Laminator sticking problem

[sidneykidney]

I've recently purchased a Morane RFTL Laminator but it won't stick the sample laminate to blank plain paper or board. I've tested it at temperatures between 90C - 140C and thicknesses between 100gsm - 300gsm Silk and what happens it that the 2 rolls of laminate (Double sided) sticks to themselves on the outside of the paper edge but peels off like cling film on the actual paper. When I spoke to a Sales guy at D&K (they manufacture superstick laminating film) I was told that the Morane uses Hot Shoes, and so, it is only an encapsulator and NOT a laminator. Can anyone verify this, and also, is there a difference between Laminating film roll and encapsulating film roll.

 

[danprtr]

Film sticks to paper on ours

Film sticks to paper on ours

Our Ledco 2 sided laminator has hot shoes and does stick to uncoated paper and plastic materials, though with varying degrees on the plastics. We also use D&K film.

 

[[email protected]]

Laminator Sticking Problem

Laminator Sticking Problem

We have a Banner American machine (27") that also has heat shoes (hot shoes?).

We use either GBC or comparable material from Southwest Plastics, but we typically run between 240-275 degrees F (115-135 C), depending on stock & whether it is digital or offset.

No problem adhering to blank paper. Only issue is fuser oil on digital prints with heavy solids. For those, we use an enhanced adhesive product & try to wait 24 hours to allow fuser oil to dissipate.

Dave

 

[Mike F]

Regular laminating is only laminating one side, encapsulating is, well, laminating both sides and "encapsulating" something, literally "putting it into a capsule", with the laminate around the edges sealing it, leaving a small "border" of laminate around whatever you're encapsulating. If you've ever had an important document laminated to protect it, it was probably encapsulated, whereas decals or mounted prints would be laminated regularly.

 

[easiprint]

We had a Morane a year or so ago, and it used to stick the film very well to plain board. We got rid of ours as we needed to be able to laminte digital prints, which the Morane would not do well. Once board had been through a digital printer, it would not stick the film to the toner areas at all (came off easily), but it would still stick well to non printed areas. You either have dodgy film or the laminator is not heating up enough in my opinion.

 

[PAI]

Film sticking problems can be caused by a number of issues. When you stick the film to itself (with no paper) it should be very difficult to peel apart and should be nearly glass clear. If it is very hazy or you can peel the top from the bottom laminate, then you probably do not have enough heat. For co-polymer or low temp adhesives, the temperature you mentioned should be fine. For homo-polymer adhesives (high temp) you should use about 150 deg C.

Because you say you are getting a good edge seal, the nip pressure should be OK. You also said you tried different paper weights in the machine. Put a piece of plain copy paper in the machine. Do you stick? Some coated stocks are difficult to laminate. If the papers are clay coated, the laminate could stick to the clay, and the clay could fracture and come off the sheet.

Lastly there could be a film problem. Is the film old? Most companies say 6 month shelf life on unopened rolls of film. Do you have another roll to try? Newer hopefully? You can usually check the adhesive side of your film with dyne solution. A dyne of 50 or better is usually considered fresh film.

When doing tests with paper, make sure you try unprinted paper first. If you stick to it and not printed paper then the problem might be with the ink / film combination.

 

[Laminator Warehouse]

Good Advice

Good Advice

Some good advice on here. This sounds much more like a film issue than a laminator issue. As was stated before, a good way to tell is to laminate some plain paper. If it sticks, you're issue is most likely with WHAT you are laminating, not what you are using to laminate it with (the laminator). Even if it sticks to the regular paper, but not the material you are trying to laminate, there are many different types of films out there you can try. Normally you can get film manufacturers or distributors to give you some samples to try.

Heat Shoes or Rollers should not make a difference in this issue. The only time heat shoes may make a difference is when you are laminating with a very thin film (1.5 mil or thinner) and laminating relatively slow. What can happen is the film cools down in the space in between the heat shoe (where the film is heated to the temperature you see on the display) and the rollers (where the pressure is applied). Again, this should not matter much with films thicker than 1.5 mil. Hope this helps.

 

[sidneykidney]

Thanks Everyone, Update

Thanks Everyone, Update

Wow what a response...that's exactly why I like this website, I get technical advice and NOT sales advice.
Latest news - An engineer came round and made sure the heat shoes were working and heating up to the correct temperature - No Problems. He ordered me a sample of D&K Super Stick OPP which worked okay but not brilliant. I was still able to peel of the film with not too much force whereas the sheets which I got back from my laminators (also using Superstick) was so sticky that when I tried to pull it off, the adhesive parted the paper into 2 layers but still stuck. I'm now waiting for the engineer to come back and do his own tests.
Question??? Is there a standard speed/heat setting for laminating using OPP Superstick

Thanks for all your answers