Question UCJV300 Media

[willkho]

Hi all, quite new to this machine, how to save media on this machine without having a head strike/rub?
I've seen some tips on youtube that using the take up reel and some leading media but that still waste about 0.5 meters.
What is the best and safest way to keep it near the print area? Some materials such as metallic, holographic are quite expensive.
Thanks.

 

[Solventinkjet]

You can slap a long piece of masking tape on the vinyl to the take up roll and that way you just waste masking tape instead of material. I've seen multiple shops do it that way and it seems to work great.

 

[White Haus]

You can slap a long piece of masking tape on the vinyl to the take up roll and that way you just waste masking tape instead of material. I've seen multiple shops do it that way and it seems to work great.

That's not a bad idea. I'm pretty sure I've also seen some members recommend putting weights/clamps on the leading edge of the roll until it reaches take up.

Definitely a challenge on this printer. I sometimes find myself just pulling it gently by hand but it's not a great permanent solution.

 

[InkHead]

I don't really have an issue with head strikes at all on the UCJV300. Make sure you use as many pinch rollers as possible. I find having the end pinch rollers very close to the end of the media helps a lot especially if you have some imperfections at the edges. Also make sure your head height is set correctly for the thickness of your media.

 

[willkho]

Thanks all, if you can share the picture of your setup then it will be much better. I'm using this printer mostly for delicate/niche printing, mostly very short run/low quantity but using expensive media so trying to save the media.

 

[micadesign]

put head on the highest position! it helps a lot

 

[White Haus]

put head on the highest position! it helps a lot

This does help a lot and we do this for banners, but can result in some fuzzy prints on vinyl. Especially with small details.

 

[RonnyCrack]

Use a spare piece of vinyl you keep wrapped around the take-up reel. I have about 1.5m~ of vinyl I just pull up from the take-up reel, tape down to my vinyl up top, and then feed it out a couple inches.
So you're only wasting like 8in of vinyl at the bottom each time instead of 1m+

 

[Kemik]

For the extreme saver, put some masking tape over the groves in the platen, where the end of the material can get stuck during cutting.. I also recommend the scrap vinyl on the take up real for hard to work with media.