Having problems printing on Oralite 5600 Reflective

[danky01]

I have a Roland VersaCamm VS-300 and running OEM inks. I am trying to print a license plate on Oralite 5600 reflective and keep getting random spots. I have printed on 2 different rolls, both different sizes and bought at different times. I though maybe it was caused by oil from my hands so I cleaned the vinyl with alcohol and put on gloves. Still had spots. Anyone have any ideals?

I would greatly appreciate any help with this issue.

Thanks
Dan

 

[Jackpine]

Try wiping the vinyl with a lint free cloth and 91% denatured alcohol. There may be a film on the vinyl causing your problem.

 

[Gino]

To be honest, that looks like mostly finger contamination. Whether you're doing it before printing or after. It looks like finger grease.

You really need to clean them better and use, or create a better profile.

 

[DougWestwood]

Already laminated?

Hey All,

Since this is reflective material, isn't it already laminated, to cover/hold the glass crystals which reflect light?
I don't know if that will hold an ink print. I have not seen reflective printed, only different colors of reflective material,
cut into lettering, etc.

Above advice is a good try- create/adjust the profile.
I would put down more ink, raise the heat a bit, and put a delay in the head movement between passes.
And yes, some of those pics look like finger marks. There's one that is just a white blot, which seems to indicate a bigger problem.

Please post results for all.
Good Luck!
- Doug
Vancouver

 

[reQ]

to be honest, that looks like mostly finger contamination

this 101%

 

[reQ]

Plus we use Premium Reflective profile from Versaworks. Gives us beautiful results all the time.

 

[deegrafix]

A few degrees of heat make a big difference on my printer when doing reflective.

 

[shoresigns]

We use a lot of Oracal 5600. Those look like fingerprints to me too. Reflective is expensive, and fingerprints really stand out when you print over them, so we always use gloves to handle it. If you order it by the yard, tell your supplier to make sure their warehouse guys use gloves unless they want to credit you for 2 yards ($60+) every time.

Also make sure you store it upright. Storing this material horizontally with more than a few yards on the roll will be enough weight to cause visible lines from the pressure across the vinyl.

 

[danky01]

Thanks everyone for the reply. I really appreciate it.

I agree they look like finger prints and I though that was the problem. I cleaned the vinyl with alcohol and put on gloves but it still happened.

I will try it with the Versaworks profile and see what happens.

I spoke with an Oracal tech yesterday and he thinks the problem is due to the age of the vinyl. It is probably 5 years old or more. He said after a few years something in the vinyl migrates to the surface and causes problems with printing. It looks fine and would work great as a cut vinyl, just can't print on it. He is sending me some to test and see what happens when I try to print on new vinyl.

So you guys might keep that in mind if you have older stock of reflective.
Thanks
Danny

 

[bloobird0]

Hello, I had the problem when printing onto Oralite 5300 (not described as printable vinyl but is OK with my Mimaki). It only appears on the first 2 meters of my 50m roll then this problem disappears. I think that the surface of the vinyl is getting altered by time and air.

I don't know if it helps you but could you try printing after few meters of your roll.?