Royal Sovereign RSC-1650c - issues

[fusiongraphix]

I've had my laminator for probably 4 years now and purchases it as a display model from my dealer. It has always kind of had this issue but I think its getting a little worse and was wondering if anyone has had similar issues or have any advice.

The issue is that on some large format pieces im having trouble with it going through the laminator smooth without small angled say crease's, airbubbles, lines if you will? they tend to be in the either side and pretty random. the sheet size is probably anywhere from 65-150+" long and typically on 54" wide material. I laminate alot of 27-30" wide material with no problems.

I never spool up the laminator, I typically just tab one end and set it up that way and hold the release liner with my hands from the laminate. when im holding the laminate i tend to see wrinkles in the laminate itself due to it binding in the rolls. im thinking maybe the rolls are worn out and the vinyl is not going through the rolls evenly.

any help with this would be awesome advice..

Thanks
Tyson

 

[Bigdawg]

This is an ongoing problem that we've been discussing with several other shops... boss isn't here so I can't tell you EXACTLY what to do.. but it appears there is a fix... probably very unauthorized, but it seems to work for several of us so far...

You have to get into the side and adjust a tensioning screw... will try to do pix and instructions tomorrow - if not it will be Monday before I can...

 

[fusiongraphix]

Wow, Ok thats awesome man, I really appreciate any help. I just messed up a large sheet and got real heated and figured i would post something on here. figuring it would be a long shot. im constantly laminating on different medias so I cant spool up the laminator everytime, too much waste and time. plus ive tried spooling it and it seems to do the same thing. anyways thank you so much for your help. look forward to some pix and such..

 

[Gene@mpls]

Why do you not web up the laminator? The drag on the lam that is unspooling
is an integral part of the process- to much or too little makes a big difference-
and I cannot see how you would get a uniform 'pull'. Serious question here-
not looking for a rumble. Gene

 

[fusiongraphix]

Well there is 2 main reasons why i dont spool it up.

Waste and different types of lam.

they both play a part in each other. We probably laminate on 3 different types of lam everyday. calender, cast and thick MX laminate. We are constantly laminating 30" MX graphics everyday. throughout the day we print vehicle graphics, small decals and signs. which use different laminate. I understand spooling it will help with some of the problems were having with the wrinkles, but i can never get it to spool right and by the time i do it has wasted a yard.. maybe im ignorant in spooling it.. plus it seems to do the same inward wrinkling wether its spooled or not.

It never wrinkles on the 30" wide material, probably cuz its so thick.

I dont know I guess im just trying to find some ideas and thoughts on this subject. I strive on quality but also production time. and if im constantly wasting time spooling and unspooling it doesnt seem smart to me. plus im not the guy doing it, my shop guy is. not to say he cant, but he hasnt been in the vinyl field very long. He needs experience.

what exactly do you mean "The drag on the lam that is unspooling
is an integral part of the process"

Thanks for the help and time.
we get the job done, but it seems like our laminator is getting worse, we having been doing this method for about 4 years and it has never been a problem until probably 7-8 months ago..

 

[Gene@mpls]

When we bought our first printer 3.5 years ago I was scared to death of
laminating. My first lam job was on graphics that had to be installed an
hour later- sweating blood. It went very well, the job went out the door
and now I like laminating- can't remember the last job I hosed up.

Anyway- there is a friction device on the laminate roll for a reason- to put
even tension across the roller on the laminate as it is applied. We use 30"
and 54" lam and cast and calendered also- with practice you can reweb the
laminator in 5 min or less. I posted my system for webbing/rewebbing a month
or two ago- works a treat for me and my daughter (I make her web/reweb
every couple of weeks for practice- so she can handle it if I am gone). On
calandered lam I normally run about a foot through to make sure everthing is
good- on cast 54" I may run 2-3 feet. There is some waste but ruining prints
is harder on the bottom line (and your time) I think.

 

[Bigdawg]

I'll see what I can do about pix but we are slammed today.

Basically if you take off the side cover there is a screw that will adjust the tension on the top roller for that side. I had to loosen the left side (facing the control panel) and tighten the right just a little and we seem to be running better now.

The other guys are right though, you really need to thread the laminator to get optimal results. As things get a little older and a little looser and out of whack on your machine - and it happens with all of them - then you are inviting problems like this by jumping back and forth... isn't there a way for you to gang your runs better so you only change lam once a day? Or maybe use a Big Squeegee for the MX graphics (since they are smaller? Just some thoughts...

 

[Vinylman]

I have experienced similar creasing with laminating. One way I have discovered to help to either eliminate this or reduce the chance of it happening is to follow the Manufacturers instructions exactly in threading the laminate, as well as my biggest success comes with using the tension adjuster on the roll that feeds the printed material from under the front platen into the laminator. When I first started using my RC, I wasn't using the feed out roll for the printed material. Once I started using that and keeping the tension fairly tight on the out feed, most of the creasing problems disappeared.
I hope this helps.

 

[CMG]

I am having the same problem, any word on that unauthorized fix?

 

[Letterbox Mike]

Actually, you absolutely do not have to web the laminator up to get a good job out of it whastsoever. You just have to have it dialed in correctly. We laminate literally thousands and thousands of jobs through our RS without ever webbing it up. It's a waste of time and materials to web it up for a 4' or 6' long print. By the time you have it webbed up, you can laminate 3 jobs by just cutting the laminate to the sheet size, tape hinging it and running it through manually pulling the backing paper off. Once you get the hang of it, you can run it full speed and keep proper tension on the laminate without getting any wrinkles.

Anyway, you need to adjust the tension screws above the roller's bearing on each end of the top roller. Plan to waste alot of material doing this, so I recommend biting the bullet and buying a roll of very cheap vinyl and very cheap laminate. Web the machine up, load the cheap vinyl and start laminating. As you are laminating, start tightening and loosening the screws on either side until the laminate smooths out and the wrinkles disappear. Once they disappear, run 10-20' through to make sure they don't come back. If they don't, you should be good to go. Once we got ours dialed in we've never had to touch it again.

But still, if you don't load your prints straight and smooth, that can introduce problems and wrinkles, so your technique in loading your prints, whether the laminate is webbed or cut to sheets, is critical too.

 

[Sticky Signs]

I'm sure the material lost due to webbing the machine far out weighs the prints, lam and time lost due to improper use.
You probably already know this, but incase you don't, make sure you centre everything on the laminator. The rollers have a small crown on them making the centre point tighter than the outer edges.
Over time, the tension from one side of the rollers to the other side changes. More tension on one side guarantees wrinkles. You can have a tech come in and adjust the tension using a tension gauge. OR, go buy yourself one and adjust it yourself. Might wanna have someone show you how to do it before doing it yourself.

 

[boxerbay]

I know this is an old thread but yes you need to web it up and increase the tension/brake on the rollers so it has tension. tension will pull the vinyl tight and avoid the wrinkles. beware - too much tension will make small decals curl after die cutting.