Avery Etchmark Humidity Nightmares

[zillion29]

Hoping someone will have some advice/guidance on this increasingly expensive problem in our shop. Using a Graphtec FC-8600 to cut 48" Avery Etchmark. Ambient temperature is 70 degrees and humidity is 60%. This stuff buckles and puckers within 15 seconds of leaving the roll. When the humidity hits the paper, it just ceases tracking properly in the rollers and either goes off track or tents up and jams. The things I'm cutting are less than 5'. This material is always a summer challenge, but recently it has become impossible (their ever cheapening paper and vinyl formulations, I'm guessing). This problem only seems to impact Avery Etchmark and Avery SuperCast Gloss white. I'm attaching a pic of what happens within 15-30 seconds.
Has anyone found a workaround for this or experienced anything similar? Wish they had a synthetic liner option like 3M Dusted Crystal.

 

[Johnny Best]

Use the etch that is on clear plastic backing, last time I used Arlon was the one using clear plastic backing which does not buckle and not paper backing.

 

[unclebun]

Run a dehumidifier? How do you achieve air temperature of 70 degrees without having lower humidity? Our shop is air conditioned to 75 degrees and it makes the humidity 32% at this moment with outdoor humidity currently 80%

 

[zillion29]

Run a dehumidifier? How do you achieve air temperature of 70 degrees without having lower humidity? Our shop is air conditioned to 75 degrees and it makes the humidity 32% at this moment with outdoor humidity currently 80%

These are all very good questions. The A/C doesn't adequately handle moisture. In winter time, the HVAC makes it nose-bleed level 10% humidity with the worst static you've ever seen. Emperor Palapatine levels of 1" arcing static.

 

[netsol]

add a dehumidifier (or 2 depending on theme size of that area). add a commercial humidifier for the winter. why the extremes at both ends of the spectrum? is the problem no insulation? I am surprised you don't have terrible overspray when you have static problems

 

[BigNate]

... or take a lesson from the old-skool offset printers. keep the shop climate controlled 24/7 (absolutely humidity), and then all media brought in rests for 48 hours to damp humidity fluctuations... if the media and the environment are at the same humidity level you will not have issues when unrolling. Run your own tests to see how long to let the roll sit in the environment before it is stable.

 

[netsol]

we have had intermittent overspray that we have finally (i believe) eliminated
stopstatic.com was an incredible help (although not the complete answer by itself)
we added static discharge cord as well as 3 ionizers