Misting on S40600 and S80600

[cmoist]

I'm experiencing the attached misting when printing on both machines, and wanted to get opinions on here.

Circumstances:
-Both machines are in the same room
-Room is 65-68 degrees
-Humidity varies from 42-55% (I've tried different settings here)
-Occurs in the center of the vinyl, and much less on the edges
-Using lowest PG setting of 1.6 on 2-3mil vinyl
-Room is carpeted
-Does not align with pinch rollers, but generally speaking looks to align with the direction of media flow
-Largely only happens when printing pure blocks of one color - blue, black
-Running Extreme Saturation profile through Onyx

Originally, I thought it was PG, as the S80600 was not doing it and my S40600 was. The S80600 had an issue similar to this that was caused by an out of spec PG. Now both are doing it, so I'm leaning more towards static. The service manual cites both PG and static issue could cause this.

Thoughts?

 

[Maxz3241]

It does looks similar to a static issue if I had one on the UV Printers, you could try something with this company that sells lines to put across the material. They have a bunch of stuff that might help, https://stopstatic.com/

 

[cmoist]

It does looks similar to a static issue if I had one on the UV Printers, you could try something with this company that sells lines to put across the material. They have a bunch of stuff that might help, https://stopstatic.com/

I've actually got some on the way from that company. Hoping for the best.

I've also bit the bullet and purchased an FMX-003 electrostatic fieldmeter, figuring if I can't measure the problem, I can't tell how effective the solution is/was.

 

[cptrick]

I just ordered the wand from stopstatic this morning, got some major problems with static which i think is the cause of my print getting printing in the wrong position.

 

[cmoist]

I just ordered the wand from stopstatic this morning, got some major problems with static which i think is the cause of my print getting printing in the wrong position.

It would be cool to see pic and hear your feedback once it arrives.

 

[cptrick]

It would be cool to see pic and hear your feedback once it arrives.

Forsure. I hope I get it soon. I leave abroad next week lol

 

[cmoist]

Well, I got the static meter and installed static string tonight. I'm reading very little static on the vinyl during infeed and outfeed. Still getting the marks though.

I've ruled out that it could be something on the pinch rollers. They're all perfectly clean.

 

[Maxz3241]

maybe the material or ink? could try different material and see if you get the same result or a different lot of ink?

 

[cmoist]

Wanted to give an update on this.

D1 came out with their slew of parts, just in case. Did lots of test for about four hours. Problem appears on my media (Substance PM-2755 Gloss) every time on my art and on the Epson art. Put their Epson paper in, no more issue. The Epson paper is a little less glossy than mine. Put my media back in, problem reappears. Epson concludes no problem with the printer. After they leave, I put in some matte IJ35C and works fine. Put in glossy, problem returns.

I will say the tech from D1 was very nice and professional, and did everything he could think of to try to help. Unfortunately, we couldn't pinpoint the problem.

At this point, I tend to agree with Epson that it's an environmental problem. I'm using a static string setup, and according to the static field meter I purchased, there is no static before or after platen. That said, it is still on carpet. Maybe there is some sort of Van der Graaf thing going on I can't see or measure well.

While all this is happening, the S80600 10ft away is chugging right along without a hiccup. Weird stuff.

My plan is to start printing on matte for now, as I believe matte soaks up humidity better than gloss and will avoid any static issues. I printed ~35 feet of matte 6 mil on 2.0 PG last night just fine.

 

[a77]

If you think it might be static, would you be willing to crank the humidity up in your room by doing this test: spray bottle with water and spray the air in the room. A lot.

Sounds like you have it in a printing room, but if you happen to be concrete warehouse floor you can also dump a whole bunch of water on the floor... it has worked for us when we were getting zapped by the application table when applying prints.

 

[cmoist]

Could try it. Using the floor humidifier I have, I can only get to 50-55%. Epson said they want 60 when experiencing misting, but that's pretty crazy.

To be clear, it's in an office in a basement with carpet on the floor.

 

[cmoist]

An update on this - It's not doing it anymore. Spring has sprung and humidity is a little higher. I was at high 30s, low 40s normally in the winter. I could get it to 55 with a humidifier, but it didn't seem to make a difference. Now I don't run the humidifier, and humidity is in the 40s naturally, and it seems to be ok. I guess I'll look forward to having to deal with this again next winter.

So still not a definitive answer, but I'd guess it was static due to Winter.

 

[netsol]

Buy a $200 freestanding humidifier
It will also save your mainboards from static damage