UV Printing on Glass Being Installed in a Bathroom

[Susan Stewart]

Good afternoon folks!
We are prototyping a glass wall hanging that is being printed 2nd surface on a UV flatbed printer. We are using on board primer, color and 40% white. Our concern is that it's going to be installed in a small bath room with a shower in it. We are concerned that the ink may have failure after time being exposed to moisture / steam from the shower.
Does anyone know of some kind of protectant that we could use on top of our ink to keep out the moisture?

 

[petepaz]

not sure that the shower moisture/steam is going to be any worse than outdoor weather conditions, extreme heat/sun/cold/snow

 

[johnnysigns]

Yeah, I don't think I'd worry too much about that as long as you test primer/adhesion promotor and you're satisfied with the testing.

 

[signheremd]

I would be more concerned about cleaners and detergents (shampoo, soap). You could always apply a clear or matter laminate over the graphic if need be.

 

[JBurton]

I'd be more concerned with what will be used to clean the panel, ammonia, bleach, CLR, all those things they use to strip soap scum. Just include cleaning instructions for mild detergent and water and you should be covered...

 

[MelloImagingTechnologies]

laminate with optically clear polymeric calandered or cast lam

 

[Pauly]

I feel like I'm one of the only ones here qualified to answer this question.
We print on glass every day for wet areas (Splashbacks, bathrooms, laundries etc and some outdoor applications)

Few questions.

What's the application of the glass?
A dividing wall? a splashback? or a decorative piece mounded with standoffs?

What brand is your printer? I'm assuming it's the Mimaki JFX200 according to older posts of yours.
If you're using the onboard primer. Have you tested the adhesion on glass?
A lot of adhesion promotors don't work on glass as the glass surface is too smooth. Or they appear to work, but in moisture they start to come off.

Why 40% white? Is it suppose to be some what translucent?

We paint all of our glass with specialised paint for glass instead of white ink.
We've found to this day, UV inks are just not durable enough for glass applications. (you can get away with it by doing multiple layers but this becomes a cost and time factor)

 

[Susan Stewart]

Thanks for all your replies. It sounds like we should be fine.

We do send out cleaning instructions with our glass.

We are putting the glass in a frame, and it is hanging on the wall.

We are printing on a Mimaki JFX200-2513, and we have done multiple tests over the years for our adhesion. Our on board primer works great, and we haven't had any issues on glass.

We are using 40% white because it needs to be somewhat translucent. It may be back lit.

 

[Dave NZ]

I feel like I'm one of the only ones here qualified to answer this question.
We print on glass every day for wet areas (Splashbacks, bathrooms, laundries etc and some outdoor applications)

Few questions.

What's the application of the glass?
A dividing wall? a splashback? or a decorative piece mounded with standoffs?

What brand is your printer? I'm assuming it's the Mimaki JFX200 according to older posts of yours.
If you're using the onboard primer. Have you tested the adhesion on glass?
A lot of adhesion promotors don't work on glass as the glass surface is too smooth. Or they appear to work, but in moisture they start to come off.

Why 40% white? Is it suppose to be some what translucent?

We paint all of our glass with specialised paint for glass instead of white ink.
We've found to this day, UV inks are just not durable enough for glass applications. (you can get away with it by doing multiple layers but this becomes a cost and time factor)

Would you be kind enough to share what paint you use on the backing?

 

[Pauly]

Would you be kind enough to share what paint you use on the backing?

It's splashback 2pack paint.

 

[rom3o]

we use 100% white and install white foil.

 

[Signarama Jockey]

Wondering what it would look like if you skipped the white and covered the whole back with etched glass.

Good luck on your project!

 

[RISCO]

Thanks for all your replies. It sounds like we should be fine.

We do send out cleaning instructions with our glass.

We are putting the glass in a frame, and it is hanging on the wall.

We are printing on a Mimaki JFX200-2513, and we have done multiple tests over the years for our adhesion. Our on board primer works great, and we haven't had any issues on glass.

We are using 40% white because it needs to be somewhat translucent. It may be back lit.

I noticed that you have experience with glass printing. We are currently using a Mimaki 6042 to print on glass and have encountered an issue where crack lines appear after several weeks. Our goal is to create small, smooth rectangular glass pieces for smart switches with light-transmitting icons on the surface. We are using LH-100 ink and applying 4 layers: onboard primer, image, white, and black, all in reverse-mode printing.
Could you help us and explain where we are mistaken?

 

[Susan Stewart]

Sorry, I've been out on vacation.

I had a similar issue when printing white followed by color in the same pass. We changed the print from running in speed mode to quality mode instead meaning each process is it's own pass. You find this choice when you composite your processes. If you do this it will be 4 passes instead of the 2 that you are doing now.

I would try running your primer, image, white together using speed mode. Then run your black separate in speed mode if that makes sense. This would be 3 passes.