3M Scotchcal 780mc Reflective – had loading issues on latex or otherwise ?

[Hugh Potter]

I should add that I print onto a lot of orafol reflective with no issues like this at all… ever

[Colin Crabb]

Never tried this media before on our 360 / 310’s, but on difficult media we lift the lever to load media instead of using the auto load.

[Hugh Potter]

Thanks Colin,
Never thought of doing that, though not sure it would’ve helped.

All credit to William Smith, they think the liner must have got damp, it’s 20°c in here night and day so unlikely but they’ve picked it up already and replaced it.. Top service indeed. It might be a case that it got damp in transit but because it was kept in the box it couldn’t dry out again naturally but either way, they’ve been awesome to replace it. Was about to cry at the potential loss!!

[Myles Brewer]

Hi Hugh, I’ve had this problem on a few different rolls now, tends to be either on thicker materials or ones with air release technology. I think it’s tied up with the way the hp loads from the front & the vinyl turns back on itself in an s shape before reaching the print platten. First time I had it was on metamark wall text. Got the roll replaced as thought it was a dud roll but same with replacement, so ended up trying a different brand which worked. Also had it with a couple of heavy vinyls. Tends to happen more at the start of roll for maybe a metre & then it smooths out, I think with a little help from take up reel tension when it gets attached.

[Hugh Potter]

quote Myles Brewer:

Hi Hugh, I’ve had this problem on a few different rolls now, tends to be either on thicker materials or ones with air release technology. I think it’s tied up with the way the hp loads from the front & the vinyl turns back on itself in an s shape before reaching the print platten. First time I had it was on metamark wall text. Got the roll replaced as thought it was a dud roll but same with replacement, so ended up trying a different brand which worked. Also had it with a couple of heavy vinyls. Tends to happen more at the start of roll for maybe a metre & then it smooths out, I think with a little help from take up reel tension when it gets attached.

Hi Myles,
I’m starting to wonder if this is the case, the replacement arrived thismorning and it’s sat in the warm end of the workshop now, I’m toying with not properly loading it on the spindle so it only curves one way – or at least less harshly, at £45 per mtr I can’t afford to be tensioning it with a spare mtr at the front or waiting for it to clear – it didn’t by the way, just did it more as the roll unwound through the printer.

I’ve also got 5m of the wall art from metamark to try out so I’ll let you know how I got on with it!

[Hugh Potter]

Fingers Crossed Myles…

Have successfuly loaded it by feeding it with the roll on the loading tray, got it square first time! it did protest that it thought the media was detatched from the roll but that was soon dealt with. once loaded I noticed that where it had fed back through and had left a curl of media (face to face) it began to pucker on the internal bend, I’ve rolled it up again so it feeds direct from the roll as it goes, hopefully this wlll be a fix!

H

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[Peter Johnson]

Hi Hugh.

I’m assuming you don’t have the roll loading sheet? If not, you could possibly manufacture something that would work to avoid the same thing in the future. Doesn’t look too difficult.

You basically load the leading edge of the vinyl over the black part, but under the white flaps, then feed it in as normal. Once fed in, remove the loader (or whatever it’s called) and the film is now in.

I can get better pictures as a template if you need them.

[Hugh Potter]

quote Peter Johnson:

Hi Hugh.

I’m assuming you don’t have the roll loading sheet? If not, you could possibly manufacture something that would work to avoid the same thing in the future. Doesn’t look too difficult.

You basically load the leading edge of the vinyl over the black part, but under the white flaps, then feed it in as normal. Once fed in, remove the loader (or whatever it’s called) and the film is now in.

I can get better pictures as a template if you need them.

Hi Peter,
No, never seen that!! don’t usually have any probs loading sheet in to be honest. This was only loaded in an unconventional manner because the reversecurve from the roll holder spindle was causing the cockling from the edges..

[Myles Brewer]

That loading aid (which I also have) is mainly for help with loading very thin flexible media like textiles that won’t push around the bend & between the pinch rollers onto the platten. It can be helpful but like Hugh says it’s no help in stopping cockling caused by the s bend feed of material onto the platten.

Interesting work around Hugh, although don’t think it would work using a full roll as the Weight would cause problems with input tension I would think, ending in the printer perceiving it as a paper jam!

[Hugh Potter]

quote Myles Brewer:

Interesting work around Hugh, although don’t think it would work using a full roll as the Weight would cause problems with input tension I would think, ending in the printer perceiving it as a paper jam!

Quite probably Myles, though at around £45 pm I can’t see me buying a full 45m roll 😆 I reckon it would cope with a 20m roll though, slid quite nicely on the backing paper I laid down first (below the roll).

The only downside I see with this material is the cost, a 1/2 or full roll is around £1k & £2k respectively, I managed to buy in 5m to ‘play with’ but having printed 2m, I’ve only about 2.5m of printable left max, £20+ in waste! It will defintiely be used wisely!

Have you used textiles Myles?

[Myles Brewer]

No textiles yet & to be honest I kind of have more than enough on my plate with what I currently do without branching out further. I’m desperately trying to think what it was I used the loading tool for but can’t for the life of me remember.

[Gary Barker]

quote Hugh Potter:

HI All,
got 5m of the new and very expensive 3m reflective wrap film and lam here, bought 6 weeks ago and was opened to be checked only, then kept in it’s box until 7-10 days ago when it was decanted onto the vinyl stand in protective polythene sleeve and in a warm environment,

Just gone to use it for a paying job and when loading it into the latex printer it immediately cockled up as it fed through.. I took the roll off and then put it through the laminator (about 900mm of it) to lay it back down cleanly on the backing – as I’ve done with chrome etc in the past, in hindsight not the best idea as being such a soft film it’s quite hard to remove the liner without kinking the film.. after numerous attempts it was obvious that it wasn’t going to stay properly on the liner to be fed through.. with a heavy heart I cut off 500mm (over £20 scrap!) to start again…

.. Fed it through the printer (room temp) and it did it again, rolled the film the other way onto a spare core and tried again – same thing.. At around £45 p/m (excluding lam) this is obviously a very big problem to have.. any bright ideas on how to deal with this?

I’ll talk to william Smiths who I bought it from but want to get some feedback first, this could turn into a near £300 loss if I’m unable to use it..

Hi Hugh, a quick question, do you ever get your latex prints de laminating, we also use orafol reflective, that where we first noticed it, we now see on other materials to.

[Hugh Potter]

I can’t say I’ve noticed it. On heavy ink loads (dark blues etc) I leave it to dry a couple of hours as sometimes it doesn’t appear to be fully so, no problems.

Print on oracle a lot and can’t say I’ve noticed it, usually just a 3yr Avery 3000 clear mono to lam it.

[Gary Barker]

Hi Hugh, this isnt my video but this is what im getting on different materials, left for 2 hrs before laminating, then left 24hrs after laminated before test.

$this->BBvideo_pass(‘$8’, ‘$4’, ‘$7’)

[Hugh Potter]

Hmm, not sure what would cause that, I have vague recollections of a corner of something catching and lifting once but it went back down and stayed. Likely to be more an issue on the real dark colours, extra few degrees helps cure better if possible, otherwise it can stay ‘greasy’ fir a while.