Sheeter Problems

[toomeycustoms]

We have a 30" sheeter(http://www.weedersheeter.com/) and are running into problems when masking 30" material. We are getting a lot of air pockets and bubbles, but only on the bare parts where the liner is exposed. I've attached a picture. It only will happen when we have 30" tape loaded. 24" rolls run fine everytime with no bubbles, even with designs that have a lot of liner showing. We are using Rtape 4075 Conform, but also had the problem with Transfer rite 592u.

Here are things we have tried with no success:

• We have tried to adjust the pressure, but tightening/loosening the allen bolts on each side to no avail.
• Using hand crank only
• Pull the piece slower/faster through the sheeter

Is there anything else we could try?

 

[Fred Weiss]

We always hand crank to avoid stretching caused by pulling the graphic through from the feed out side. I think that's part of your problem and doubt that the speed or the pressure have much to do with it.

Have you tried a different brand of vinyl? It could be partly a problem of the release liner and the transfer tape not getting along.

 

[toomeycustoms]

Do you catch the vinyl as it is coming through or do you have a large table behind the exit side? We don't have a table behind(limited space), so we have to catch it and with the long pieces that makes it a 2 person job as we try to keep it flat instead of letting it fall to the floor. The picture provided was using the hand crank only. We only use Oracal 751, 651 and 631 and unfortunately we haven't found any suitable replacement vinyl for the 631 series for wall decals so switching vinyls isn't an option. But the thing that confuses me is the 24" is fine and bubble free even when using the same vinyl and tape, it only happens on 30" and seems to be in the middle of the design only. The lead me to believe that possibly the pressure was not enough in the middle.

 

[Fred Weiss]

Do you catch the vinyl as it is coming through or do you have a large table behind the exit side? We don't have a table behind(limited space), so we have to catch it and with the long pieces that makes it a 2 person job as we try to keep it flat instead of letting it fall to the floor. The picture provided was using the hand crank only. We only use Oracal 751, 651 and 631 and unfortunately we haven't found any suitable replacement vinyl for the 631 series for wall decals so switching vinyls isn't an option. But the thing that confuses me is the 24" is fine and bubble free even when using the same vinyl and tape, it only happens on 30" and seems to be in the middle of the design only. The lead me to believe that possibly the pressure was not enough in the middle.

We don't have a table to catch it and use a second person on longer runs ... be we don't try to keep if flat. Rather the catcher will loop arms under it and let it find it's natural arc while avoiding falling to the floor. It's possible that the pressure is uneven but, since the adjustments are at the edges of the roller, you would need to less the pressure there to even it out.

I can't say that this has never happened to me. What I was told is that it's partly the properties of some release liners to not hold the bond as well as others and partly stretching of the transfer paper as it is applied which is exaggerated if you pull the reading through rather than crank it.

 

[Bern]

Something to try

I am new to cutting vinyl and brand new to the sheeter . I had some similar problems and think I understand what is going on in my case . I had one piece where the tunneling and bubbles appeared but not at the first 14 inches of the vinyl , this is where I had lifted it up slightly as it exited . What I think is happening is when the exposed app tape contacts the lower roller at the edges it upsets the tension to the rest of the vinyl . I used the handle to wind it and made sure the vinyl was lifted off the lower roller as it fed through .

 

[toomeycustoms]

I've tried just about everything. Adjusted the allen bolts on the side. Tried using the hand crank only. Reloaded the transfer tape and many other things. No matter what, the rolls always end up sliding to the right side after some use. If I adjust the bolts so the media feeds straight, the bubbles get worse. I just ordered a new one, so hopefully the fresh one will be better. It is still better than a weber premasker or using a laminator for us. We run through a few rolls of transfer tape every other day, so we keep it busy and the sheeter is the most time efficient for us.