Home | Contact Us | Submit Troubleshooting Info | Search | Help


    Output | Software Solutions | Proofing | Color, Screening and Calibration | Scanning | Digital Photography | Consumables | POS

Photopolymer media sticks during loading/unloading

Applies to
  • ThermoFlex

Description

 Photopolymer plates stick to table surface; Plate buckles during unload.

Causes

 Movement of photopolymer plates over the surface of the table can generate enough static charge to cause the plate to stick. Low humidity will worsen the static charge problem. Movement of the plate will also squeeze out the air between the plate and the table surface, which can also have the effect of sticking the plate to the table. These conditions can render the air floatation feature ineffective. In some cases, the plate may stick to the table during a load sequence while the drum spins. The plate may also stick during an unload sequence and cause the plate to buckle.

Solutions

 1. Depending on the environmental control capabilities of the site, raising the humidity level may alleviate the problem. 2. Have the operator routinely clean the table surface with an anti-static cleaner solution. In most cases, this will reduce the severity of the problem. An example anti-static cleaner solution is:

Creo p/n: 89-0021 Supp, Anti-Static Mat Cleaner. The customer can order this cleaner solution directly from their local distributor with the following information:
3M 8001 Cleaner for Static Control Mats 3M Id#: 98-0798-2323-7

Notes:
Stripping of the protective cover sheet from the photopolymer plate is also a major contributor to the static charge problem. Although the table surface is conductive and grounded, the photopolymer material itself is non-conductive. Touching the top surface of the plate with a static control brush can dissipate some of the charge. Unless the static control brush makes contact with the entire surface of the media, islands of charge will remain. Touching the delicate ablative black layer is not recommended.

See also

    Copyright © 2005 Creo Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential. Back to top.