Side to side walking issues on a Seal base 62

[bige]

I was wondering if other people are having issues like mine, and if so how to correct them. No matter how straight I cut my media before it gets laminated, it seams to walk and continue walking on bigger runs to the point, i have to cut it and reset the media. sometimes it runs without a hitch and sometimes no matter what i try it keeps walking off to one side or the other. we have a grid table and have tried cutting the entry end completely straight but sometimes it doesnt seam to help much.

Is there anyone else having these kinds of issues? any help/info would be appreciated very much!

 

[JoeBoomer]

black magic

It depends... Tues - Thur are the best days to laminate long runs. Those laminators don't like to be bothered on Mondays or Fridays.


I have the a Seal 54, the rollers are pretty beat up and I've got the tension cranked down pretty good, etc. etc. Some days I can get it to do 3/4 of a roll and maybe move 1/2" total. Other days, it will move by an inch or two on a 20' roll.

I really think it all comes down to how dead-nuts straight you load your prints. Try to square up the edge of your rolls so they aren't "spiraling". Feed it in as square as possible and hope. When I load a roll on the bottom roller and feed it up over the table (or under the table depending on your method) I will actually bump the roll over a tiny bit when it is running to try and correct the skew if needed. It seems to work to a certain extent, but I try to laminate 1/2 rolls or smaller if possible.

For some reason, laminators seem to be kind of a "black magic" for us "sign-folk". Just look at all the different ways people tell you to web them up on Youtube. It's crazy the different variations that people use to run their laminators.

 

[StopSignGraphics]

Could be any number of issues.

One of the most common ones that I run across when I'm training someone is that they crank up the pressure too high on the rollers. You might take a look at that. That might also explain why sometimes it works ok and sometimes it gets worse, especially if someone is adjusting the pressure.

I was told by the equipment manufacturer and one of the material manufacturers that you always the least amount of pressure to do the job correctly.

~Chris

 

[HIGHSPEEDGRAPHIX]

i would say its the loading of the material. gotta make sure your roll is tight and even on the edges. You may have to re-roll sometimes, or you can wiggle it straight if its off a little. both Vinyl and lam. I also only like to use one piece of tape in the center of the roll where it starts on the core, i found three can put it in a bind if it does walk. also could be the left and right side of your rollers isn't level to each other. could be too much pressure. Keep a nice even tension on it too, not to much, not too little.

 

[CES020]

Just an idea, do the math. If it's 1/16" out of square on the cutoff end you load, that's close to 1/2" out in 20'.

Don't know if that's the issue, but something to consider.

 

[MarkSnelling]

pressure and nip

Your nip is probably slightly off. Does it always go right? Or always go left? If that's the case, then get a tech out to reset the nip and you should be good to go. Make sure that when it is just lam on a print that your pressure percentage is 80%. You have a good machine, it just needs a quick fix.