Need Help Banner bunches leaving headstrikes Latex 360

[CMI Signs]

We recently had a good cleaning and the media gets bunched up before it even hits the curing area. I will try removing the platens and cleaning. Thank you all for the recommendations and I will probably have to switch banner bands. Grimco is working on the issue for me and has given me a credit for a couple of rolls of banner.

 

[MMPLarge Format]

I've had the same issue with just about any sized banner, always been Grimco's Briteline or newer Duratex material. The only way i have been able to print a full banner is by sitting there next to the printer and holding pressure with my thumb onto the plastic piece of the spindle to keep the tension on the roll as tight as possible and that has seemed to work. Might just be something wrong with my printer and we're having completely different issues but either way wouldn't hurt to try. Absolutely dread having to do banners.

 

[Chris - Charlotte]

We run Top Value Fabrics 54" & 63" banner in 13 oz and 18oz without any issues. Have been running on 10 pass with high heat for 3 years without fail. I have tried the Duratex & ultraflexx banners and always had issues with head striking and bunching.

 

[dypinc]

The only banners I find that bunch are the ones that when they get hot stick to the curing platen. That is what the curing platen covers are for. I can usually tell which ones will do it when i try a new one and use the curing platen covers for them and never have any bunching problems. If you are using the curing platen covers and still get bunching then you need to look at what your vacuum setting are in your media preset. you should not need more than 15 or use 10.

 

[darrellcarpenay]

-Perhaps it's the banner material - some cheaper materials can't handle the heat and will bunch up and cause head strikes. Turn down the heat as low as you can while still allowing for proper drying of the ink.
-It can also be the vacuum pressure is too high. I know some may say to turn it up - I have had to turn mine down because the suction is so strong that the material doesn't advance properly, although this happens with wider rolls (54'' and 64'').
-Use media clamps to avoid head strikes in general.

 

[funprint]

we found loading needs to be very straight and heat at a minimum

 

[Steenland]

This sounds counter-intuitive, but you might try installing the counterweights on the back of the dancer bar. This has helped us successfully print on perforated vinyl and heavy papers that had previously been bunching up on our Latex 365.

I think the reason it helps is this: if your skew is not absolutely perfect, the heavily-weighted dancer bar is pulling the media straight, while it's being fed into the print/cure area slightly crooked. This creates a wrinkle that has to go somewhere, and I've found that it backs up into the curing section, and under the printheads. Installing the counterweights means the dancer bar isn't pulling so hard on the media, so the wrinkle is more relaxed, and doesn't work its way up the media web.

 

[StephenOrange]

I'm not familiar with the brand here in South Africa, but have had similar issues on some PVC. Our issues weren't heat related, it was vacuum and tension related. So I would lower the vacuum down to just enough to keep the media flat, and then I would print roll to sheet, so no take-up roll. High vacuum actually caused the media to "stick", and the tension almost always caused the media to run skew onto the take-up, so it wanted to self correct and then the damned head strikes would start.

 

[jwlllpl]

We use the Forward Banner 13oz ICC Profile for any banner brand we use. Since using this profile no head strikes.

 

[Gino]

Perhaps this doesn't apply to this machine, but when this happens to us, it always seems to be a rather new roll (heavy) and someone forgot to unwind and relieve the tension from the roll itself. Seems to always go away, when we take the stress off it.

 

[balstestrat]

Perhaps this doesn't apply to this machine, but when this happens to us, it always seems to be a rather new roll (heavy) and someone forgot to unwind and relieve the tension from the roll itself. Seems to always go away, when we take the stress off it.

No, doesn't apply as there is always tension applied to the roll.

But it can be adjusted in the media settings if someone is wondering.

 

[dypinc]

Some banner media you just have to use the platen covers, but if you are still getting bunching with the platen covers then you vacuum is just set too high and or the heat is excessive.

 

[Mike Brice]

I have that problem with our economy vinyl (Orafol 3164) & window perf (briteline) as well as banner sometimes (Duratex). Especially once the humidity hits. I usually will forward material until it passes the heating element and add roll tape to the exposed end to use as ballast until it reaches the take-up.
Side note: The carriage crashed so bad once it broke the photospectrometer right off. Ugh. I also HATE the latex 360.