Laminate Peeling - IJ680CR, Ink Related?

[Station51Graphics]

Quick breakdown: we print on 3m IJ680CR (sometimes IJ180cv3) with an Epson ecosolvent printer, laminate with the 8418G laminate, cut with a Graphtec FC series machine, and pre mask with SCPS-2tape.

We have seen repeated instances of the laminate peeling off edges of the vinyl a day after installing (squeegee, heat, squeegee is our installer’s proces).
on our latest job, I noticed the laminate is peeling from the edges of areas that did not have ink, but did not peel from the areas that had been printed on.

Has anyone observed a similar occurrence that would be able to offer a suggestion?

 

[MarkSnelling]

Is it peeling on all sides? Or just a few?

 

[JBurton]

I'd blame the laminate and upgrade to one recommended for the 680, looks like 8518/19 or 8914. Significantly higher cost, but that 680 is already super high so...

 

[Station51Graphics]

The lam peels on all sides. 8418G is listed by 3m as a compatible laminate for the 680cr, so am certainly frustrated at the failure.

 

[JBurton]

The lam peels on all sides. 8418G is listed by 3m as a compatible laminate for the 680cr, so am certainly frustrated at the failure.

Well I'll be, it is. I was mistakenly going off Feller's recommendations, but it's listed in the product compatibility matrix.
All the same, moving forward you know not to use it, I'd be wary of putting any laminate on a product when the cost difference is that great, I guess that's a good rule of thumb to go by.

 

[stickerhed]

Did you let your prints out gas? Oh sorry I see they are on the edge where there is no ink.

 

[Station51Graphics]

Perhaps.
Yes, the vinyl off gassed.

 

[jcskikus]

I've seen 8518 peel with ease off of IJ680CR, but never separate autonomously. I've never tried this lam before and now it makes me a bit skittish to try.

 

[Melks]

I had a similar issue using IJ 180mC-10 + 8518. I produce my prints on an HP Latex printer (which would be different from your eco solvent approach), but the consensus I came to with the help of a tech was to lower the optimizer amount going on the prints as they may not be curing/evaporating fully prior to lamination and also replace blade on the plotter. It looks like your failure is happening on edges that don’t appear to be printed so off gassing doesn’t seem to be an issue. My guess would be something to do with your plotting process. Are you using the proper blade for reflective film cutting? Is it relatively new and sharp? Is your cutting strip fresh? Also I use the SCPM-2 pre mask tape for application as well - It’s pretty aggressive stuff. Using the SCPM-3 where possible is always a good option as it won’t pull back as much on that lamination during installation process.

 

[Hoze]

I've been using Ij780 for a while but I always paired with Avery DOL 1360, so far no issues.
Perhaps too much pressure on the laminator?

 

[jcskikus]

I've been using Ij780 for a while but I always paired with Avery DOL 1360, so far no issues.
Perhaps too much pressure on the laminator?

Too much pressure on the laminator as cited above, but do you have the option to try heat when laminating? It might help it from what kind of looks like shrinkage.

 

[Station51Graphics]

Thanks all. After speaking to GFP, we found that the heat output was too great for the laminate when the dial was turned up past the minimum setting. Keeping the rollers around 80-90 degrees max fix has prevented a recurrence of the issue.