intended artwork sizes and weekly order volume.

Our consumable calculation estimates about $0.83 for a full A3 transfer, about $0.68 for an 11"x14" adult front, and about $0.60 per square foot. These calculations use listed ink, powder, and film prices plus researched consumption assumptions. They exclude labor, waste, misprints, purges, head replacement, maintenance, and equipment depreciation.

Powder consumption is the model's largest sensitivity because published estimates vary widely; weighing a powder bag before and after 50 sheets provides a shop specific figure. Ink is purchased by weight but consumed by volume, and no ink density specification is published, so request the ink technical data sheet from Impact USA before treating the estimate as a measured production cost.

A single genuine Epson F1080-A1 head carries 1080 nozzles across 6 rows at 180 npi. CMYK and White share the head, producing a rated 1.2 m2/h in 8 pass, approximately 12.9 sq ft/hour.

The pass count matters because speed figures from different print modes cannot be compared without it. This published rate represents the higher quality 8 pass mode. No DPI figure is stated because the supplied documentation incorrectly places nozzle count in the resolution field.

Our print time calculation places a full A3 image at about 6.2 minutes in 8 pass. Actual jobs vary with artwork dimensions, nesting, maintenance interruptions, and film handling.

Plan for printhead replacement as an ownership cost. Epson publishes no service life figure for this head in DTF use. Reseller estimates suggest 3 to 6 months in daily production, 6 to 12 months at lower volume with disciplined care, and as little as 2 to 3 months after neglected maintenance. Genuine or OEM replacement listings run roughly $280 to $499. A full replacement event can reach $400 to $700 or more in parts after adding dampers, cap, wiper, and ribbon cables.

Replace all dampers, the capping station, and the wiper when fitting a new head. Printheads and other ink contact parts are excluded from the printer warranty.

Riin RIP is included and runs on Windows. It is published by Shenzhen Hosonsoft, the company behind the printer's Hoson mainboard software. The current Hosonsoft release is Riin 7.2, dated February 18, 2025, while Fedar's download portal lists the FDA3 build as “RIIN_V7.1.4.5_A3-2024-7-17_setup.” It handles layout, raster processing, color management, ICC import, ink limiting, print queues, and automatic nesting with a material saving arrangement mode. Its named tools include “Most saving material” automatic nesting, the Print Management Center task queue, Full Color Manager for ICC import and custom profiles, Linearization ink limiting, InkSaver, and Spot Color settings for white ink. A separate Hosonsoft printer manager handles head calibration, cleaning, and communication with the printer. That second application may be Hosonsoft PrintExp or a vendor branded version such as BetterPrinter, creating a two app workflow in which Riin controls layout, rasterizing, and color while the manager controls the hardware.

Step and repeat and matrix copy tools are limited to certain Riin editions, and the exact included edition is not published. Transparency handling, choke or spread controls, ink cost estimates, and the activation method are also unconfirmed. Choke, spread, trapping, and transparency or alpha channel handling are not documented in the official Riin manual. The manual confirms two possible licensing routes, a USB security dongle or an activation code bound to the software, but does not establish which method ships with this FDA3 package.

Supported optional RIP choices include Maintop, CADlink Fiery, and FlexiPRINT. CADlink adds documented trapping, underbase controls, variable data production, and plugins for Illustrator, Photoshop, and CorelDRAW. FlexiPRINT is sold by subscription.

Computer requirements are Windows 7 or later, Intel i5/i7, 4 GB RAM or more, a discrete GPU, and 100 GB or more free disk space. Accepted production files include JPG, TIF, PDF, and similar formats. Riin's confirmed imports include TIFF, PDF, EPS, and PSB, while confirmed exports include .rcf, .rcfx, PLT, PRN, and JPG.

Print in a well ventilated area. The included purifier captures fumes near the source and reduces what reaches the operator at the machine. It recirculates filtered air into the same room and does not duct contaminants outdoors.

A particle filter does not remove gases. The US EPA states that most filters are designed for either particles or gases, and that filtration does not replace pollutant control and ventilation. Gas capture requires suitable carbon media, which has finite adsorption life and can become saturated without an obvious visual warning. The included purifier's filter stages are not published.

California's Air Resources Board warns that thin activated charcoal filters may reduce odors briefly without removing high VOC concentrations. OSHA guidance also treats recirculated filtered air as an alternative that needs monitoring and warning safeguards not found on desktop DTF purifiers. The TPU safety data cited for the powder calls for local exhaust ventilation at melting zones.

Published purifier information is sparse across the A3 category. In a review of nine A3 class units, only one published CFM, one stated a filter class with particle size, two published a replacement interval, and two published replacement filter pricing. A category vendor selling a documented 106 CFM three stage unit still states that additional room ventilation is highly recommended.

Run the shaker oven in a room with real outside air exchange. Duct outdoors when possible, follow the filter replacement schedule supplied with the unit, and treat the purifier as source capture rather than a replacement for room ventilation.

DTF printing rewards a short, consistent service routine. Automated features reduce risk, but they do not remove daily operator care.

• Daily: Agitate white ink, perform a nozzle check, clean the cap and wiper, inspect ink levels, and clear dust or powder from the film path.
• Weekly: Clean the encoder strip with distilled water only, empty the waste tank at 75%, inspect lines for bubbles or discoloration, clean feed rollers, and run a diagnostic print.
• Monthly: Inspect dampers, flush lines when needed, clean the head face in one direction, check belt tension and the white ink motor, back up profiles, and verify calibration.

Use approved DTF cleaning solution on ink contact parts. Do not use alcohol on DTF ink residue. Keep the printer within 15 to 30 C and 35 to 65% RH, with humidity monitoring recommended during dry seasons.

For idle periods, print or run a nozzle check every 2 to 3 days. Partial clogs may appear after 3 to 4 days, with thicker ink and failed cleaning cycles possible around 7 days. Opened white ink inside the system may age within 2 to 4 weeks even when agitated correctly.

The printer carries a 1 year limited warranty covering hardware and electronic boards. Eligible components receive service and replacement support during that period.

• Printheads are not covered.
• Ink contact consumable parts are not covered, including captops, wipers, sponges, and pumps.
• Damage or defects present on arrival must be reported within 7 days of delivery.
• Approved returns must ship in the original packaging.
• Outbound replacement shipping is covered after the defect is confirmed.