Laminator Pressure Method... Air, Mechanical, Roller Weight?

[player]

I am investigating new laminators, and trying to decide if I should re-coat the rollers of my Seal 600-C or scrap it and get a new budget unit. I am curious if the way the laminator applies pressure with the top roller makes much of a difference. The old cheap laminator I have uses the weight of the roller. The old Seal 600-C I bought but discovered damaged rollers uses air pressure. It is pretty slick. I see others that may or may not have a mechanical system to apply pressure beyond the roller weight.

Is an air pressure system super good? I am trying to decide if I should get the rollers on my old Seal redone or just get rid of it and buy a lower cost China laminator.

I am also curious if I get the damaged rollers ground down instead of new rubber, what is the minimum amount I can have left on the roller and still get perfect results? The Seal rollers have .24" and .25" of grey silicone rubber over the steel roller. If they are ground down to 1/8" left, will that be enough rubber for the roller to do a good job?

I can get the rollers ground for $270 each, but I am not sure if this is an option due to the damage. To re-coat them with silicone is $1200 each, or to use a suitable but non silicone material is $900 each, plus shipping both ways ($400-$800). I would have to get the rollers out of the machine, build a crate that will suspend the rollers, and reinstall so the rollers are still level and parallel to each other...

Note: I don't have a large budget, so a new $5K or $10K unit is not an option...

Any insights into my laminator investigation would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Ahmed Samy Nagada]

Rebuild or ground down the rollers, that is much better than any budjet Chinese laminator. I own a Banner American finisher 63" and a Chinese 60" laminators, the problem with the Chinese is that the pressure applied relies on the weight of the rollers only which in many cases cause silvering, also the driving mechanism isn't suitable for long runs, the maximum you can do in one run is about 10 feet then you have to cut and re align. On te finisher I go easily roll to roll without any problems. So it's worth it on the long run to use the Seal.

 

[player]

I need the service manual for the Seal 600-C so I can see how to remove and reinstall the rollers. Any idea how to get one?

 

[player]

Has anyone noticed a huge drop in forum activity?