Static on Roland Printer?

[Coreysigns]

Overspray and fogging on Roland wide format printers is pretty common. We have a Versacamm SP 540i and depending on the media we were printing on, our operators were complaining about these printing defects being related to static. The first thing my partner wants to blame it on is a malfunctioning print head. But I found out that the Roland printers have these little pinch rollers that grab the media as it enters the printer. Even if you get the static off the media prior to printing, these pinch rollers regenerate the charge on the surface. This is a common problem with the wide format Roland roll to roll printers.

We tried a lot of solutions that never worked. Cleaning the media with alcohol mix solution prior to printing, tedious and a big waste of time. We adjusted the humidity and made sure the printer was grounded. Tinsel was useless and forget about those expensive blowers or plug in static bars. They can't solve the problem of the pinch rollers. Meanwhile, my partner is saying its the printer and the printer is a piece.

Then, a printer friend of my partners in Canada told me about a kit he found for the Roland wide format printers. He also has a versacamm and said this is a pretty common problem. The kit was like $180 bucks and it worked like a charm. If you have printing defects from static like this on your Roland don't waste too much time on fruitless efforts of getting rid of the static. This kit does the trick. It was called Staticure. No more ruined prints and a happy partner who is no longer bashing the printer.

 

[Mosh]

Don't have that problem on any of my roland printers....3 54's and a 30

 

[Fivestar]

I had a CJ-500 and now have a VP-540 and I've never had static issues with them.

 

[Custom_Grafx]

Don't have that problem on any of my roland printers....3 54's and a 30

I had a CJ-500 and now have a VP-540 and I've never had static issues with them.

No problems here either.

 

[Gene@mpls]

We occasionally have problems with a kind of fogging that trails off (always
away from the parked position) from black objects. I have always been told
that it is static. Don't know if I can post a website ( http://www.visualformix.com/staticurewideformatkit-p-299.html )
but a kit is $130 usd- looks like enough (5meters) for a couple machines- any
one else game? Gene

 

[Double Diamond]

I asked tech support and they recommended wetting the floor under and around the printer with a mop. It did cut it down considerably, but we still used alcohol to get it all, so we really just use alcohol unless it's a lot of static. We also only get that with the non curl thin pvc material... well mostly. The weather seems to play a factor. I am going to look into the product mentioned though. It sucks to find out there's a static problem after a few feet of printing, then stopping, fixing, and restarting. J

 

[Coreysigns]

All the old wise tales about static control are funny. Rubbing the media with alcohol doesn't work----tried it. Adjusting humidity levels---varying success because some types of media won't absorb moisture from the air. People pay thousands of dollars for the electrically powered static eliminators and the blowers---what a scam! It doesn't depend on the type of printer more on the type of media. Some of the polystyrene sheets can have something like 20,000 volts of static on the printable surface. Old wise tales on static control....keep em comin!!!

 

[brush1]

Try to stick some dryer sheets on the back of your printer.
They need to touch media. It works for me perfect with static build on media.

 

[Jack Knight1979]

that is a good one! i like it.

Also, my tech run christmas tinsel on the back side of the printer along the media. Grounds it chassis. He swears but it.

I rarely have static problems. I have a bulletin about static with Rolands. It's a known issue for sure.

Try to stick some dryer sheets on the back of your printer.
They need to touch media. It works for me perfect with static build on media.

 

[Kentucky Wraps]

All the old wise tales about static control are funny...........printable surface. Old wise tales on static control....keep em comin!!!

LOL it's "old wives tales"
There...now I can go about my day.

 

[bulldozer]

does everyone have their printers in a room with carpet? i have never had static issues, just humidity. we have a climate controlled room, but if you leave a door open, the humidity jumps to 80%.

 

[Asuma01]

I've tried the dryer sheets method in the past and it did nothing for me.
Best success I've had is using a humidifier and the wide format kit from www.stopstatic.com

 

[rjssigns]

Only one issue with static so far. One was from an off brand static cling material.

We also had over spray issues when we tried third party inks. Got on everything and stopped the printer in its tracks.

Guess we've been fortunate.

 

[splizaat]

The sign shop here sells this copper tassel at about $1 a foot that you attach on the backside of the printer so it dangles just above the media as it enters the machine. I'd rather spend $5 than $180 hahaha...sounds like a salesman

 

[lgroth]

There are couple of materials I have static issues with in winter when humidity is non existent here in Wisconsin, (really, you can hear mother nature laughing when you run a humidifier) especially non curl banner material, the PET film used in it is really prone to static. Tried the Staticure system since it was reasonably priced just to see if it made a difference, it works for our Roland, eliminated about 80% of the problems I was having.