ROLAND UV PRIMER ADVICE PLEASE URGENT

[Lugsy63]

Hello, Could anyone shed some wisdom on this please.

We have recently acquired the following ROLAND LG-540 UV TRU VIS

Our set up is:
WH WH GL PR C M Y K

My question is does the PRIMER have much use other than acting as a base on surfaces that UV ink doesn't usually apply well to?
I understand that using the primer can build up a texture effect / Relief to a given print, but this is true for using white also?

Am I missing something, is there a use that I'm not aware of?

 

[Joe House]

The primer is just for promoting adhesion where inks may not stick as well. I doesn't help with the build up of textures.

I hope this helps.

 

[Lugsy63]

Thanks for the reply Joe

 

[Lugsy63]

Thanks for getting back, I've just found out that what we required was UV DECAL PRIMER for waterslide like application.
Does anyone happen to know if that is available for LG series?

 

[cornholio]

There is only one primer available for printing. If it doesn't work for your application, you need to manually apply it to your medium before printing.

 

[BVG]

Roland had a decal option listed for the previous generation of UV printers, but it was never widely released. The concept behind it was to print an adhesive layer through the head so you could do UV DTF transfers with the machine.

Apparently they couldn't could things working perfectly and it's quietly disappeared, although last time I checked it was still listed as an option on Roland's EU website. I got eyeballs on some internal engineering documentation from Roland, looked like they'd put in a serious effort into it. Shame they couldn't make it work though.

 

[Lugsy63]

Thats a shame, Thanks for getting back BVG, thank you.

Leave's us with a bitter taste, at a trade fair it was sold to our MD that the LG540 would have that capability using primer.

They've also left us in the dark regarding the staggered arrangement of heads.
We do a lot of sticker/decal printing on clear which we print down a WH & CMYK.

With LG's the WH head is set after the CMYK, apparently ROLAND sold our distributor the idea that it would be updatable via software in order to be able to print WH>CMYK in one pass.
Unfortunately now they've said due to the staggered head configuration it's a hardware requirement only which we would essentially have to pay for two new heads to be installed the other way around. Insane. On a brand new machine (early adopter tax)

We're stuck now having to print WH from one que > Return to origin and queuing a CMYK (Special effects) after. It doubles our production time, It's our first foray into UV and we've been told the LG is quite quick, however any time gained is wasted due to having to print in two passes.