Do you need extraction for ss21 inks?

[PrintItBig]

Hi,

We're looking at various printers at the moment and we've just been to see the jv33. The resellers were confident that no extraction or ventilation was needed if running the ss21 inks. In fact they said they've not sold a single unit with an extraction system included.

We're in a 33 x 33 foot office space. It's an office space not an industrial unit. We'll be working in the same room as the printer all day.

Will we need some kind of extraction system?

Thanks.

 

[tomence]

I would say definitely get some kind of extraction or ventilation. SS21 inks smell a lot, especially if you are working in the same room.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

Your dealer wants to sell you a printer pretty bad. In an office environment, yes, that will need some sort of air scrubber or exhaust for sure, SS21 inks do indeed smell. If it was a warehouse space, you can get away without venting or scrubbing the air, but it's a must in an office.

 

[SightLine]

Agreed... in a space that size with a regular ceiling height you will be getting a massive headache from the fumes if you print anything that takes more than 30 minutes.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

Agreed... in a space that size with a regular ceiling height you will be getting a massive headache from the fumes if you print anything that takes more than 30 minutes.

They'll be lucky if they don't get massive tumors or grow a third eye.

OP, don't be fooled, JV33s are great printers (we have one and would buy another and another without hesitation), but they are not "eco-solvent" printers with the SS21 inkset, it is a full-solvent printer and needs to be treated as such.

If you're stuck putting it in an office environment, I'd either consider an Epson GS6000 (I'm not the biggest fan of this printer, we have one and it's somewhat of a lemon, but it does print very very well and has almost no odor) if you need solvent inks, or a latex printer which should be odorless.

 

[SightLine]

Heh... yeah. We are about to move ours to a 30 x 50 room with 16' ceilings and I'm building a smaller room in there with a 400cfm exhaust just for the JV33. Printing non-stop it will run you out of the room it is in now which is about the same size which is why I'm giving it its own smaller room when we move in a few weeks. There will be people in there a lot and I have a thing about not being sued.

 

[ironchef]

Ss21 inks user here. I don't have a vent system or scrubber, as I'm in a open warehouse space. It doesn't smell that bad. But i am planning on buying a island air cleaner. Haven't had any complaints tho, in fact people like the smell lol, as do i. Its addicting hahaha but no seriously it is strong stuff even if it says mild solvent

 

[john1]

Most of the aftermarket inks claim they dry faster, Reason being it's more of a full solvent then eco-solvent i would think.

 

[PrintItBig]

In which case that's pretty disingenuous of them really.

Considering peoples heath is at stake that's not something they should be claiming.

Forgive my ignorance we're new to external printing... What are the options regarding extraction, ventilation etc and are any of them going to be suitable for an office type environment?

Thanks.

 

[MikeD]

Look at the Island Air unit on google. it's got about 2.5' SQ FT of floor space (guessing.)
We are running many ecosolvent printers in a partially inclosed area. The smell has given me many headaches, especially when running a profile with heavy ink levels. The exhaust units aren't set up, we do not have an air scrubber, and I have a perpetual headache. If I had the choice, I would vent the systems and buy an air scrubber like Island Air's product. The salespeople you are dealing with in all likelihood have minimal experience with actual functionality of the printers, and I'm sure they have never worked an entire shift in a small room while printing.
Save yourself the discomfort and vent everything away.
Good Luck!

 

[Masseria]

always depends on the inks you are using, if using Aqua based inks. no problems at all.
i have 10 x 10 mts. room with 1 jv33 with sublimation aqua based printer, and there is some smell, but it does not bother at all.
Maybe for other kind of inks its highly recomended to use extraction...

 

[petesign]

We ran es3 inks in an office space, without ventilation in our JV33 for 2 years, most of the time it didn't smell. When we printed banners it would knock you down though. When we swapped to ss21 inks, the smell was a lot stronger, and we built a ventilation system for it. I wouldn't run it without one. We made ours for about $300 in parts from home depot and an inline fan off amazon. I can't smell these ss21 inks at all, printing on 4 or even 2 pass. You will NOT like the smell, ventilate and save yourself some grief.

 

[john1]

I have talked to many people about ventilation and even with the OEM inks i would vent.

You can get a high end solvent air filtration system for under $1000 that would do fine if you don't print non-stop. If your printing hours and hours a day then i would guess your in a retail building where you could get a big boy vent system. For us little guys, Something like i was talking about works pretty good.

Your going to want something with a large activated carbon filter, I wouldn't go less then 20lbs myself.

Don't go buy those cheap ones from home depot, lowes or other store. Aler Air makes some higher end systems. Check out the D vocarb 5000 system. Real world example for a test, My girlfriend paints her nails, I really can't stand that acetone smell from the polish remover and i turn my machine on high and she does it right next to it and i can't even tell she was doing it. It sucks the air from the bottom of the machine because solvents are heavier then air.

I talked to one of the printer reps at one of my vendors and he wouldn't even sell me a island air system. He said it's really not needed for eco-solvent if i am not printing abunch.

 

[MikeD]

From Island Air website:

"...ICA manufactures several different sized units designed and engineered for use in traditional offset/litho print shops, screen printing shops and the Digital environment running solvent based, eco-solvent based and UV curable based printing systems.

The Dusters are designed to remove airborne contaminants including solvent ink fumes, blanket wash fumes and obnoxious odors. They are also very effective at reducing or eliminating dust, spraypowder and lint.

The Dusters provide your employees with a safe and healthy working environment, whilst reducing maintenance costs and production problems caused by dust..."

http://www.islandcleanair.com/printgraphics.html

This purifier is made for removing solvent fumes.