USTECH 65" MVT-600 cold laminator purchase from Dave at bestdgi.com

[trakers]

Quick update on our MVT-600

Tracking info was sent via Email Monday and was accurate with yesterdays Thursday delivery. Huge crate weighing in at 695#


Unit was well packed, no damage. Took about an hour to assemble stand and secure laminator to stand using forklift.


Stand is very heavy and rigid. Not a huge fan of the neon green, but certainly stands out and sort of grows on you. All assembly holes lined up fine.


Manual is less than impressive but gets the job done.


Bunch of extra part included for some reason.


Rollers appear to have a film of, well liquid silicone maybe, wonder if its OK to wipe with damp cloth. I'll ask tomorrow.


Electric up/down is sure the way to go I think. Very easy and seems to work well so far.


I needed to speak with Dave at USTECH. He answered promptly and fixed me right up.


Anxious to run some test jobs through it today.


Much more detailed review coming later as time allows and I become more familiar with the equipment.


I am also working on creating a wiring schematic for the unit for my future use.

 

[trakers]

OK here’s my final verdict on the MVT-600 65” laminator and USTECH as a company.

After working out a couple minor issues our new laminator is purring along. Have done a 10 foot run and several “by hand” laminations with excellent results. Tracking on the long piece was dead on.

In my opinion the unit is better quality than I expected with most parts heavier than I anticipated.

Dave at USTECH has been outstanding to work with. We spoke briefly on the phone and he called the next morning to inquire if I had resolved my issue.

So, the final verdict is, for our shop, with our volume, I believe this machine is a perfect match. As time passes I will drop a note from time to time, good or bad to keep you updated.

Bottom line is I am satisfied with the purchase, impressed with the company and expect great performance for our needs.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to PM them to me. I’ll do my best to answer them.

 

[Salmoneye]

I used a folded rag soaked in alcohol on the rollers while they were running. I would do this from the back side and very carefully as it could go wrong in a hurry if the rag got caught up. We also got quite a bit of color off of our rollers at first when cleaning.

 

[player]

I used a folded rag soaked in alcohol on the rollers while they were running. I would do this from the back side and very carefully as it could go wrong in a hurry if the rag got caught up. We also got quite a bit of color off of our rollers at first when cleaning.

I used to do that years ago with a Seal laminator. One day my little finger accidentally just touched the roller. It sucked my hand in and before it got shut off 1/2 my forearm was pretty much mangled. I really did a job on my arm, plus broke or crushed the hand bones at the wrist.

Respect the roller.

 

[Salmoneye]

That sounds awful. I had an offset shop for years, you get pretty good at tucking your fingers inward and learning how to let go of a rag. On my laminator I only do it with the rollers turning towards me for that reason.

 

[player]

Ya the rag got caught and flicked my finger into the rollers. The thing to remember is to have the rollers reversed so your hand cannot get sucked in between them. Go figure. But I never clean the rollers that way. I always wipe them manually now.

 

[player]

What can happen is "degloving". That is when your hand and then arm gets pulled into the laminator and when you pull against the draw of the rollers your skin rips and is completely removed from your body. Can be the whole arm and hand. Comes off like a glove.

 

[trakers]

So I take it this is not a one time, something applied at factory to protect the roller thing, but rather an ongoing sweating/weeping type phenomena common to all silicone roller laminators?

Anyone know what/how the major manufacturers recommend to clean their rollers?

And yes, I could see things going very bad, very fast if one had a disagreement with one of these behemoths.

 

[TDFcustomSL]

I cleaned the oily residue off my rollers when I first got it and haven't had to wipe them down again, except to get any dust or lint off that might have been on the rollers.

 

[Salmoneye]

Once really well, maybe twice. I would go the soapy water on a rag route, unplugged.

 

[player]

I am thinking about using McGuire's Rubber conditioner on my rollers. They are about 10 years old and I bet they are getting dried out.

 

[Color Spot North]

Congrats on the new machine. I am familiar with the machines as well. I will say that the heat assist models can be nerve racking because they ship the heating elements separately, and YOU have to install it, which isn't rocket science, but is pretty sensitive.

I hope you learn to laminate with the auto features, so you can walk away from it while it laminates. If you need help on doing that, let me know.

 

[Salmoneye]

Be a little careful; The rubber rejuvenators that we used in offset could had the potential to swell the rubber. Apparently my laminator doesn't have the automated features, although it seems to work flawlessly I can't say that I have ever felt like I could walk away and let the laminator work un-attended. I also don't have a take-up, but still.

 

[trakers]

On oily rollers, used liberal 50% water / 50% 91% Iso. Hit both rollers several times. Seems to have gotten rid of the residue.

Also, laminated my first piece this evening. Treading was a bit tricky, tried the USTECH method, issue was MASSIVE static that kept sucking the loose end up to the rollers. Then tried Scott from Fellers technique, which worked perfectly. Incidentally Scott installed our printer a couple years ago. Nice, knowledgeable guy.

I went all in and the first piece I laminated was 4'x8'. Perfect results, tracking was dead on. Never thought I'd be so giddy about laminating a print.

Issue now is I'm not leaving the roller down, however I don't want to have to rethread every time either, although I think it will be a minor inconvenience once I get the technique down better.

So I tried taping the exiting lamination to the back of the machine in several places and lifting the roller 1/16". We'll see how that plays out tomorrow morning.

 

[player]

I'm thinking about getting a new one soon...

 

[trakers]

Well a month later and all is well. Laminator is doing a good job, glad we bought it. Fasinating to me how people are fascinated by it.

 

[trakers]

Just a quick update on our USTECH laminator after using it for a month and a half on numerous jobs.

Had Grimco cut me down a 54” roll of 8508 lam to 52” so alignment is no problem and no need for craft paper, etc.

Used Scott at Feller’s method to thread the machine with ease. Right now have the back edge of the laminate taped down to the back shelf and the rollers just barely off each other. Really glad we got the electric raise/lower as it makes raising them just a hair extremely easy. And the rollers are dead parallel to each other.

So anyway, couldn't be happier.

 

[Doc Zoom]

Love our USTech

We've had ours for over 2 years now and love it! This is the best bang for the buck laminator out there! Customer service is outstanding as well!

 

[trakers]

Six months in and still happy as a clam. Ran quite a number of 54" wide jobs this week with perfect results.

Extremely happy with our USTECH laminator.

Only other thing I can add is definitely get the electric raise/lower model. It's a ripoff at $500 extra when you consider the manufacturers cost to add it, but it's a must have feature IMHO.

 

[gizmo]

MVT-600 nip pressure questions.

Hey trakers and everybody, thanks for your posts about the MVT-600! Will probably pick one up soon.

Is there an adjustment for nip pressure? I assume you drive the roller down onto the artwork and it stops when the pressure reaches some preset amount, no matter how thick the artwork is.

Is that correct? And how hard is it to adjust the pressure?

I mount inkjet paper prints on 3mm ACM panels and 3/16" Gatorfoam.

Sometimes I apply a clear, cold overlaminate. The overlaminate requires "increased pressure." So will I be stuck with always running a high nip pressure just because it's hard to adjust the pressure?

Maybe the manual raise/lower scheme would be better in this case, dunno.

Would appreciate any input on this. THX!