any daige solo laminator users in the raleigh NC area?

[rushworks graphics]

we have a daige solo...yes i know, not the best laminator we've found out! anyways, for the life of me i can't get this thing to laminate anything, any length at all without it getting creases........absolutely ridiculas.
its still under warrenty and i'm thinking of sending it back, however... i know others use these and use them daily, so i guess theres a nack to setting it up correctly. so.....if there is anyone in the raleigh area in nc that has one and uses it without any problems i would love to come over and see how the hell your doing it!
i've had 2 techs out here and they can't even get this thing to work!! i have spoken to daige and in all fairness they have been helpfull and they have offered a phone conference call to walk me through the process, but i know the process as do the techs and we still can't figure this thing out between us....talk about a waste of material this thing has chewed through!! (rolls eyes)

 

[petesign]

I went through the same thing, and found out that I had a warped bottom roller.

Set your rollers so that a piece of paper is just barely pulling through in your hand... if you feel the tension release and get stronger, your rollers are out of round, and this causes uneven pressure. It took me about 8 months to get my Daige to where I could set it properly, and I'm the only one in our shop who has the feel for setting it correctly.

They say to get the ends touching, and then turn each knob 1/4 turn. When you do this, get the VERY END to touch, there will be a little gap between the end and there it touches next, and adjust another quarter turn. You are probably using too much pressure (if your rollers aren't warped).

Try the first test and let me know if your pressure is even.

 

[rushworks graphics]

this is actually our second new machine......i've posted on your posts about daige before buddy, i remember you having alot of problems! the bottom roller according to diage isn't warped, they talked both myself and a tech through the process of checking it via the phone. basically this is what i do....
put a business card on each end, right at the end, lower the roller untill its just grabbing the business card, then turn it 180 degrees. the creases always come in from the side, never the middle, but i can guarentee you i'll get those creases. i use this to mount stuff on at the moment and its a large drying rack!! lol.....total waste. for example i have approx 12 ft of digi prints i need to laminate for tomorrow as i'm doing a truck, but i know i can't use the laminator for them as they will get destroyed!

 

[petesign]

Ditch the card. If your creases are pulling in from the sides, I think you are using too much pressure. Take the rear metal deck off of the machine, it's a big PITA.

Run your laminate through, and get it nice and smooth across the roller, and lower each side until they are almost touching on the ends. The middle shouldnt be touching at all, or your roller is warped. Lower each side until just the very end is touching, and turn 1/4" turn. You will feel the tension in the knob increase BARELY. Same for the other side. Now, feed 1 to 2 feet of laminate through with someone holding it up on the back as it comes through. You will be able to tell immediately if you are going to have waves start across the top of the roller, if you see waves, stop and try again. Once you get the feel for it, you can set it right 90% of the time.

When I got mine, I couldn't ever get it set right, and everytime I had a long print to laminate, I had to pray to the laminator gods to get me through the process. Now, I routinely laminate 8' to 12' prints one after the other with no problems. Cast vinyl and laminate actually work better on that thing.

If I had it to do all over again, I would have bought something else, but the Daige is doing its job for now.

 

[rushworks graphics]

ok, i'll try it again later on today. i spent another 2 hours last night trying to get the thing to work! so basically....lower the roller and feed some print/lam through...then lower the ends so they are just about touching and then get a 1/4 turn and see if it works, if not, what? start again or just add another 1/4 turn?..................oh...appreciate the help by the way! lol..

 

[cajun312]

I've found that getting the lam straight when changing rolls has helped me the most. To load a new roll I wrap a foot or two of the new lam and backer around the takeup reel, making sure the lam has equal tension on the outer edges and is tracking straight to the takeup reel. Then I cut the lam from the backer on the takeup reel and feed it under the bottom roller.
I have my machine set up between two 8' tables and I use a pvc sled under my prints when laminating. I adjust my rollers the same way the others have posted above.
After I perfected my loading technique for the new rolls of lam, I've hardly every had wrinkle problems, 8' is as long as I've laminated though.

Mark

 

[rushworks graphics]

heres something i forgot to mention.... when i load the lam onto the machine, i put the end of it onto the hard roller/takeup reel(tube) and tape it up along there making sure its all straight....and everytime i tape it onto the roller, when i'm attempting to laminate, the darn backing paper comes down along with the lam. for example, as the lam is feeding through the machine, the backing paper is supposed to stay wound up on the takeup reel, but it never does, so you have to either hold it back and attempt to catch it or leave it and it gets sucked into the rollers along with the lam/print!

 

[petesign]

If you are getting wrinkles, take it loose again, and start over. You are likely getting wrinkles because of too much pressure, not too little. Adjustments on the fly never work. Cajun has it right, pull the laminate up the back and across the laminate roll, this will make sure the tension of the laminate is even across the roll. hold it up with one hand in the middle - keeping an eye on it across the bottom of the top roller as you let it down to make sure it's smooth.

Take that back metal deck off, it gets in the way, and EVERYTHING sticks to it. You can use the lip of the base on the back to stick things to and use as a guide to cut material... its also much easier to stop things from wrapping around the bottom roller as things go through without that stupid rear deck on there.

I don't use a sled, and can run 30-40' through as long as the print is loaded straight. It's pretty common to get it started a little crooked though, and have to cut the print in between separate prints on the roll and start it through again.

 

[PMG]

i have no issues with mine,,if you get wrinkles its because of uneven pressure not to less or to much pressure,,,,i can have it all the way cranked down and not get wrinkles,,its all about equal pressure...the advice given is the correct way to set it up....

 

[rushworks graphics]

thanks guys.....i new there were people out there using these things....and i would like to be the same!!..lol i'll try again later on and do as suggested here. seems that you all are doing it the same way so thats gotta be the way to do it. the daige website has some vids on there and i was going on exactly how they do it...

 

[rushworks graphics]

no......no joy! just been trying it yet again for the last 20-30 mins or so and i'm just wasting tons of material! i've probably gone through nearly a 150 ft roll of material and the same on the lam trying to get this thing to work over the last few months. i just can't for the life of me get it to run without creases, no matter what i do. i tried adjusting it as said above, just won't do it! can you maybe even post a vid on youtube or something regarding the setup and running so i can see maybe??

 

[rushworks graphics]

just tried again....yet another 20 ft of mat/lam.....just not happening. looks like i'm going to have to hand laminate my digi prints for tomorrow..great!! all 12 foot of them.

 

[rushworks graphics]

well after trying it one last time......hate to have these things get the better of me! i followed the videos...again...took everyones advice again and tried it....first time i have actually managed to get a print through that thing with out 1 crease! so, am going to try it again a few more time and fingers crossed i can actually laminate some prints today/tonight for the job tomorrow.......we'll see.

 

[petesign]

Don't touch that thing and laminate it now. Don't laeve your rollers pressed together overnight, or you will have flatspots in the rollers.

 

[rushworks graphics]

ahh, well, unfortunatly, i have to now change from the calendered lam over to the cast lam! so.....just doing that now, and i'm hoping that i can fingers crossed get the 12 ft of digi prints laminated without it screwing it up and having to redo again tonight.

 

[petesign]

Cast laminate has always been more forgiving for me. Best of luck!

 

[AUTO-FX]

I had a bunch of trouble with mine, wasted a ton of materials, etc etc., but one thing that I noticed - if I put my hand on the roll of lam as it was feeding, to provide just a little bit of tension, it seemed to help flatten out the film before it hit the application roller. Hope this helps and good luck, I know it is very frustrating.

 

[rushworks graphics]

well, i ran it through, i had 4 large ovals and the first one was fine, the second, third and forth had some slight creases in them, and there not coming out!! darn it..(putting it politely)....going to have to reprint again tonight and then either hand lam tomorrow morning or spray lam them....pita! am going to talk to the guy about taking it back on monday, and see what we can do regarding another better laminator. seal have the new el out for about 5 g i think and i know rs have some good ones but are about 6g.

 

[B-RAD Graphics]

i had problems when I first got mine and wasted no lie 1,000 bucks in lam..on the phone with daige and they pissed me off so bad that I was yelling at him that I am not stupid the machine is junk...

at that point I was out of my mind..

However I did figure it out and have had much sucess with it..I always told my friends that it is the biggest POS that I spent thousands on and now we laugh about it....

It does work I came up with my own set up. Best of Luck