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Need Help Lamps on Vanguard VK300

RDM

New Member
Our print operator started experiencing issues today printing .040 styrene on our VK300. The print would be dropped in, start printing as it normally would, then the lamps would cut out, then come back on at the end of the print. We're having to stop every 10-15 sheets and clean the undercarriage, print heads, and wipe the lamps due to the static with this material. Was wondering if anyone else has ever experienced such issues? Was a brand new machine in late July, hasn't run enough to warrant replacing the bulbs. Wondering if it's the static causing an issue or something else. Any advice or suggestions appreciated.

THANKS!
 

signheremd

New Member
Those symptoms and this time of year - static. Try cleaning the Polystyrene twice with alcohol and a lint free cloth or microfiber cloth - last wipe evenly straight all in one direction. The Alcohol will help reduce the static. You could also add a humidifier to your shop - these machines like 40-50% humidity.
 

Troy Lesher

New Member
There are several solutions, a couple of which you have already been told by firesprint and signheremd. Keyence (american company) makes a AntiStatic blower you can mount close to your printer to control static. most anti static bares are just negative ion producers with no rhymer or reason hence they really don't work well. Keyence makes an effective system to adjust positive or negaive in order to produce a neutral environment which is what you want. Humidity in your area of florida is not generally a problem, but during the winter if you get below 40% humidity it can cause that much of a static issue.
 
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RDM

New Member
As it turns out, we have a faulty chiller on the machine which is the reason the lamps keeps cutting out. When the temp gets over 50° C the lamps just shut off. Basically we can run 8-10 sheets, wait 10 minutes or so and start again. Definitely not the best way to get this large run done. We'll just have to limp through this job while we await Vanguard's repair/replacement. Luckily we have a VR5 that we can run some of this job on - my background in color matching has really paid off on this one!

Troy - I'll definitely check out the Keyence blower you mentioned.

Thanks for the input everyone, it is appreciated.
 
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