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help! wrinkles laminating

D

DetailsGS

New Member
Hi everyone,
Here i thought i finally had a good laminator after struggling with my daigle quick mount for years.

Now i have a GMP excelam cold laminator. Its built like a tank. both rollers appear to be perfectly straight an well adjusted.

But when i laminate a full 54" with material it wants to wrinkle. It appears to pull harder in the centre. after around 36" you get real trouble.

It will do this even without the lam. Just feeding the printed matter through by itself.

Any thoughts???


Thanks, DK
 
D

DetailsGS

New Member
laminating problem

i have been trying to laminate cut sheets. And yes i have been very careful to load every thing correctly.

Is this merely an expected result if not using the mounted feed roller and tension?
 
Circleville Signs

Circleville Signs

New Member
Unpopular, but good advice here.

Unless you are laminating 20'+ prints at a time, sled, sled, sled.

Cut down two pieces of 4'x8' 4mm coro into 54"x48" pieces. Tape the leading edge of your print down flat to one of them, and start laminating. Feed the 2nd sheet through as the first comes to an end.

Repeat as needed. You won't every wrinkle prints again.
 
FatCat

FatCat

New Member
Circleville Signs said:
Unpopular, but good advice here.

Unless you are laminating 20'+ prints at a time, sled, sled, sled.

Cut down two pieces of 4'x8' 4mm coro into 54"x48" pieces. Tape the leading edge of your print down flat to one of them, and start laminating. Feed the 2nd sheet through as the first comes to an end.

Repeat as needed. You won't every wrinkle prints again.
Click to expand...

Yup, totally agree with Gary on this one. I've been with him and witnessed it done. It is more time consuming and wastes a bit more material, but a good way to guarantee your prints won't wrinkle.

That said, I usually don't sled as I have figured out the "sweet spot" on my laminator. However, some days it doesn't matter what I do - so sledding is the next best option to get the job done.

Good luck.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
I would sooner think if it's wrinkling towards the middle, you didn't start the sheet perfectly flat and/or straight in, thus causing an unevenness of your own and not the rollers.
 
Graphics2u

Graphics2u

New Member
I'm not rying to start a fued or anything here, but I've never used a sled to laminate anything. I can see where it might help, but I think more the issue is getting pressure right. Actually if i start having issue with wrinkles in the middle, or a better way to describe it is like puckers or waves in the print in the middle, i just lighten the pressure slightlyand it seems to go away.
 
AUTO-FX

AUTO-FX

New Member
I've also had luck with putting my hand lightly on the feed roll to add just a little extra drag when I see that pucker coming.

So what about the sled makes it a successful procedure? Just because it ensures that your print enters the rollers straight and flat?
 
D

DetailsGS

New Member
i have used a sled in the past as it was the only way with my daigle.
i really want to find a way to do without.

i had much more success when the vinyl came off the feed roller.
Worst case when it started to wave. i back it up an inch, lift the top roller then put it back down and continue..

i think it may be a case of finding the "sweet spot" both in initial feed and feed roller tension.

i'll keep experimenting
 
cajunaviator

cajunaviator

New Member
If your rollers have a crown (upward bow), if you apply a little more pressure, this will flatten out the crown and the rollers will pull evenly.
 
omgsideburns

omgsideburns

New Member
I'm astounded by the amount of problems you guys have with your laminators.. I've got a GBC and I've never had a problem........................................

Maybe it's operator error )))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
 
Sticky Signs

Sticky Signs

New Member
The sweet spot is the middle of the rollers. Don't laminate stuff to one side or the other. Always in the middle. You should use as little tension as possible on all the rollers. I find that feeding a sheet by hand is a little more difficult than feeding of the roll mainly because it's harder to get the print in at a perfect 90º. If you do all of this and still have problems than I can still only assume that it's operator error or the rollers need to be adjusted so that they have even pressure on both sides. You can have a tech do this the first time. Watch and learn so you can do it yourself from than on. Other than that, all you can do is practice practice practice. I've been running laminators for about 13 years and I still manage to screw up a print every now and than and it's usually because I'm rushing or not paying attention.
 
ChicagoGraphics

ChicagoGraphics

New Member
omgsideburns said:
I'm astounded by the amount of problems you guys have with your laminators.. I've got a GBC and I've never had a problem........................................

Maybe it's operator error )))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
Click to expand...

I agree 100% with you!

Like with anything, you get what you pay for.
 
rjssigns

rjssigns

Active Member
One trick we use to make sure the leading edge goes in flat is to put two layers of 2" masking tape on it. This also "stiffens" the lead edge considerably. And because laminate doesn't stick that well to the tape you can stop and readjust. We run an RS 1650 and it works really well for us.
 
L

littledeed

New Member
I have a GBC 2064WF laminator and have never had a problem. I crank the rollers up feed my material in make sure it is straight and turn the roller down to 100. then feed my laminate onto the print.(making sure I have enough tail to start the laminate on blank material) I have never had an issue.:toasting:
 
VisualArtsImaging

VisualArtsImaging

Guest
Using a Seal 62Pro, we are not able to keep our infeed print (260g gloss inkjet paper) flat or wrinkle free if we exceed 40% nip pressure. Infeed alignment seems critical for longer runs too. We always use the hold down bar on print infeed.
 
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