Thoughts on degassing

[JLD984]

Hi All,

I'm wondering if anybody uses Oracal 3551 (215 laminate) without degassing? I've used a different brand for eleven years and a lot of that time I just left the print rolled up and waited a few hours before laminating. Early on I had a very rushed job that needed laminating and mounting instantly, I kept an eye on that sign and five years later it still looked perfect so I gradually slackened off with the degassing. Never once had a single issue with any job but I realise that may not be the case with a different material. Is degassing that important or just a way for reps to cover their backside if something goes wrong?

 

[iPrintStuff]

What printer are you using?

We ran a lot of 3551 on our mimaki - I followed at least a day outgassing (mainly because it took about a day to print a roll lol). But we did a fair few last minute signs that had minimal time before lam and never had any issues.

There are a lot of factors that play a part here, environment, how much time it had on the heater, ink coverage/density etc. Pretty hard to nail the exact time that it’s safe to lam, which is why they probably go safe at a day.

obviously you have no such worries with UV and latex

 

[JLD984]

What printer are you using?

We ran a lot of 3551 on our mimaki - I followed at least a day outgassing (mainly because it took about a day to print a roll lol). But we did a fair few last minute signs that had minimal time before lam and never had any issues.

There are a lot of factors that play a part here, environment, how much time it had on the heater, ink coverage/density etc. Pretty hard to nail the exact time that it’s safe to lam, which is why they probably go safe at a day.

obviously you have no such worries with UV and latex

Roland VS 640i and have always used heavy ink settings.

 

[APCInk]

Media manufactures suggest waiting 24 hours before laminating so the eco solvent ink can fully gas out. The worry is if a print is laminated too soon the solvent that’s still trying to out gas will create “silvering” by pushing the laminate off of the printed media. Also, if using intermediate materials which are typically thicker than cast materials, there’s a chance that the trapped gas will effect the adhesive. We do sell a stand alone infrared heater called “DigiDri” that will gas out the ink instantly. The DigiDri infrared heater comes installed on a stand and you roll it right in front of the printer, placed just below the post heater on your printer. The DigiDri allows you laminate with no wait time. If you’re interested please let me know and I’ll forward the specs on it.

 

[danno]

The DigiDri is a great product. We had 2 back in the day. We were running the HP9000s. We didn't have any out-gas issues after we started using them.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

We use 3551/215 and havent had a problem when it didnt sit.

 

[bob]

Out gassing, off gassing, gassing out, or whatever they call it in your village mostly is something used to scare small children into going to sleep.

Solvent ink dries via evaporation which only takes a few minutes to occur. Solvent ink also changes the vinyl, making it very soft for a while longer than a few minutes. I don't know if this change generates any gaseous discharge while it's curing. Even if it does, vinyl is gas permeable so if it does emit something it will, eventually, pass through the laminate.

As anecdotal evidence that out gassing is mythological, witness all of the stories of people who were forced to laminate pretty much right off the printer and experienced no problems.

 

[JLD984]

Out gassing, off gassing, gassing out, or whatever they call it in your village mostly is something used to scare small children into going to sleep.

Solvent ink dries via evaporation which only takes a few minutes to occur. Solvent ink also changes the vinyl, making it very soft for a while longer than a few minutes. I don't know if this change generates any gaseous discharge while it's curing. Even if it does, vinyl is gas permeable so if it does emit something it will, eventually, pass through the laminate.

As anecdotal evidence that out gassing is mythological, witness all of the stories of people who were forced to laminate pretty much right off the printer and experienced no problems.

Just as I thought. I said I've never had an issue, but come to think of it I've never even heard of anybody having an issue in my 17 years in the game.