Question Shop humidity for Eco Solve printers

[treesaw]

Is there a recommended humidity/temp level for a print shop? I am having some issues with my vinyl getting wavy on my printer that I have not had before and I wonder if it is because we have had a lot more rain this year? Or perhaps it is because we moved the printer to a different location?

We also just had a huge leak in the building over the weekend and it smells like a wet sock in here.

 

[White Haus]

Roland's website states this:

• During operation: Temperature: 20 to 32°C (68 to 89.6°F), humidity: 35 to 80%RH (no condensation)

Up to 80% seems crazy.....personally I find as close to 50% humidity as possible is best. If your vinyl is getting wavy, high humidity will likely be the cause.

Buy yourself a cheap hygrometer so you know what you're at and make adjustments as needed.

https://www.amazon.ca/ThermoPro-Hyg...8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

Depending on the size of your print area, it might be worth looking into a large dehumidifier or portable air conditioner. When our A/C kicks in it will drop humidity by 10-15% in a couple of hours.

 

[unclebun]

Paper does change with humidity, and waviness is one of the things you see with more humidity. Your printer really should be operating in an indoor room temperature environment, which means an air conditioned and heated room. The vinyl also needs to be stored in such a climate controlled room.

 

[Joe House]

Most printer brochures will list the specs for the printer. Look for environmental specs. For most Roland printers it's 40 - 60% RH No Condensation. In more detailed literature, they specify that 50% @ 78F is the optimal for quality prints.
Check out the specifics for your printer.

 

[treesaw]

Thank you so much for all the great advice! I was thinking we might need a dehumidifier.

 

[victor bogdanov]

Yes its the humidity, my vinyl turns wavy (especially cheap vinyls) when the ac is off. Once ac is on and humidity drops the waves go way

 

[netsol]

i was just going to type epecially cheap vinyl
on the roland (sc5455-ex) it gets terribly wavy if it sits loaded overnight
avery mpi 3323 in particular

unload it at night, (lift pinch rollers, retract what is loaded to the roll. reload in the morning. turn on the platen heater. my experience is that it pulls taut as it heats up

$300 for a dehumidifier will help a lot.
are you air conditioned? to what temp?

 

[Saturn]

I fought some wavy vinyl when I first got my Epson, and it seemed like bumping up the pre-heat helped flatten things a bit. Although it's only a few feet, do like Netsol suggests and try not to leave it webbed when not needed.

If you're forced to print on slightly wavy stuff, a (slow) workaround can be printing unidirectional vs bidirectional.

 

[Rmurray321]

i was just going to type epecially cheap vinyl
on the roland (sc5455-ex) it gets terribly wavy if it sits loaded overnight
avery mpi 3323 in particular

unload it at night, (lift pinch rollers, retract what is loaded to the roll. reload in the morning. turn on the platen heater. my experience is that it pulls taut as it heats up

$300 for a dehumidifier will help a lot.
are you air conditioned? to what temp?

We had a lot of wavy problems with that Avery series too. Ended up moving to Substance. I like the Avery 2903 with the grey back, but it’s a bit on the steep side for a roll