print sticking on take up - Any thoughts??

[Chasez]

We've got a very large project that we're printing a solid color red onto 3m IJ8150 and we're having some major issues. When it goes on the take up reel it sticks to the backer and leaves "matte" looking marks like tiger stripes. We've got the room temp at about 80-90F with fans blowing on the material. We have extended out the tension bar so it is about a 7 foot length before it takes up. The RH is between 25-35%.

No matter what I do, I can't get the print not to stick. Hoping that maybe some of you have run into this problem before and found a solution.

(printing on seiko w-64S)

Chaz

 

[GAC05]

I don't have the same setup but have run into this when printing eco solvent onto gloss heavyweight photo paper.
There was no way to get it dry enough to not stick using the take up reel.
Not a solution, but I ended up letting it run out onto the floor and cutting each copy as it finished and then pinning them on the walls to dry so the print never touched the backer.
I printed almost a full roll before finding out about the sticking problem.

wayne k
guam usa

 

[Gene@mpls]

Adjust the total ink limit? I can't see this after lamination and we laminate everything.

 

[Chasez]

I forgot to mention that we will have 50+ rolls (150ft roll at 5ft wide) to run this color on so running it out and cutting it off wont work for us. For the smaller runs it is a great idea and I will keep that in mind if I ever run into this issue again.

Does anyone see any issue with the RH of the room or the temperature? Would more air moving over the print as it goes around the tension bar help?

Chaz

 

[w2csa]

I had a similar issue while changing my rip settings for printing to high quality paper.
The rip settings really laid down a lot of ink.
Maybe reduce the ink?

 

[DIGIXTRA]

We've got a very large project that we're printing a solid color red onto 3m IJ8150 and we're having some major issues. When it goes on the take up reel it sticks to the backer and leaves "matte" looking marks like tiger stripes. We've got the room temp at about 80-90F with fans blowing on the material. We have extended out the tension bar so it is about a 7 foot length before it takes up. The RH is between 25-35%.

No matter what I do, I can't get the print not to stick. Hoping that maybe some of you have run into this problem before and found a solution.

(printing on seiko w-64S)

Chaz

I put a fan and a radiant heat dish in front of the take-up roll to dry it up.

 

[bulldozer]

at 80 or 90 degrees, i imagine the humidity in that room is through the roof which might not be helping this cause. not sure about that printer and it's drying system (or if it even has one) but try bumping the dryer temp all the way up.

 

[P Wagner]

Solvent ink dries through an evaporation process that is aided by heat and airflow, so your options are to:

1. Decrease the amount of fluid that is being laid down (reduce total ink)
2. Increase the amount of heat and airflow
3. Increase the time that the media spends on the heaters and before take-up.

Ideally, your workflow would take all of the variables that are unique to your installation into account (custom media profile) to permit the ink to dry sufficiently before it hits the take-up.

 

[Chasez]

Not really a solution to the current problem, but with that much vinyl required have you tried talking to 3M to see if they can make it for you?

I don't remember what their minimums are or if they can even make custom IJI80 but at almost 40k square feet it's worth a shot.

Just a thought.

Woulda been a thought but the job is partially for 3M.

Chaz

 

[Chasez]

at 80 or 90 degrees, i imagine the humidity in that room is through the roof which might not be helping this cause. not sure about that printer and it's drying system (or if it even has one) but try bumping the dryer temp all the way up.

The RH in the room at that temp is between 30-40%.

Chaz

 

[Chasez]

Solvent ink dries through an evaporation process that is aided by heat and airflow, so your options are to:

1. Decrease the amount of fluid that is being laid down (reduce total ink) - Don't have enough knowledge in this area to do it
2. Increase the amount of heat and airflow - have increased heat and airflow already (x2 1500W space heaters, x2 1000W baseboard heaters attached to the blower, 1 large industrial fan, 1 small carpet dryer rigged to a 3" PVC tube mounted above after heater, and the blower than came with the printer)
3. Increase the time that the media spends on the heaters and before take-up. - have pushed out the tension bar 30" from it's normal position to allow more time to dry before it hits the take up.

Ideally, your workflow would take all of the variables that are unique to your installation into account (custom media profile) to permit the ink to dry sufficiently before it hits the take-up. - Trying to learn how to do custom profiling but there's not a whole lot of online resources that I can find to help with it.

Chaz

 

[Get Lucky]

What about the humidity in the shop. Have you tried to reduce that at all?

I am fairly new to the printing industry but I have noticed a difference when the humidity changes outside in the time it takes for my prints to dry.

 

[player]

With that much ink drying, there must be a lot of fumes in the room. Do you have a fan taking the fumes out? If so, where does the make up air come in, and is that source humid? Would running a humidifier in the room help the humidity?

How big is each section or print? There are settings in the rip that you can pause between jobs for a preset amount of time to allow for drying. So if you are running 3' - 5' prints let them sit for 5 minutes drying before winding them on the take-up reel.

 

[Chasez]

With that much ink drying, there must be a lot of fumes in the room. Do you have a fan taking the fumes out? If so, where does the make up air come in, and is that source humid? Would running a humidifier in the room help the humidity?

How big is each section or print? There are settings in the rip that you can pause between jobs for a preset amount of time to allow for drying. So if you are running 3' - 5' prints let them sit for 5 minutes drying before winding them on the take-up reel.

We run a purex air extraction system so there's virtually no fumes. It is just 1 continuous print, it is just a large block of color that will be shipped across Canada and installed onto different sized windows.

Chaz