So aggrivated with US Tech!!!

[Kenne]

So I have a 54 inch cold laminator that is US TECH. It is an ak model and it is driving me crazy. For starters the thing will work great until it is time to do a 4x8 print. It will laminate about 7 feet and at the last moment it just wrinkles it to no end. My boss and I are at a loss for words. We have tried changing pressure, holding media flat as it goes through, etc. And nothing seems to help. But the wrinkling thing was the least of our problems till the speed control stopped working. No matter what we did the speed could not be controlled. So we called US Tech and spoke to "Dave" an asian man with a thick accent and he said, "buy speed control unit, it work very nice and fix you problem."
So we shell out $118 and buy the speed control unit and the rheostat, we hook it up and still the same problem, no control of the speed. We call "Dave" back and he says, "it you motah, there is speed control in da motah. No worry it only cost 300 dollar."
Yea thanks "Dave." So I tell him I am not spending 300 dollars and something that may not work and I take my problem online. US TECH is possibly the worst company in the world. They have very pathetic and vague manuals, poor tech support, and they are hard to understand on the phone.
So I searched GOOGLE for answers to my laminator woes and nothing came up. I began to believe that no one in the world had trouble with laminators for there was no help anywhere online. So I call "Dave" back and ask him, "Dave you guys have a wiring diagram for this machine so I can see if I hooked everything up right?"
He replies, "no, no wire. All we do is make makine, no wire."
By this point I was fed up with the situation and asked to speak to a supervisor above him. "Dave" put me on hold and he comes back on the phone and says, "I am supervisor."
In frustration I hung up and found the motor I needed on Ebay for $65 dollars and it will be here in a few days. So suprisingly "Dave" calls back and says, "How bout you take a pictsure of you wiring and a send it to my technical support guy, and he can check wire for you."
I asked him, "Well 'Dave' how is he going to do that with no wiring schematics." and then I hung up.

What do you guys think is the problem. I put in a new speed control unit, new rheostat and still I have no control over the speed at which things are laminated. "Dave" said this particular motor had its own speed control part inside of it. Does that sound right? I know this post should be in the laminator section but no one was viewing and I need advise now. I attached a photo of my wire set up so you guys can take a look. FOR SOME REASON THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO ANSWERS ONLINE FOR LAMINATORS, WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH THAT!!! The motor is a YN90-40 I think. Please help, has anyone here had similar problems?

 

[Gino]

Ah so...... waecum from PA................................

 

[jokingscroll]

You get what you pay for.

 

[Flame]

Well first off, you can't really expect tech support for off brand equipment. Secondly, speed doesn't cause wrinkles.....Crooked media or warped rollers causes wrinkles. You sound like you're on a wild goose chase there...

 

[tattoo.dan]

i can laminate really slow, then really fast with ustech......no wrinkles.....i get wrinkles when laminate is coming in off roller crooked or print is entering crooked and started to do a lil roll or wave look......speed not the problem. load laminate straight...media straight...and have even pressure on rollers to keep it straight... if i were you or your boss i would check those things out first....


and Welcome from Illinois....................

 

[CP Signs]

Wow. Look up some of my posts. I was fed up with Dave. One of the middle bars to web the lam was bent, and Dave said,,,, dis nomal,,, built dat way. Really, a bent bar is normal. I went through 2 full rolls of lam with 3 different very experience guys and same problem as you. 5-6 feet in, and wrinkles started. I could show you tons of emails from Dave,,,,,, nothing made sense. Yes, I got what I paid for. So for the past 6 months, I never did web my lam. I cut what I need from the roll, tape one end, flip the lam over the rollers and do it like that. We laminated over 20 feet like that without a wrinkle. Actually, I find it faster, we like most others have different lam, gloss, matte, 210,290,optically clear,,,,,,,, never have to re-web, cut what we need and away we go.

 

[401Graphics]

Its all in how you web it, and feed the print in it. I have a very VERY used GBC laminator. Its missing parts, and its been almost completely taken apart twice by me, who knows how many times from previous owners. The thing wobbles side to side if you push on it from the side. Anyways, i had the same problems with prints getting eaten after like 6 feet. Then I tried a new way of loading it and never had a print get eaten since. Granted i haven't done anything over 10 feet yet.
Here is a video on how i load it.
[video=youtube;rlr-a--zDG8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlr-a--zDG8[/video]

Hope you figure out your speed issue. I almost got a USTECH, then i found my GBC locally for under $1000

 

[FatCat]

Well first off, you can't really expect tech support for off brand equipment. Secondly, speed doesn't cause wrinkles.....Crooked media or warped rollers causes wrinkles. You sound like you're on a wild goose chase there...

I agree, and most likely your issue is that you don't have even pressure set across your rollers. I have a US Tech AK-600 (bought it new almost 3 years ago) and had the exact same issues as you at first - short runs were no problem, long 6+ feet and it would start to wrinkle. It all lies in how you set your roller pressure.

When you first web your laminator you need to keep in mind that keeping the laminate straight and smooth across the top roller BEFORE you start adjusting it down is key. I don't use a sled to web mine. I simply raise up the top roller about 1" off the bottom roller, then pull off the laminate and push it through the gap. Then I pull it through from the backside and stick it to the back edge of the laminator making sure it is smooth and even across the entire width of the roller. I then go back to the feed side and use a piece of scrap backing or brown craft paper to lay across the bottom roller while lowering the top roller. IMPORTANT: Once you get about an even 1/8-1/4" of light still showing between the rollers you want to adjust the knobs about a half turn each, evenly, to make sure your roller pressure is perfect. Keep going all the way down till both knobs go slack. Then feed about 1-2 feet through, cut off the excess and you're ready to go. Seldom do I have any issues any more since I've been using this method.

 

[TDFcustomSL]

Keep going all the way down till both knobs go slack. QUOTE]

I just got my ak-600 Tuesday, haven't really had time to mess with it much. Its my first laminator but when you say let the knobs go slack, you mean to not put any down pressure on the rollers correct? just wanna make sure I undertand for when I start screwing with this thing

 

[Salmoneye]

One of the key things here is what Fat Cat just said, "until roller height adjustment knobs go slack". There is no pressure adjustment for the main roller, the weight of the top laminating roller does all the work. Also, you could have the tension on the roll that holds the new laminate roll too tight. You way you are holding the print down, are you using the flat feed bar over your print? I have an AK and never loose a print.

 

[rjssigns]

401 thanks for the vid. I'm going to try your method of leaving no tension against the separator bar. We don't have many issues with our regular laminates. But once in a while we have to use something different and waste a bunch figuring it out.

 

[Salmoneye]

TDF that is correct. You will feel tension on the knobs when you let the roller down, that is from the weight of the roller. When the two rollers finally touch you will feel the knobs spin freely, that is where you want to be to laminate. I have the 600 and couldn't imagine another unit running better for 4x the money. Hope you have good luck with yours.

 

[Salmoneye]

401 also has an unusual way of webbing the laminator as he only uses one of the bars, I definately do mine different on the US tech.

 

[TDFcustomSL]

TDF that is correct. You will feel tension on the knobs when you let the roller down, that is from the weight of the roller. When the two rollers finally touch you will feel the knobs spin freely, that is where you want to be to laminate. I have the 600 and couldn't imagine another unit running better for 4x the money. Hope you have good luck with yours.

Thanks for the reply. correct me if Im wrong on this, I just want to get a better understanding of the machine if you don't mind. After the knobs go lose, you can continue lowering the roller which will put pressure back on the knobs correct? I understand to lower it until they go lose I just want to make sure my machine is normal, it did come in busted, I had to pull the left side of the machine off and replace a screw that wasn't put in far enough from the factory, the roll must have bounced in shipping because the screw was bent at a 90 degree angle so the left adjustment knob wouldn't spin at all...easy fix but just wanna make sure about the pressure on the knobs question. THANKS

 

[FatCat]

Thanks for the reply. correct me if Im wrong on this, I just want to get a better understanding of the machine if you don't mind. After the knobs go lose, you can continue lowering the roller which will put pressure back on the knobs correct? I understand to lower it until they go lose I just want to make sure my machine is normal, it did come in busted, I had to pull the left side of the machine off and replace a screw that wasn't put in far enough from the factory, the roll must have bounced in shipping because the screw was bent at a 90 degree angle so the left adjustment knob wouldn't spin at all...easy fix but just wanna make sure about the pressure on the knobs question. THANKS

That is correct, you can continue to turn the knobs and actually put more pressure on the roller. However, the weight of the roller itself is more than sufficient for laminating and mounting. I have found using any add'l pressure actually causes more problems. Like others have said, I don't know how spending 4X more on a name brand roller will change anything but your bank account.

 

[Kenne]

To answer my questions...

I appreciate everyone's response but my problem was never really laminating my prints. My problem I am facing now is that I have absolutely no control over the speed at which things are laminated. As previously stated "Dave" told me to buy speed control unit, rheostat, motah.... Basically he wanted me to buy every f%$#ing part that is on this machine to solve one problem. So I guess my question is has anyone else faced this problem of speed control being lost on their laminator, and what did they do to fix the problem? This problem is not operator error, it is a mechanical issue and I have already replaced the speed control unit inside the machine as well as the rheostat and neither part made a difference. And does anyone know of there being a wiring schematic for US TECH models online? And just because a company is generic doesn't mean that they shouldn't have tech support. Machine still cost 1,000s to buy and I think that should earn me some tech support.

P.S: If I put the pressure too high it would start to wrinkle, and if I put it too low then there would be bubbles in the laminated areas.
My boss and I have had this machine for 5 years now and have never got the thing to work flawlessly, and my boss has been running a professional shop for 28 years. He has merit, but this laminator does not.

But to repeat so hopefully I can recieve some help.
1. Has anyone else faced this problem of speed control being lost on their laminator, and what did they do to fix the problem? This problem is not operator error, it is a mechanical issue and I have already replaced the speed control unit inside the machine as well as the rheostat and neither part made a difference.

2.And does anyone know of there being a wiring schematic for US TECH models online?

 

[Salmoneye]

You could put downward pressure with the know but DON'T! That particular unit was not designed to be used like that. The only tiny bubbles that you should have would be silvering that should disappear within 12 hours or so. I think that the problem that you are having with US Tech is predominantly language barrier. I don't think he is trying to nickel and dime you but thinks that these things are actually the parts that you are having a problem with. Again let me ask, are you using the flat bar or finger guard some call it that goes over the print on the leading edge?

 

[TDFcustomSL]

Im sure this is going to be considered a stupid question in your head but im going to ask anyways. when I first set my machine up a couple days ago and turned it on, it was stuck full speed. the problem for me was that the tiny set screw on the speed adjustment dial wasn't tight which allowed the dial to spin freely on the actual shaft of the speed controller, I tightened it up and the dial actually grabs the shaft now. you might check to make sure your dial isn't just spinning freely. it shouldn't turn completely around, if it is grabbing the shaft it should stop turning when the indicator is either all the way slow or all the way fast. like I said, this is really a pretty basic reply but if you haven't checked it yet, you might since that was the problem with mine. also if youd like I could pull the side of my unit off and post a picture of the wiring if you think that may help you. mine is an ak-600

 

[Salmoneye]

I don't think that he would have that issue if he just replaced the rheostat and it is still doing it. If it's not the rheostat you would think that it had to be the wiring but if the wiring came loose one would think that it wouldn't run at all because the power wouldn't be traveling through the rheostat. Couldn't tell you. I guess there could be one in the motor and the default is full speed ahead. Have you found anything out by googling the motor model itself? I shouldn't even be replying, I don't know jack about electrical.

 

[TDFcustomSL]

Wow. Look up some of my posts. I was fed up with Dave. One of the middle bars to web the lam was bent, and Dave said,,,, dis nomal,,, built dat way. Really, a bent bar is normal. I went through 2 full rolls of lam with 3 different very experience guys and same problem as you. 5-6 feet in, and wrinkles started. I could show you tons of emails from Dave,,,,,, nothing made sense. Yes, I got what I paid for. So for the past 6 months, I never did web my lam. I cut what I need from the roll, tape one end, flip the lam over the rollers and do it like that. We laminated over 20 feet like that without a wrinkle. Actually, I find it faster, we like most others have different lam, gloss, matte, 210,290,optically clear,,,,,,,, never have to re-web, cut what we need and away we go.

BOTH of my middle bars are slightly bent, ive NEVER used a laminator before and after I finally got it webbed with lam and Kraft paper It works flawlessly, first thing I ever laminated was 4 feet long and 3 feet wide....flawless, all 8 of them came out perfect so Im not sure that a bent middle bar is going to cause wrinkles...like I said tho, the longest ive done so far is just over 4 feet. yes there are wrinkles like crazy on the kraft paper but the vinyl is smooth as can be.