FluidColor R98H Static & Dropout

[Aaron Hunter]

We've had our FC since last October and have run into a consistent issue that I'm researching some help for. By nature, Anchorage is very dry. We have inline humidifiers (we share space with our Indigo) in our pressroom and have a consistent 45% ambient humidity. We are still consistently having ink build up on the head/platen/lamps that will cause ink drop out as soon as 2 boards after cleaning. I'm looking for better grounding solutions as we are already have tinsel, using static prohibitors, and working on locating our stock to a location that is closer in temp/humidity as our printer. Has anyone else had this issue or have possible suggestions? I've done a few web searches but have come up with very little about this printer in regards to tips/tricks & solutions.
Appreciate the time!

 

[GC Decor]

We had issues with our FC and static but only with Coro and styrene.
First thing I would suggest is Running a few test runs of paper - full bed runs, ink is cheap enough for a standard image.. This will rule out any other issue - paper shouldnt create static and is a good base start.
If you have no issues with paper - check to ensure your static bars have green light when running (indicator behind head safety bars).
Make sure your machine is grounded properly - shouldn’t be getting shocked if you touch print bed.
Slow down your head movement speed with a custom setting.(Slow speed gives more time for static bar to work and less air flow)
Get your Humidity to 50% and Room temp to 70 +.
Reduce your air flow in the air - no fans/blowers or vents aiming at print bed.
We used anti static spray on our print bed- spray on and wipe off. Don’t get on print areas of media- ink won’t stick well.
We haven’t 100% fix our issue yet but have gotten really close with these improvements.
Hopefully some of this will help out.

 

[Aaron Hunter]

Couple of solid points to try out. Much appreciated. Our indigo starts to freak a bit if we get too humid so may have to get a solo humidifier for closer to the machine. We do a wide variety of levels of printing and getting overspray on everything from Coro to foam core and even 10pt magic. We bought it with the intent to speed up our Coro printing as we do large runs for political seasons. When we are running we are about 14-15 4’x8’s an hour (2 runs of 5 at 22 mins) most of the time we are barely able to get 10 boards an hour. The worst is when we switch gears in to museum quality prints and even with all the pre prep we are still getting over spray on 12mm PVC.

 

[In Print]

Couple of solid points to try out. Much appreciated. Our indigo starts to freak a bit if we get too humid so may have to get a solo humidifier for closer to the machine. We do a wide variety of levels of printing and getting overspray on everything from Coro to foam core and even 10pt magic. We bought it with the intent to speed up our Coro printing as we do large runs for political seasons. When we are running we are about 14-15 4’x8’s an hour (2 runs of 5 at 22 mins) most of the time we are barely able to get 10 boards an hour. The worst is when we switch gears in to museum quality prints and even with all the pre prep we are still getting over spray on 12mm PVC.

What heads are those? We have a CET K2 and we just went through this as we print magnet. They are based off the same platform if it is the Kyocera heads.

 

[signheremd]

What heads are those? We have a CET K2 and we just went through this as we print magnet. They are based off the same platform if it is the Kyocera heads.

The R98H has Ricoh Gen 5 heads

 

[GC Decor]

FC offers Kyocera & Ricoh Gen 5 and 6 Print Heads - From his print speeds I would think he’s using Ricoh

 

[signheremd]

First thing I would ask is if you have a breeze running through or a fan on while the machine is running. That can blow the droplets off course.

Second thing I would check is negative pressure. Ever drink a soda from a straw - every play with it? Think of the holes in the printheads as straws. The negative pressure is sucking on the straw just enough to keep the ink from dripping out. Too much negative pressure and the ink is drawn too far up into the print head (go to the extreme here and you suck air in). A side effect of of too little negative pressure is ink coming out too soon and scattering where it should not. Build up can mean too little negative pressure. We adjust our Negative Pressure a few times a year and keep record in a Word file of the changes so what worked previously. Typically we run 4.5, 4.7, or 4.9

Next thing is Alignments. If you check right and left directional offsets you can look at the thin dots of color and see if they are printing all in a row or somewhat scattered. Scattered dots can mean you need to adjust Voltage/Temperature. But I would run through each alignment/calibration in order before I did anything else - should do this once or twice a year. If one or more heads can't print straight lines in a reasonable pattern, then I would change voltage. But always keep track of where you started and where you ended in case you have to back to the beginning...

Also, if you don't have one buy a loop (stand magnifier) so you can see the dot patterns - really helps sort out things like this

 

[signheremd]

I should add a few things:

If you get prints that look like static on an old TV, that is usually an indicator of Negative Pressure being off.

Air does sometimes get in the lines, Air bubbles can cause overspray and will cause streaks of off color.

We clean coroplast off with Solv S1000 Surface Cleaner/Prep. https://tubelite.com/inx-solv1128.html

(Actually we use it on everything but painted wood, wood, paper products and glass - we use Denatured Alcohol on glass, you can get denatured alcohol from Lowes, etc.)

 

[GC Decor]

Simple test for static is to run your problem material (Magnet) if your having issues than run plain paper. If your problem is only on Magnet than you can confirm it’s a static issue or Material issue. Materials will specifically say if they are UV acceptable. Static has several solutions, anti static wands work well, several members use anti static spray or wipes (dryer sheets work as well). Most distributors sell a promoter that acts as anti static (grimco and other companies).