Coaster Problems

[danzab]

Hello

Im having some problems printing onto coasters, I have done a few images before onto them and all went ok but they were only for my kids, now have a proper order from a customer and having trouble. Have tried different pressures, temp and time. The coasters are from bms.

Have attached a couple of pics to show whats happening

In the pics there are a couple of quite light looking coasters,these are what I already had and not from bms, but they have come out pretty different

Would be grateful for any ideas or help

[bms]

What temp/ time are you pressing for? It should be 190 - 200 degrees for 50-60 seconds. Good pressure.

Does the image look good on paper?

Try pre-pressing the coasters for, say 30 seconds (on the back of them) to see if this is moisture related - the pre-pressing will help to remove any moisture and the image should print better.

[danzab]

Thanks for the reply, tried 185 & 190 for 50 & 60 seconds. Will try pre pressing and see what happens

[JSR]

Try different times/temps.

I find that the times/temps quoted by others rarely agrees with what I end up using. Trial and error works for me - I just keep a little notebook in which I jot down what works for me.

I printed a few bunches of BMS coasters just recently and they do print fine - if you get yourself the right time/temp for your press.

For me, I find that 180-185C for around 2 minutes on my 15" flatbed (good pressure) produces perfect results. If I'm on a large print run, I decrease by 5-10 seconds for each subsequent press down to a minimum of 1m 30s. Any lower than that and I begin to get the patching that you see.

If I'm doing a single press for a very short run, I may increase the time to 2m 15s if I fill the press with 9 coasters. I don't find that over-pressing causes any problems, but just keep an eye on the reds (if printing from a 1400) or the greens (if printing from a B40W). If you don't solve your problem, press one for well over 2mins and see what you get. You can only waste another coaster.

If I print a single coaster on my plate press, it could take five minutes or more to get a good result. Not all presses are the same.

Pressing for too long with cork-backed coasters may cause the cork backing to distort a little, so keep an eye on that if you're doing cork-backed coasters.

[R.Prints]

Had this problem when I did Sunday market. If stock was left in a waterproof trailer they would still absorb moisture from the air if it was damp, same happens to placemats and jigsaws. Cure as Martin says is to pre-press for a short time to remove and moisture that has been absorbed. only taked 10-15secs.
Good Luck.

[danzab]

Thanks for the replies everybody. Got it sorted in the end, pre pressing seemed to sort out the problem

Thanks again

Dan

[bms]

Thanks for the feedback