Vutek qs3220 suction / print lines

[homerunmedia]

We have a Vutek QS3220 and we are printing color + white ink on a 60” clear PET window film.
We previously ran these with no problem, but all of sudden are encountering what looks like a "suction / print line" about every 10”. Since then, we have printed on canvas, regular adhesive back vinyl, and even 3/16" clear acrylic - all prints came out fine so we believe the issue lies with the suction since the PET film is so thin.
We have tried the following,

• Printing on both left and right side of the flatbed
• Reducing the heat / vacuum levels
• Hooking the film onto both tension rolls (Previously when the prints came out correct, we had 100% suction they were not hooked on the tension lines, it was fed by a table roller)

Any tips or advise would be appreciated.

 

[bulldozer]

about how old is the material?

 

[homerunmedia]

We opened it out of the box approxiatmely 2 months ago, as far as sitting on the shelf - That I don't know.

When we were mid-way through the roll, the prints came out fine, but as we got to 3/4 of the way, the lines started to appear.

 

[Typestries]

We opened it out of the box approxiatmely 2 months ago, as far as sitting on the shelf - That I don't know.

When we were mid-way through the roll, the prints came out fine, but as we got to 3/4 of the way, the lines started to appear.

By any chance, does the line spacing equal the roll circumference? You said it was sitting on a shelf. That could be the "line" where the shelf was tangential to the roll, and the media got pressured damaged from the weight of the roll applied to that "line" along the length of the roll.

Seen it happen here before.

 

[gregwallace]

Have you figured it out yet? These lines are on the printers y axis right? We have a qs. It looks like tunneling or ink buildup on the belt causing a high spot. Raising the heads will help it blend in better.