Imaginary white threads and dust speck

[GHduckworth]

Imaginary white threads and dust specks

We printed a maroon-ish area using a Mutoh VJ-1614 on some 3M white ControlTac and had white voids in the ink that look to me like white threads or white specks in the vinyl but there is no sign of a actual piece of thread, linkt, or dust - it's just a white missing place in the ink that looks like a thread or dust speck. Some of the seemingly illusory white threadlike marks are big enough that it seems like if there were actual fibers involved in producing them you'd be able to find some of the fibers.

I've seen the same thing at another sign shop using a Mimaki JV3. It might have happened on other materials; it's been a while so I'm not sure at this point, but I'm sure I saw this problem when printing on 3M ControlTac.

I have a feeling this problem is described in this forum but I can't find the correct search terms to pick it out properly.

 

[MikePro]

search fish-eye or contaminated material?
adding pictures also aids in forums troubleshooting your issue.

 

[ADDI Printing]

Sounds like you have a contaminate on your print head. Perform a thorough head clean and see if you see any type of fiber on it. It's common if you use a material that has been pulled out of the box or in stock for a long time that gets dusty. We also have this issue after printing banners.