Enduralam BU-1400ZJ Tension Settings Problem

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This machine works well enough but if I laminate more than say 6ft of linear material the takeup reel has issues collecting the material fast enough, leading to the problem seen below. By this stage letting things go much longer leads to messy jams. The manual simply says to "set the tension wheels" with no details. Thankfully there have been posts here regarding similar issues, so I've tried a few things...

Based on searching this forum I've tried:
Ensuring all tension wheels are even
All tension wheels are very lightly engaged
All tension wheels with medium engagement (maybe 5 or 6 full turns)
Take up reel has more tension than laminate feed reel
Feed reel has more tension than take up reel

It's clear I'm missing something here. I understand tension will have to be adjusted during takeup to account for changing roll diameters, but I can't even seem to find a baseline. Actually it's not even clear to me what the wheels do exactly. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks so much!

 

[DL Signs]

It shouldn't go that high on the roll. you need less tension on the take-up. There is no "exact way" because there are too many variables, it's all feel. There should be enough tension on the feed to just keep it slightly taught, but not too much, and enough tension on the take-up to prevent the liner from going through the rollers, it should release from the liner below the take-up reel, may even seem loose and yo-yo a bit, but shouldn't go around the take-up reel.

 

[xmarksthespot]

Well I was paying extra close attention this time and noticed the feed wheel periodically stops turning during operation, but in my case the feed roll itself kept turning and free spinning on the reel. I grabbed the roll to keep it synced with the reel stop and, lo and behold, the issue began correcting itself. So it seems to be an issue of the roll slipping on the reel - does that make sense?

 

[DL Signs]

Well I was paying extra close attention this time and noticed the feed wheel periodically stops turning during operation, but in my case the feed roll itself kept turning and free spinning on the reel. I grabbed the roll to keep it synced with the reel stop and, lo and behold, the issue began correcting itself. So it seems to be an issue of the roll slipping on the reel - does that make sense?

Yup, makes perfect sense. It doesn't need a lot of tension, but does need some to keep it from free spinning. If it slips the tension on the take-up will pull harder and start wrapping up like that. It's a balancing act.

I've run tons of different laminators, and the good news is, once you get em' dialed in you shouldn't have to do more than minor tweaks for different materials. Mark tensions somehow when you get it running good with your most used lam, then any tweaks you do make for something problematic, you can always set it back to a point where you know it works. Some lams have more agressive adhesives, and will often need more take-up tension. On the Seal I'm running now, I only have to occasionally give a little more tension on the take-up when it gets really full, usually when I'm running sheets, I can normally do a full roll at a pretty high speed without touching anything.

If you're new to this, some other things that help eliminate problems are make sure the machine is level in all directions, it really helps. You can load everything perfect, but if the machine is tweaked it won't run straight, a simple overlooked thing. Always center everything, even when using narrower laminate, and make sure everything is loaded square and straight, these will all keep material from spiraling, I notice that your take up is a bit spiraled too.

 

[xmarksthespot]

Good catch on the spiraling, I'm about 50/50 on getting a good run on that regard. Perhaps with less slack this will be less pronounced as well? I'll pay more attention on centering, sometimes my vinyl will start to skew a little and leave 1/2" on one side and I'm not using backing paper so it sticks to the rollers just enough to cause the spiraling (I think?).

I did meticulously even the pressure between the top and bottom rollers, I need to check level of the whole machine and verify even pressure again though.