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Printing on Sintra/Polystyrene

SolitaryT

New Member
How do I do this on a Fuji flatbed without getting streaks or fingerprints? I've tried not touching them at all, save with cotton gloves and lint-free cloths. I've tried cleaning them with alcohol. I've tried cleaning them with Simple Green and alcohol. Both Isopropyl and denatured alcohol. Anyone run into this?
 

OCsteve

New Member
Printing on Sintra/styrene

We had similar problems when we first began in 2006. We have found the best solution is to clean with a product from ICC. We use ICC 437 and then buff the material. It adds time but it eliminates the problem of finger prints for the most part. Be careful what you use to clean the boards with as we have had several small fires due to flammable liquids. We have not had a problem with the ICC product.
 

Steve Werner

New Member
The Fuji Acuity can be a tempremental unit for whatever reason. I recommend finding a Sintra manufacturer that puts a masking sheet on one side of their material ( Palight used to ) and finding a manufacturer that handles their styrene product minimally. I've got about eight Fuji's in my territory and they just seem to be a bit more tempremental. They do print very well though.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Would you rather I make something up and screw with ya a little ??

I simply have never run into the various circumstances you have..... not at all.
 

royster13

New Member
Any one who has been here for a while knows Gino has been around.....So a comment like his has some value.....Versus the same comment from me who knows "diddly squat"...
 

SolitaryT

New Member
Yeah, it's Russ, and so far, I've been using a mixture of water and isopropyl alcohol, 70/30... it's starting to streak. Unfortunately, the company I work for is stingy, so getting quality sintra is next to impossible.
 

SnoopyDog

New Member
Polystyrene Cleaning

Hi, I am trying to print on polystyrene on a flatbed printer and no matter how I clean it I get streaks for the cleaning process. I am using 91% ISO and paper towels. HELP!
 

fozzie

New Member
For styrene we wipe with 70% iso and blow dry with meech static gun.

For sinta (3mm and 6mm) we use digital print sinta that has mask on it. No need to clean and is cheaper than regular sintra.
 

synergy_jim

New Member
we use 50% denatured and 50% water. That being said, we have to have seriously oily dirty fingers for them to ever show up in the first place.


The best solution i have seen, is to buy PALIGHT PVC. our 3mil and 6mil comes masked. its never stripped off until right before we hit the print button.
 

klmiller611

New Member
I'll second (or third) the mention of the masked Palite. It is the same price as what I had been using. The only issue that I've had would be the removing of the mask creating some static issues, but those would be minor compared to the fingerprints and such. I still would handle with cotton gloves.

I cannot seem to clean anything with any kind of fluid as it shows streaks where it was wiped. I have an Agfa Anapurna, and any flaw like that seems to be magnified once the ink is on.

Ken
 

Andy D

Active Member
I have noticed that the newer printers have much more issues with finger prints and streaks, this is mainly
due to the fact that they use much less ink for the same coverage.

Two things I have done in the past as workarounds are:
1 I jack up the ink limit in the profiles of substrates that are problematic.
2 I print at 50% density - wipe down the bad spots with a dry microfiber towel and reprint at 50% density.
 
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