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Discussion ZE 680 vs AP3155

Nate1n22

New Member
Was wondering if anyone has tried both products. I have used ZE680 a lot for improving adhesion on acrylic and have never been a fan of it because it leaves a film that is sometimes noticeable in the prints. I wanted to try AP3155 but don't want to waste $100 if it has similar characteristics.
Has anyone used both? What would you rather use?
 

ProColorGraphics

New Member
I use AP2115 a lot on plastics. I think it works good. I have used the AP3115 once so far on some ACP. The smell of AP3115 is TERRIBLE! Ink and cleaner smells don't normally bother me, but this was bad. Make sure you have a lot of ventilation.
 

ChrisN

New Member
If you're direct printing acrylic, I'd recommend using digital print acrylic if you can (Optix DA, Evonik Acrylite Digital, etc), instead of trying to use adhesion promoter. It's a lot less messy, and the results are the same. However, most lines of digital print acrylic have limited options (color/thickness/finish/etc), so if you have to print on regular (non-digital print) acrylic, AP3155 does work well. I have seen it cause streaks in certain prints if you aren't careful when applying it, but it does make the ink stick a lot better.

It definitely has a unique smell, and the vapors could do funny things to you, so be prepared for that. I mix it 1 part AP3155 to 15 parts 99% isopropyl alcohol inside a spray bottle, so 1 liter goes a long way.

For our printer, light colors show streaking very easily, so where I've had problems was when I tried reverse printing onto clear acrylic with adhesion promoter. If I'm laying down a solid layer of white before the color inks, I don't have to worry about streaking since the white ink isn't affected nearly as much as the color ink. For reverse printing on acrylic, though, I now use digital print acrylic. That way I don't have to mess with adhesion promoters and I don't have to worry about streaking ruining the print.
 

Nate1n22

New Member
The ZE680 smells terrible as well. I really don't ever use adhesion promoters because my inks stick pretty good to acrylic as is. If it was easy to apply, it wouldn't hurt to get more adhesion. I was wondering if I could mix it with 99% iso since I already clean all my sheets with isopropyl alcohol. If it wasn't as nasty as the ZE680 I would do that just to get a little bit more adhesion.
With my old inks I always had to use 680, and it was hard to get a good consistent coverage and it would take forever to dry.
I agree with you about digital acrylic but they don't want to buy that because of the cost difference... We also do a lot on 1/2" and 3/4" acrylic

Can you spray the 3155 on a sheet with the spray bottle if you mix it?
 

ChrisN

New Member
Can you spray the 3155 on a sheet with the spray bottle if you mix it?

Yeah, I spray on / wipe off. The mixture settles out in the bottle, so I just shake it up before using it. I usually keep buffing/wiping until it appears mostly dry (at least until the alcohol evaporates), but I have noticed a slight "greasy" film can be left behind sometimes. It is supposed to cure under UV lamps, though, so I've never had issues after printing.

Since it's so diluted, I don't know the "film" left behind compares with un-diluted 680. This topic has come up before on this forum, and I think one guy was diluting it even more with good results, maybe 30:1, so that might be an option as well.
 
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