Scratches On Electra XD Plates

[exchief604]

Has anyone else been having problems with scratches on their Electra XD plates. We are seeing many more when we bake the plates for UV use or long runs. The scratch issue is across all of our presses and coming from my Magnus 800 line the most. Any insight would be a help.

[nemo]

...from my Magnus 800 line the most???
Did you confirm the machine is causing the scratches?
Can you describe them or upload some pictures? If you suspect the machine, clean all rollers carefully - autoloader exit rollers, drum roller, platesetter exit rollers....

[PACH]

Has anyone else been having problems with scratches on their Electra XD plates. We are seeing many more when we bake the plates for UV use or long runs. The scratch issue is across all of our presses and coming from my Magnus 800 line the most. Any insight would be a help.

First: are the scratches across the plate or top to bottom?
Are the scratches always in the same place or random?
There are a few ways to eliminate some parts of the Magnus800:
You can load plates from the Loading conveyor, therefore bypassing the Autoloader
You can load a plate and unload it manually
You can put the plate into the processor at 90 Deg; this will eliminate the processor
There are only 3 rollers that touch the emulsion on the plate: Autoloader exit roller; Drum loading roller and Exit roller.

[Glenn McDowall]

We've been seeing scratches for a few months now with Elektra XD, not very often maybe 1 in 50 plates but they come in clumps. We think they appeared when they shifted production to Sofia, we never saw them from Leeds, we're almost certain these are manufacturing defects rather than something catching in the platesetter or processor.

[Dan Roll]

Compare the ease of cleaning the scratches on your plates to cleaning a fresh scratch intentionally applied to the plate at start-up. If your fountain solution cleans a fresh scratch up by itself (as it should) but the scratches you are complaining about have to be removed with scratch remover, it is most likely the plates were scratched during manufacture rather than during processing.