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Lamination issues

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Signature Sign Guys

New Member
Hey Guys,

so i have always had issues when I laminate large prints (greater than 8ft) where everything starts on square and is laminating great and then my laminate starts to shift and skew. I can pull the laminate roll to the side and fix as its laminating but I shouldn't have to do that everytime I lam. Ive attached a photo of what I mean by skew. I just don't understand how starts square and even and then after 2-3 ft its starts to do this. Any ideas on how to trouble shoot this issue to fix it?
lam.jpg
 
Notarealsignguy

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
hold the roll of laminate with the palm of your hand and give it a little tension for a second until it smooths out. Load it straight too
 
  • Agree
Reactions: 2B
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highrolling24

New Member
When mine does this its usually the backing paper not started square and is pulling off more one way.
Or if its real bad I lift my roller up just a little and it usually straightens out.
I have a heated top roller so sometimes I add just a little heat into the roller, helps with the silvering.
 
JBurton

JBurton

Signtologist
Is this on a machine with two hand cranks on opposite sides for the nip height? If so, they aren't set perfectly the same, any amount of difference will make this show up eventually.
 
Steenland

Steenland

Old Member
Is your nip pressure the same across the width of the main rollers? Your manual should have a process for checking and adjusting the nip so that it is even.

Alternatively, does your laminator have pull rollers? One of my laminators was acting like yours and, after a lot of troubleshooting, I discovered that the pull rollers are apparently out of alignment with the main rollers. When I stopped using the pull rollers (which aren't really necessary), the problem went away.
 
Notarealsignguy

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
Signature Sign Guys said:
I have tension on the roll as it goes and I load it straight as well. If I add any more tension, I will stretch the lam and it will want to de-lam later down the road
Click to expand...
Did you even try it? What I see in your picture happens to mine as well. It seems that the reel that is pulling the backing sometimes pulls a little slack off the roll of laminate. Grab it for a second and it tightens it back up.
Or keep on looking for the most implausible reason to deflect from the fact that you can't run the machine. Maybe your foundation is crooked and the roll is sliding to one side. Maybe the jig they used to weld up the frame was bent? They ran out of rubber when they made the rollers so 1 side is smaller than the other. I mean, it can't be you, it has to be the machine.
 
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Signature Sign Guys

New Member
we bought the laminator used and its a cortech quality (never heard of them before)
highrolling24 said:
When mine does this its usually the backing paper not started square and is pulling off more one way.
Or if its real bad I lift my roller up just a little and it usually straightens out.
I have a heated top roller so sometimes I add just a little heat into the roller, helps with the silvering.
Click to expand...
it might be the backing take up. I usually get the best results when I start a fresh core. its a cold press so no heat available
 
S

Signature Sign Guys

New Member
Notarealsignguy said:
Did you even try it? What I see in your picture happens to mine as well. It seems that the reel that is pulling the backing sometimes pulls a little slack off the roll of laminate. Grab it for a second and it tightens it back up.
Or keep on looking for the most implausible reason to deflect from the fact that you can't run the machine. Maybe your foundation is crooked and the roll is sliding to one side. Maybe the jig they used to weld up the frame was bent? They ran out of rubber when they made the rollers so 1 side is smaller than the other. I mean, it can't be you, it has to be the machine.
Click to expand...
lol I used to have the tension cranked up so it didn't happen, and then we had issues with decals curling and laminate shrinking. But hey ill admit I am self-taught and having issues which is why I am posting here to try and find some like-minded folks to help point me in a direction I may have missed. The machine could use a service as a couple people in the thread have posted but your right it could also just be me and I don't know how to lam after 7+ years in the industry.
 
Notarealsignguy

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
Signature Sign Guys said:
lol I used to have the tension cranked up so it didn't happen, and then we had issues with decals curling and laminate shrinking. But hey ill admit I am self-taught and having issues which is why I am posting here to try and find some like-minded folks to help point me in a direction I may have missed. The machine could use a service as a couple people in the thread have posted but your right it could also just be me and I don't know how to lam after 7+ years in the industry.
Click to expand...
Maybe I worded it wrong, I didn't mean to crank up the tension. More like hold the roll to tighten up the little bit of slack, it will smooth it right out.
 
JBurton

JBurton

Signtologist
I am unfamiliar with this style as far as operation, do they have tensioner's on each side of the laminate roll? On mine, I'd be tightening the side that the folds are pointing up to, it would flatten out before it hit the print.
 
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Signature Sign Guys

New Member
JBurton said:
I am unfamiliar with this style as far as operation, do they have tensioner's on each side of the laminate roll? On mine, I'd be tightening the side that the folds are pointing up to, it would flatten out before it hit the print.
Click to expand...
the tensioners are only on one side and folds are 9/10 times always going in the same direction like the pic
 
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