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Humidity Question / Color Shift

jmcnicoll

New Member
Would you run a flatbed in 15% humidity environment?

Do we stand a chance of trying to match colors printed on PVC weeks ago with humidity around 35% and now doing reprints to match color in 15% humidity?

jim
 

rjssigns

Active Member
I wouldn't run any printer at that humidity level. It will definitely affect dot gain which will mess with color matching. Plus there is a huge risk of static build up killing a board or something else.
 

fozzie

New Member
Ditto rjssigns.

When we used our flatbed in the winter with humidity around 10-15 percent we had all the static issues:
- ghosting (overspray) on prints
- Color shifts
- board failures (2 the first winter)

Hate to think of all the $$$$$ that went in the dumpster and labor and parts.

Got an industrial humidifier that easily keeps our building at 60 percent. No problems since. Best money I ever spent.
 

fozzie

New Member
our building is 60 x 120 - 7200 sq.ft.

our humidifier is a Fogco. Basically a big mister thas shoots "atomized"' water out of nozzles.

we dont run it at night. in the morning we come in, the humidity is around 10-15%. It runs about 10 minutes and the humidity goes up to what we set it, around 50 or 60%. Once it hits the mark, it runs about 3-4 minutes 2 or 3 times an hour to keep it there.

got it about 5 years ago. was around $5,000 plus another $1,000 to get a purified water system installed.
 

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Mspec

New Member
regular profiling or color calibrations should get you pretty close color regardless of the RH changes. You should reprofile or at the very least recalibrate your profiles whenever there is a change in the environment, after you install a new ink, or replace any heads. The more stable your environment, the less you will have to phutz with your color, but you should still recalibrate after you install a new ink etc...
 
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