Outgassing in Eco-solvent

[MiguelGonzalez]

Hello Guys, When you do a roll to roll sticker print, laminate and cut, are you able to outgassed the ink completely as it will be rolled into layers

 

[SignMeUpGraphics]

We stand ours vertically on a steel rack and unwind the roll a bit so each layer has some exposed area for the solvents to 'fall' out (solvents are heavier than air, so travel downward).

 

[bob]

'Outgassing' may be something handy for scaring small children into going to sleep but for solvent of most any kind printing is't pretty much a myth. If a solvent print is dry to the fingertip glide test, then it's dry for whatever purpose. Do not confuse this with the actual physical changes to vinyl fomented by printing on it. These can take some time to quiet down. An event that is seldom worth waiting for.

 

[Boudica]

'Outgassing' may be something handy for scaring small children into going to sleep but for solvent of most any kind printing is't pretty much a myth. If a solvent print is dry to the fingertip glide test, then it's dry for whatever purpose. Do not confuse this with the actual physical changes to vinyl fomented by printing on it. These can take some time to quiet down. An event that is seldom worth waiting for.

Hmmm. How do you explain bubbling under laminate, when something has been laminated too soon?

 

[ikarasu]

Or why Epson doesn't tell people they can laminate right away, when that's their biggest competitors advantage.

The whole offgas vs no offgas debate seems crazy to me. The first solvent printer to say you can laminate right away will outsell any other solvent printer...

I'll believe the millions in rnd the printer and vinyl manufacturers spend vs a guy on a forum.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

I have never seen any problems with laminating straight off the printer, therefore it can't true.
Really though, I think it's overblown.

 

[netsol]

'Outgassing' may be something handy for scaring small children into going to sleep but for solvent of most any kind printing is't pretty much a myth. If a solvent print is dry to the fingertip glide test, then it's dry for whatever purpose. Do not confuse this with the actual physical changes to vinyl fomented by printing on it. These can take some time to quiet down. An event that is seldom worth waiting for.

And many materials are much more workable after they outgas. Handle them too soon and they stretch excessively ,form bubbles etc if we don't wait, a while

 

[bigkahuna_305]

i have laminated once dry dry and have never had any bubbles or complaints from customers

 

[Notarealsignguy]

I feed my laminator straight off the printer. What a time saver.

 

[Johnny Best]

I let my prints dry for 24 hours like SignmeUp suggests in post #2. Never a problem. I am never in that big of rush.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

I let them sit overnight at least. The adhesive seems more aggressive if you don't and full bleed cuts curl

 

[truckgraphics]

Outgassing is a problem with Eco-Sol ink and wrap materials (and when I go to Taco Bell), but not much of a problem with lettering.

Letting a wrap dry overnight is fine for the image, but the material is ultra-sticky...especially if we print on a high pass setting. If we can, we let the wrap sit for a day. Not always possible with our impatient customers.

For lettering, overnight drying is fine, but 45 minutes will do in a pinch (as in when we tear a letter and need a quick fix).

 

[victor bogdanov]

I also like to have a fan blowing on the prints as they are coming out of the printer, seems to help a lot with drying

 

[netsol]

I misspoke
My issue is not laminating, it is doing a print & stick with the daige
One of my guys describes the vinyl as "flimsy" until it has outgassed.

 

[jfiscus]

Yes, outgassing IS a real thing. You might not see it become an issue on regular decals going onto flat surfaces, but if you're putting decals or a wrap over recesses, those non-outgassed prints WILL pop back out of the crevices when a properly outgassed print will not. We learned that from customers demanding a "rush" on their vehicle graphics; the ones they rushed (print and laminate same day) all failed, where the same print, outgassed overnight, stayed down in the recesses.

When you take the roll off of the printer, put it in your drying area and roll it loosely so that the (trapped) solvents can escape. I recommend building your own downdraft booth for your drying prints. We built this box back in 2013 and still use it daily. https://www.signs101.com/threads/out-gassing-solvent-prints.112565/

(attached a photo from today, it has a few more stickers)

 

[Johnny Best]

Maybe the word “meld” would be a better suggestion. The chemicals from the ink need to meld with the vinyl and after a short time everything is blended together to laminate. The bubbles caused by laminating right off the printer and not having time to chemically meld together forms the “gas” in the bubble when it is sandwiched with lam over vinyl.

 

[rydods]

I think it also depends on the material you are using. Some of the lower quality media should dry for as long as possible. Overnight or longer. Ink saturation with darker inks should sit longer, use the proper print profile and if you can incorporate a white outline around your print, that will help. For better quality material, we've done several tests with a full black outline and laminate, cut and apply immediately, no issues.