Is an HP Latex Printer "Safe" in a Small, Unventilated Office Space?

[Gino]

For those of you that simply open a window or a door...... isn't that the same as polluting the air ?? Now, becasue you don't like it and it seems to dissipate the odor, eventually enough of it is gonna hurt the environment ?? Isn't that the same thought pattern about hairspray bombs, cows farting and automobiles ?? No problem with a few spoilers, but you add YOUR dislikes into the air and suddenly, you've contributed a toxic mess into everyone's air...... breathing air.

 

[Stacey K]

They say they don't need to be ventilated, so I'm not sure if it's polluting the air? I don't really care that much to be honest.

You won't hear me complain about cows farting or automobiles...and you won't catch me in an electric vehicle either. But, you will find me trying to grow my own food, making my own soaps, spices and cleaners from natural ingredients. Much more than I can say for 99% of the climate nuts.

 

[balstestrat]

They say they don't need to be ventilated, so I'm not sure if it's polluting the air? I don't really care that much to be honest.

You won't hear me complain about cows farting or automobiles...and you won't catch me in an electric vehicle either. But, you will find me trying to grow my own food, making my own soaps, spices and cleaners from natural ingredients. Much more than I can say for 99% of the climate nuts.

They definitely don't say that!
The room needs to be ventilated, air exhanged five times an hour.

 

[Stacey K]

I didn't see that anywhere when I bought my HP 115. I was told there was no need for any kind of special ventilation system that's why I bought it. Where are you reading this?

 

[balstestrat]

I didn't see that anywhere when I bought my HP 115. I was told there was no need for any kind of special ventilation system that's why I bought it. Where are you reading this?

Interesting, they seem to have updated the documents to the style of "please follow your local regulations and consult expert if needed" etc etc.
But it used to say this.

However they do still mention it vaguely "fresh air ventilation".

 

[greysquirrel]

Of all of your options to add a printer to a home business, HP latex is probably the best bet. Yes you will smell the adhesive and vinyl as your printer is curing the ink but the risk is far less than adding an eco-solvent platform. Remember eco is for cheap inks not environmentally friendly. There is no waste ink to deal with. If you have a window or door open during production even better. that's how I started. upstairs bedroom. No twitched or abnormal growths to report just yet.

 

[Stacey K]

I don't think I would feel comfortable using the printer for periods of time in a small room with no windows or doors to keep open. My space is large and high ceiling so I don't really have any smells unless I'm running it for hours on end.

 

[Rayd8]

it's not so the ink, its the vinyl which get's heated which can smell awefully. One vinyl smells better than the other. Also heat could be an issue in such a thight space.

 

[Solventinkjet]

Of all of your options to add a printer to a home business, HP latex is probably the best bet. Yes you will smell the adhesive and vinyl as your printer is curing the ink but the risk is far less than adding an eco-solvent platform. Remember eco is for cheap inks not environmentally friendly. There is no waste ink to deal with. If you have a window or door open during production even better. that's how I started. upstairs bedroom. No twitched or abnormal growths to report just yet.

You'd be surprised how many people I've heard say eco solvent inks are safe because of the eco part. Also, while I don't deal a lot with Latex, I agree it is the healthier option.

 

[Johnny Best]

Anytime you heat up vinyl is dangerous to be around.

 

[MarkSnelling]

I've got a side gig graphics biz running that I'm sure I've mentioned at some time here. Microbusiness running from a home office. I've gotten the opportunity to "expand" into some small office space in a building a few blocks away. Currently it's one room, about 12' x 10', with the opportunity to also have the adjoining room. The thought is that I could put a printer & cutter in the one room. Might be a bit tight, but I think it could work with an HP 115 Print & Cut setup. Question is, as "safe" as I've read and heard that the HP Latex machines are in regard to ink & fumes, can I run one of these in such a small spot, unventilated other than the doors? The offices do not have windows (they're interior rooms), and I'm not sure how much I'm going to be allowed to chop up the place. There's a possibility to remove the wall between the rooms (if structure allows) if that helps at all.

Any thoughts?

I'm still surprised how cool I think the carbon air filter is that Acco is bringing to market. I've got one from a show special in my office. The thing is $2,000 but you can see the air quality level on this digital device and the unit cleans up to 2000sf of air. It truly works....the thing kicks into high gear whenever the smoke from the Canadian wildfires move south to our office....it when crazy when we used some solvent cleaner to remove adhesive residue from an interior window. I can send you a spec sheet if you want to know more, but it is a solid way to clean the air.

 

[jochwat]

I'm still surprised how cool I think the carbon air filter is that Acco is bringing to market. I've got one from a show special in my office. The thing is $2,000 but you can see the air quality level on this digital device and the unit cleans up to 2000sf of air. It truly works....the thing kicks into high gear whenever the smoke from the Canadian wildfires move south to our office....it when crazy when we used some solvent cleaner to remove adhesive residue from an interior window. I can send you a spec sheet if you want to know more, but it is a solid way to clean the air.

Sounds good, sure, would like to check out the specs!

 

[jochwat]

Anytime you heat up vinyl is dangerous to be around.

Haven't gone into full research mode, but ran across a few Googley items that said the danger comes from the actual burning of the vinyl, and not so much as just heating it up. However, I've also read that just heating up certain plastic food containers in the microwave releases the bad stuff, too, so, I guess it's always better to be safe than sorry. But I've also been walking in and out of fumy (fumey? fumie?) print and production shops / rooms / buildings for a lotta years like many folks here and, well, ya gotta go sometime. Just didn't want to bring any of the younger innocent bystanders with me!

 

[greysquirrel]

Anytime you heat up vinyl is dangerous to be around.

Anytime you heat up your oven its dangerous to be around.

 

[Melks]

I've been running the HP latex printer for about 5 years now. I had it set up in my home at first before moving into a larger commercial shop. It stunk when I had it at home and it stinks at the shop. I guess its all relative to the material you are running and how often the printer is running. Its definitely not healthy, but like others have said theres a tonne of stuff that aint healthy for us out there. Having a dedicated room with the printer in it and an air exchange would be ideal.

 

[citysignshop]

Since nobody has asked....WHAT is being printed? IF I run cheap matte vinyl decals with a simple light black text, there is very little smell; as some have noted, the warm vinyl is gassing off something, more than the ink. IF you are printing full-coverage wraps or wall pictorials, 150% ink density, then you are going to have some serious odor! Safe? Well, it will probably pass some nebulous WHMIS sniff test, but if an operator is in there for any length of time, you are not doing them a favor with that setup. Just my opinion.
What about the consumables? Where are rolls of raw vinyl stored? Consider your workflow carefully, where are printed media rolls going to be moved next for processing? Same for cut vinyl that then needs to be weeded, masked, trimmed etc.