Printing on .40 streyne with Scitex FB700

[Rachel Bigelow]

I am having one heck of a time printing quality prints on styrene .04 with the Scitex FB700. The belt has ink buildup (which I have been working to get it off, it wasn't taken care of before I started this position) I know that could be part of the problem. But even on photo plus and fine text i'm not getting the best quality print. Plus because that setting is so slow its not even worth using the flatbed, it's better to just print vinyl and mount. My sales guys don't want to charge more because we do have the flatbed and we shouldn't need to print and mount. Does anyone else have these issues? Or some suggestions from others that have the HP Scitex FB700.
Thank you!

 

[Boudica]

What is your head height at? I made my own profile for our HP550 - I just copied the polystyrene profile and added a time delay so the media wouldn't warp under the heat and cause head strikes. It works pretty well, and it allows me to lower the head height. .90 or .95 should work and look good.

 

[Rachel Bigelow]

What is your head height at? I made my own profile for our HP550 - I just copied the polystyrene profile and added a time delay so the media wouldn't warp under the heat and cause head strikes. It works pretty well, and it allows me to lower the head height. .90 or .95 should work and look good.

If my head height isn't at .80 than its completely blurry and the quality is not that great. That's only on styrene .04 though.

 

[FireSprint.com]

Can you post some photos?

Try wiping with alcohol to limit static.

You need to get that belt cleaned off the best you can.

We have also had better luck with different brands of styrene. It's not all the same. Experiment!

If you want to sub this out, we do tons of styrene for the trade and offer
015 translucent styrene
020 styrene
030 styrene
040 styrene
060 styrene
Any size, any quantity and we'll contour cut simple shapes.

 

[zspace]

What you described could be a attributed to a lot of issues. Two thoughts that haven't been mentioned -
- the corona treatment on styrene has a shelf life of 6 months
- static makes styrene hard to print. Wiping with alcohol before printing may help. If you're printing a lot of styrene a humidifier might be a better solution.
Both have created print issues on styrene in our shop.

 

[Gino]

I am having one heck of a time printing quality prints on styrene .04 with the Scitex FB700. The belt has ink buildup (which I have been working to get it off, it wasn't taken care of before I started this position) I know that could be part of the problem. But even on photo plus and fine text i'm not getting the best quality print. Plus because that setting is so slow its not even worth using the flatbed, it's better to just print vinyl and mount. My sales guys don't want to charge more because we do have the flatbed and we shouldn't need to print and mount. Does anyone else have these issues? Or some suggestions from others that have the HP Scitex FB700.
Thank you!

This goes along with your other thread, I presume ?? What I have highlighted in red is what this game is all about. They want something you don't have and cannot produce currently due to someone else's stupidity. Therefore, either THEY come in and clean it, so they can sell what they think you have or you do it the next best way.

There is a possible go-around, but it will also entail some extra work. Apply your styrene to a flat piece of PVC or acrylic and use that as a base to get over the high spots. Re-set your height adjustment to account for the new substrate and go from there. Otherwise, replace the belt. At this point, you guys are losing money, not being able to do what they think you have.

 

[Glavin_ID]

Have you checked your head health? Run a prime bar, that will tell you if your heads are in good shape. If it's not the head, we have had all the issues that you could possibly run into printing .020 and .030 rigid PVC, could be static, could be the coating.

 

[greysquirrel]

move head height to .120, lamps on low, add shutter delay and a print pass delay. the heat from the lamps are causing material to ripple

 

[FireSprint.com]

Lots of good advice here. Hopefully that gets you closer!