HELP! - Head striking perf film when printing

[BlackQuill]

I recently purchased a HP335, I have been loving using it aside from one problem when running briteline 70/30 perf film. The material starts to wrinkle and hits the print heads as they run across, smearing the ink, I have tried adjusting the temperature and the passes but nothing seems to help. I am starting to think its just the material, I usually get problems with a fresh new roll. Only thing I can do is add tension to the material as its printing, then putting it on the take up reel with the weights mounted in the front to add weight. After about half the roll has been used, the material works without any problems, not sure if I am just getting old rolls that have been sitting for a long time or what the problem is. I have reached out to my supplier and they say that they have never had those issues, which I really doubt. Has anyone experienced those issues and what have you done to solve them?

 

[Sky Bryan]

Brightline is the problem, I only use that brand-name for cheap premask.

 

[BlackQuill]

Brightline is the problem, I only use that brand-name for cheap premask.

what material brand are you running for perf?

 

[MarkSnelling]

I've got plenty of customers running 300 series latex devices successfully on the Continental Panorama One perf. Great product and excellent pricing. I've had a number of people say that our pricing for 164' rolls is the same as Briteline's 100 foot rolls. We sell 54"x164' rolls of 70/30, 60/40, and 80/20 rolls for $391.14/roll

 

[Stacey K]

I use Briteline also on my HP 315and it sucks. I stand at the machine and gently pull the middle of the graphic as it comes out to keep it flat and from waving. It works but I'm going to try the product listed above for the my next roll!

 

[Printy McPrint-Print]

It's usually the temp and vacuum that I have to adjust on both the HP360 and HP335 drastically. We only use Briteline Window Perf. I have to adjust the settings, add clamps to the front of the material, and use the take-up roll. I think the high heat setting on the HP is the main issue because I use the same material on our Canon and it works great without any issues.

 

[Pastie]

I upped my vacuum to 65. No issues. I run briteline and clear vision 80/20.

 

[Precision]

Same story here. Learned a lot burning rolls of perf. We run an HP360.

Here's what we do and it is working well.

Heat 194 max
Optimizer 24
Vacuum 35
300dpi/16 pass

On any perf job we figure in about 4' into the job. Then we feed it out almost to where it touches the take up reel for the added wait and to help the vinyl from curling.

The 16 passes help give it a good deep color and eliminates the "dry" patchy look that can happen with certain colors/files.

We also switched from Briteline 80/20 to Windowmark 70/30 for flat exterior windows and econoview 50/50 for vehicles.

Solvex 70/30 is a good product also, a bit higher price but the roll is 164'.

You can't learn if you don't make those costly lessons/mistakes. Have my share on a regular basis! Lol.

I hope this helps.

 

[Steenland]

My suggestion will sound counter-intuitive, but it made all the difference for me: less weight on the dancer bar.

When I was having these same problems with perf, I tried lowering the heat, increasing the vacuum, and increasing the interpass delay. All of these helped, but after a few feet had run through, I would still get head strikes and heater scrapes. As I observed the media going to the take-up reel, I could see a wave start to form at the dancer bar and work its way up into the curing unit, causing scrapes. I believe the wave is caused by the fact that the dancer bar is not perfectly parallel, and because the media is being tugged at a slight angle, it causes a wave. Installing the counter weights solved the problem for me.

 

[mt59864]

I recently purchased a HP335, I have been loving using it aside from one problem when running briteline 70/30 perf film. The material starts to wrinkle and hits the print heads as they run across, smearing the ink, I have tried adjusting the temperature and the passes but nothing seems to help. I am starting to think its just the material, I usually get problems with a fresh new roll. Only thing I can do is add tension to the material as its printing, then putting it on the take up reel with the weights mounted in the front to add weight. After about half the roll has been used, the material works without any problems, not sure if I am just getting old rolls that have been sitting for a long time or what the problem is. I have reached out to my supplier and they say that they have never had those issues, which I really doubt. Has anyone experienced those issues and what have you done to solve them?

use paper backed product only..plastic back warps with the heat

 

[balstestrat]

use paper backed product only..plastic back warps with the heat

I guess you haven't ever tried printing paper?

 

[mt59864]

use paper backed in a 315 all the time ..no head strikes..if its still an issue use the edge holders

 

[BlackQuill]

I've got plenty of customers running 300 series latex devices successfully on the Continental Panorama One perf. Great product and excellent pricing. I've had a number of people say that our pricing for 164' rolls is the same as Briteline's 100 foot rolls. We sell 54"x164' rolls of 70/30, 60/40, and 80/20 rolls for $391.14/roll

Do you guys have a 60" roll option on the 70/30 that is what I mainly use

 

[BlackQuill]

I use Briteline also on my HP 315and it sucks. I stand at the machine and gently pull the middle of the graphic as it comes out to keep it flat and from waving. It works but I'm going to try the product listed above for the my next roll!

To finish up the roll, I use the takeup reel with the counter weights set in front and it adds enough tension for large jobs.

 

[BlackQuill]

I upped my vacuum to 65. No issues. I run briteline and clear vision 80/20.

What temp do you put it on? I might have to do some experimenting, I reduced the temp to 90c and it still has issues but not sure what is the lowest

 

[BlackQuill]

use paper backed product only..plastic back warps with the heat

I will look into that for sure!

 

[BlackQuill]

I guess you haven't ever tried printing paper?

I have a roll of paper and had so many issues with the same and I held off on it because I got super busy to experiment, but that was going to be another post I wanted to make to get suggestions on what I can do for that

 

[BlackQuill]

use paper backed in a 315 all the time ..no head strikes..if its still an issue use the edge holders

I will look into that, I do use the edge holders but the wrinkles happen in the middle of the material.

 

[mt59864]

I will look into that, I do use the edge holders but the wrinkles happen in the middle of the material.

briteline has poor initial adhesion, the heat is breaking it loose from the backing . use a different brand like sihl or 3m

 

[Pastie]

What temp do you put it on? I might have to do some experimenting, I reduced the temp to 90c and it still has issues but not sure what is the lowest

I’ll look at my numbers tomorrow. I buy my 80/20 one way vision direct from overseas. 20 rolls at a time.