what fountain solution are you currently using?

[Albert Noel]

i'm looking to try some other chemestry. not very pleased with our current etch/sub combo. we've been using it for years but it seems to just be getting worse. i'm not going to get into the issues that i am having but i am looking for a change.

we're using fuji/anchor emerald jrb etch and ars-61 sub and i've just become unhappy with the products. nasty back cylinders at the end of the shift regardless of how well set/shimmed rollers are. quick ink/water balance at the beginning but after short running, it's like playing the piano in the console. i know it's the chemistry as we've tried a low end single step duplicator fountain solution/alcohol and the problems went away. we are not going to switch over to alcohol, its just the problems with our current chemestry outweighs the benefits.

looking to do a little poll, so to speak.

what fountain solution are you using? using it with IPA or a sub? which sub?
RO or tap water? how many oz per gal.? starting cond.? cond. of your water before mixing? durometer of your water forms and meters?



i'm looking at trying a few products from unigraph
(the one step, 2 in 1) lithofount 97 g-2 sf
lithofount 96g and alcofount 1 combo
lithofount 5 star sf and alcofount 5 star combo.

anyone using any of these?

 

[arfamoe]

We are using Unigraph Lithofount 96G R.O with Alcofount-1 Alcohol replacement. Kodak Plates and Flint ink. Seems to run problem free except some of our operators were never really trained on measuring and controlling Conductivity. I found their Conductivity meter had been dropped in the tank and had 'drowned' and they never even missed it.

 

[Albert Noel]

we use fuji brillia plates and hostmman inks. we keep very close eye on conductivity (we have a continously monitoring/always on probe/meter.

i'm just wondering what mix are the guys using? have ever tried it with tap water?an RO system isnt in the budget right now.

 

[nhprinter]

We use Prisco's 2451 +2g. We use 4 oz to a gallon with tap water. We like to keep our conductivity at around 1500. We're using Superior's Biolocity ink (mid tack) and we don't have any problems.


Dave

 

[Bigbadlee]

Hi,

We use Agfa digital plates imaged on the Excalibur system. On press we use Saphira soft fount at 3% and IPA at 8%. Our water goes through an RO unit via a softener with an operating conductivity (RO) of 4 microsiemens. The conductivity in the Beta D chiller is around 1300 microsiemens.

You've seen my post about 2 in 1 fount so I will keep you updated when we change over!

 

[Albert Noel]

Hi,

We use Agfa digital plates imaged on the Excalibur system. On press we use Saphira soft fount at 3% and IPA at 8%. Our water goes through an RO unit via a softener with an operating conductivity (RO) of 4 microsiemens. The conductivity in the Beta D chiller is around 1300 microsiemens.

You've seen my post about 2 in 1 fount so I will keep you updated when we change over!

i may try this one if it works out well for you. we're mixing the etch at 3oz/gal and the additive at around 3oz/gal.
like i said in a previous post, we dont have the option for an RO system, so our tap water starts off at around 280 microsiemens, and we run at around 1600 in the techontrans.

in fact, i think we have the same techotrans unit on our press as you have (ours is also a beta D).

my boss is getting me some samples of the unigraph 5 star etch and sub to try and if it doesnt work well, we will try the uni 97g2 and unifount1. and if that doesnt work i will try the 2 in 1 that you are planning to try, bigbadlee.
anyone else have any suggestions?

 

[Albert Noel]

We use Prisco's 2451 +2g. We use 4 oz to a gallon with tap water. We like to keep our conductivity at around 1500. We're using Superior's Biolocity ink (mid tack) and we don't have any problems.


Dave

we tried a couple of different prisco products a few years ago without any luck. is it a single step or are you using it with IPA or a sub?

 

[nhprinter]

Hi Albert,

The 2451 +2g is a single step solution. We switched over from the 3451 and alcohless 3000 2 step a couple of years ago.


Dave

(we are currently using Agfa plates, but we're switching to Fugi's in the next couple of weeks.)

 

[Albert Noel]

Hi Albert,

The 2451 +2g is a single step solution. We switched over from the 3451 and alcohless 3000 2 step a couple of years ago.


Dave

(we are currently using Agfa plates, but we're switching to Fugi's in the next couple of weeks.)

well, i'll add that one to the "to try" list
we've got unigraph lithofount 5 star and alcofount 5 star samples coming. i will also try the 97g if it doesnt work.

if neither do the trick, on to the 2451 +2g !

 

[Deleted member 16349]

quick ink/water balance at the beginning but after short running, it's like playing the piano in the console. i know it's the chemistry as we've tried a low end single step duplicator fountain solution/alcohol and the problems went away.

Albert,

If your problem is controlling density and you are in the Toronto area, why not think about testing the Ink Transfer Blade (ITB) technology. It would show consistent print density regardless of fountain solution. No piano playing required.

Erik Nikkanen
Toronto, Ontario
[email protected]

 

[Albert Noel]

Albert,

If your problem is controlling density and you are in the Toronto area, why not think about testing the Ink Transfer Blade (ITB) technology. It would show consistent print density regardless of fountain solution. No piano playing required.

Erik Nikkanen
Toronto, Ontario
[email protected]

well, i'm about 2.5 hours east of toronto, sounds interesting enough to try but i seriously doubt my manager would let me modify the press like that. i dont normally have any issues running at all, just seems to be the last couple of month and this press chemestry
the density swing, thats another story. get it in balance,and good dot gains and get running and after a while the fount just doesn't do it's job right.

 

[Deleted member 16349]

well, i'm about 2.5 hours east of toronto, sounds interesting enough to try but i seriously doubt my manager would let me modify the press like that. i dont normally have any issues running at all, just seems to be the last couple of month and this press chemestry
the density swing, thats another story. get it in balance,and good dot gains and get running and after a while the fount just doesn't do it's job right.

Albert,

A bit too far from here. Too bad.

I will still keep looking for a printer in this area (Toronto) who is curious and has management willing to try the ITB.

Erik

 

[Albert Noel]

well, ive got the samples of lithofount 5 star gSF and alcofount 5 star.
seems to run ok, balances very well and stays stable as hell, but i find i have to jack the water up (though the ink settings stay the same)

i've got the lithofount mixed at 4oz/gal running at around 1500 uS and a ph of around 4.8. 3 oz/gal of the alcofount.
i'm sure my mixture isnt right. i'm still getting slight toning and waters are up compaired to the other stuff we usually use, but it's a hell of alot more stable.

we didnt get a very big sample of either (3 L of each) and i've already mixed 12 gallons.
any suggestions?

 

[Bkahill]

Fountain soloution

Fountain soloution

i'm looking to try some other chemestry. not very pleased with our current etch/sub combo. we've been using it for years but it seems to just be getting worse. i'm not going to get into the issues that i am having but i am looking for a change.

we're using fuji/anchor emerald jrb etch and ars-61 sub and i've just become unhappy with the products. nasty back cylinders at the end of the shift regardless of how well set/shimmed rollers are. quick ink/water balance at the beginning but after short running, it's like playing the piano in the console. i know it's the chemistry as we've tried a low end single step duplicator fountain solution/alcohol and the problems went away. we are not going to switch over to alcohol, its just the problems with our current chemestry outweighs the benefits.

looking to do a little poll, so to speak.

what fountain solution are you using? using it with IPA or a sub? which sub?
RO or tap water? how many oz per gal.? starting cond.? cond. of your water before mixing? durometer of your water forms and meters?



i'm looking at trying a few products from unigraph
(the one step, 2 in 1) lithofount 97 g-2 sf
lithofount 96g and alcofount 1 combo
lithofount 5 star sf and alcofount 5 star combo.

anyone using any of these?

I have a freind in houston telling me that they or running Hostmann Steinberg one step He said they have running it for over a year and the pressman really like .

 

[Albert Noel]

being that we are using hostman inks, i would be interested in trying it.

ive also been told that Man Roland has their own fount coming out, so i may try that also.

I have a freind in houston telling me that they or running Hostmann Steinberg one step He said they have running it for over a year and the pressman really like .

 

[Slagneb]

Unigraph is usually a very seamless change and has a ton of benefits. I ran it, then was the tech rep for it and now I sell it so I'm very familiar.

 

[Albert Noel]

Unigraph is usually a very seamless change and has a ton of benefits. I ran it, then was the tech rep for it and now I sell it so I'm very familiar.

you might be a good person to talk to about this then.
we tried the 5star stuff and we didn't have a good time with it. our plates seem to like to run hotter, closer to a ph of 4 (our current stuff runs at 4.2 ph) but the 5 star we tried ran at 4.8-5.0 not too good of a match for our plates/ink. the supplier wanted us to buy 8 liters of each but i didn't want to do that until i got it sorted out.

im starting to get desperate in regards to eliminating this nasty picture framing

 

[Alois Senefelder]

A Drop of Fount Can !!!!!!!!!!!

A Drop of Fount Can !!!!!!!!!!!

Hello everyone, hopefully the following PDFs will enlighten you.

Regards, Alois

 

[Albert Noel]

Hello everyone, hopefully the following PDFs will enlighten you.

Regards, Alois

wow you really have a tonne of good info every time you post. i saved these with some other pdf's you posted in the past.

i think i may be running the chiller too cold. 10.5c or about 50 f currently. i might bring it up closer to 55f or around 12.5c

 

[Albert Noel]

well, tried the prisco 2451 plus 2 today. tried to get the plus 2 G but they only had the regular one.
it's not bad at all. a lot more convenient. so far, it's the best one I've tried but still not quite what i want.