Static Cling and Head Strikes

[rdm01]

Our 570 is a pill to print static cling on. Currently trying to print reverse on clear and have both wavy lines from the rollers and two long streaks of head strikes. Lowering the heat seems to help with the head strikes, but then the print won't dry. I'm using a 10-12 pass profile so that the colors don't look washed out after being backed with white vinyl.

Are there any tricks anyone could share?

 

[balstestrat]

More vacuum and interpass delay.

 

[P Wagner]

+1 to the previous comment re vacuum and IPD

If there are wavy roller marks in the print, that indicates that the media is contaminated with high concentrations of plasticizers. Static cling medias generally are manufactured with large amounts of plasticizers in the mix, and often times this correlates to a short shelf life (3 months).

Use of the Wiper Roller that came with the 570 could help with this.

 

[rdm01]

This is great, thank you!!
What is a reccomended starting value for IPD? Vacuum?

Again, thank you both!

 

[petepaz]

static cling has a tendency to to wrinkle for what ever reason so i pull some slack out on the roll as it's printing and that helps keep it flat as it goes through the printer

 

[Ardor Creative]

I stopped printing static clings a few years ago. 3 main reasons were: 1) print speed was 4x slower for good quality, 2) quality of print was alright but never great and 3) the actual application for what they wanted was never to be reused or re-positioned so they didn't really need a cling. I've now switched to either printing on Arlon 501 temp vinyl w/ lamination (for first surface) or clear vinyl w/ white behind it. The arlon is cheaper than normal vinyl and is lower tack for easy removeability. Both saved myself and the client $$, especially the headache they're going through. Although this isn't a tip about how to better your prints, it's more of a there are alternatives to clings since they suck to produce.

 

[Inks]

As mentioned cling vinyl is loaded with plasticizers to keep it supple. Over time, usually 3 months or when subjected to heat the plasticizers will migrate to the surface and inks will not wet out. Not sure if this also causes the wrinkling but it sure puts a monkey wrench into the printing process. If I remember correctly the plasticizers will migrate when subjected to around 170F

 

[ikarasu]

We switched all our static cling cuisines over to an Idot... So far everyone loves it more, not one complaint.

We got tired of the static cling losing its doing after a month of being opened

 

[DeadDoc]

That is honestly on of the few stocks I have not had a problem with yet. Vacuum of 42 on my Latex 360 with zero interpass, 8-10p depending on item with side guides. Some of our stocks are into a year+ of storage age on static.

 

[Pewter0000]

We've given up on cling too, because of the shelf life. Little windshield clings are one thing, but I can't imagine the larger stuff.
Those are some hecking' headstrikes!! D:

 

[DeadDoc]

I just looked at your photo, how are the black strips looking on the platen? If they are not perfectly flat I would replace them. I would get issues like that from time to time and then noticed that the strikes lined up with the black strips that seal the air gaps on the platen. Changed a few out and haven't had that issue since. The largest we print is close to a 18x24 on cling.

EDIT: Also look into how open the vacuum nozzles are.