HP L26500 head strikes only on IJ35 vinyl

[Pat Whatley]

Our printer has started doing something weird. We can print entire rolls of IJ40, IJ185, Briteline vinyl, banner or paper and never have a head strike. For some reason IJ35 is horrible about getting them. It's not consistently in one spot, they'll show up randomly across the roll. We've tried matte, we've tried glossy, we've gone through a couple of rolls of each so I'm pretty sure it isn't just one bad roll.

We print a ton of IJ35 for short term decals and coro signs and until recently it had never been a problem.

Anybody have any suggestion?

 

[Dan360]

Is this IJ35 or IJ35c?

They have a different backing and I found that the IJ35 backing seems to react to the heat creating rough spots on the back of the liner which doesn't feed through the printer very well. It's also very inconsistent. The controltac backing seems to handle the heat just fine though.

 

[Pat Whatley]

It's IJ35

 

[djhotwheel]

I suggest use the comply of IJ35. Also non-porus medias accept the installation better.

 

[Reveal1]

We dumped 35 (c) when 3M started producing it in Brazil last year. Jams, inconsistent white point, and different backer. Took a great product and ruined it. Now using Grimco Briteline duration X and General Formulation 201/203 which I believe is who makes the Briteline.

 

[bannertime]

Briteline 3201/3x is a good replacement for IJ35c in my opinion, but we don't use it anymore. We use Briteline IM5651 as our "cheap" SAV, which would be comparable to IJ35. If air egress is needed we use Arlon 4600lx. Briteline also released a polymeric material called IM330 with a matching laminate to compete with IJ40c/4600lx/MPI2020. It might be worth looking into as well.

 

[XtremeXccessories]

Is it clipping the edge of the film as it passes or is it in the middle of the film? Could try edge holders if the edges are being clipped.

Is the film telescoping on the take-up reel? I've had that happen, it telescopes and make one side bunch up in the printer raises it up off the platen.

Does the same person load the printer every time? Maybe someone can't quite get it loaded properly on the take-up reel and it's just a coincidence that's it's been IJ35 that they've loaded?

 

[MikePro]

any media i have issues with on my 26500, i just burn the first few feet to get it web'd around the roller bar and taped to the take-up reel.
that little bit of tension keeps everything flat & printing wonderfully for the entire roll.

other things to consider:
-dialing-down the temps a bit and increasing the vacuum pressure
-storing your vinyl roll in a warm room also keeps calendared vinyls from rapidly expanding during the preheat/curing process.

 

[Pat Whatley]

Okay, I'll try to answer everything in one go....
We've tried increasing and decreasing the temps and vacuum. Nothing helped.
Using the takeup reel doesn't help.
We've used two rolls of matte and two rolls of gloss purchased months apart. Same problem on both.
Three different people load the machine, same results.
No other material is having these issues, only the IJ35, so I have to believe it's a problem with the material. We are going to stop using it, probably going to a Briteline IM2201, but I was hoping I could find a workaround for the IJ35 since we have full rolls of matte and glossy sitting here.

 

[Pat Whatley]

Just a follow up. Putting the printer on the MESH setting allows it to print without head strikes. I'm not sure how cured the ink is but it doesn't smear and this is only for temporary stuff so we're gonna use this setting to get us through these two rolls.