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STS Eco Solvent Inks?

mmblarg

New Member
Another 3rd party ink question! Our shop owner is debating between Triangle or STS inks

Triangle has some good reviews backing it and three of our distributors caries it.

STS Inks, I can't for the life of me find reviews on (mostly I think Signs101 doesn't like the search criteria, ha) but they offer inks for both Roland and Mutoh which is good for us.

Anyone have experience with STS inks? Or Triangle for that matter (I'm just gathering info so any input is helpful)
 

mleg1972

New Member
I have customers who use STS, they cause major overspray. I've also seen them clogged the choke valves on the XF640.

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Active Sign

Sign Guy
I’ve been using STS for about a year and it’s been good in my Roland SC545EX so far. I like it because it’s made in the USA. Was using Bordeaux for about 5 years and liked it until black started to over spray and never improved liter to liter.


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FatCat

New Member
Unfortunately had a bad experience with STS early last year. We had been using Jetbest ink for several years and switched to STS simply because they were suggested by a close friend in the industry and they were made in the USA. Initially, everything went well but we tried to print a wrap using the new 1105 Avery and noticed "picking" in the dark colors when it was unrolled off the takeup. The ink wasn't drying and it was sticking to the paper backer... We struggled for months trying to determine if it was a profile issue, a material issue or an ink issue. Initially we thought it had to be the Avery since they just reformulated it...then we messed with profiles and ink limits...FINALLY we switched one of the printers back to Jetbest and problems vanished...so it was definitely the ink. Only saw the issue manifest itself on heavy coverage on glossy films like wrap films and gloss calendared and had to have a plain paper backer. Everything else printed fine, though it still felt "damp" after printing to the touch - at least more so than OEM and Jetbest ever did.

Now to be fair, Jason and his crew were very prompt and courteous and were great to work with. They tried their best to figure out the problem and offer solutions. However, when you're trying to make money in business you can't afford to throw away several wrap kits because your ink isn't dry. I hope they were able to get the ink reformulated since then, but I just wanted to throw a word of caution that I would definitely TEST your glossy materials to make sure you don't have those issues before fully committing.
 
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