Re: 7800 scratches on Pictorico SOLVED
'Twasn't easy, but I finally, finally found a solution for this issue. Two solutions, actually. Just to reiterate the problem: The scratches I was referring to in this thread were consistent, superficial, but pretty apparent, running the direction the media was traveling through the printer, on both sides, about every quarter inch, - some single scratches, some double. It didn't affect my polymer plates made in my Olec exposure unit, but it did affect a client's plates (who was using the sun to expose). I tried cleaning, dust off, tacky Epson cleaning sheets...nothing seemed to affect the scratches, except this: I changed media spindles from the normal one sold with the 7800 to a 'high tension' one Epson also sells. I used it in conjunction with the newer, slightly thinner Pictorico OHP Premium media (prefixed with TPU and is 5.2 mils thick) and the scratches pretty much diminished completely. I changed back to the old Pictorico OHP Premium media (prefixed with the product ID TPK and is 6.5 mils thick) and the scratches were minimized when used with the high tension spindle, but still a little worse than with the thinner, new Pictorico OHP Premium media...which I'll need to go to anyway eventually. For whatever reason, using the 'high tension' spindle solved the problem of Pictorico OHP Premium media scratching in my Epson 7800 - and I found the newer media, while milkier, does look generally better. My understanding is the newer stuff requires about 15-20% less exposure than the older stuff, however. Does that jive with other's experience moving from the old OHP Premium formulation to the newest one? In any case, I do hope this info helps someone avoid the hassles my clients and I went through over the past few months. Here's a link to the high-tension spindle: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist.jsp&sku=251308&q=1&Q=add&is=REG&A=cart Best, Jon -- Jon Lybrook Intaglio Editions http://intaglioeditions.com 303-818-5187 |