Creo thermal head 20 watts or 40 watts ?

Riz Khan

Member
Hi,

Creo thermal heads 20 watts or 40 watts in 3244 old Trendsetters, I have no high speed requirement, neither use processless plates, can I output FM screening (staccatto) with 20 watts head ?, what are the features missing in 20 watts head compare to 40 watts head.


regards

Riz Khan
 
Re: Creo thermal head 20 watts or 40 watts ?

I would tend towards the 40-watt head for a couple reasons.. Age being primary. The 20's are pretty old, I don't know how long they were manufactured for. Also, you're going to burn each plate longer in the 20-watt machine, than you would in the 40-watt... ergo, your heads going to die earlier in the 20, than in the 40. And... different media types require the 40-watt head. Just because the plate you're using today doesn't....

Just my 2-cents. Dunno what the deciding factor is, however, so that makes it tough to weigh.

- Mac
 
Re: Creo thermal head 20 watts or 40 watts ?

Hi Mac,

I thought 20 Watt at S or F speed lasts longer than 40 watt heads.

If machne is on reasonably slow imaging speed and low head power it
last between 8,000 - 10,000 hours, is this correct !


regards

Riz
 
Re: Creo thermal head 20 watts or 40 watts ?

I've heard 5000 hours MTBF on the heads, but that's just an average I've gotten from Creoites, dunno what the break-down is across each head type.

- Mac
 
Re: Creo thermal head 20 watts or 40 watts ?

Check specs against your current media. I would go with a 40 watt head no matter what.
Kodak Thermal Gold plates ran fine with 20 watts but required 2 ovens in a long processing line. The change to Kodak Sword Excel plates required a 40 watt head.
The replacement as I recall is somewhere in the $50,000 range.
1 year later our trade in value on the VLF 5067 less than we spent on the new head.
It really depends on the media you are running and what direction they are going with their technology.
 
Re: Creo thermal head 20 watts or 40 watts ?

The 20 watt head can usually do anything the 40 watt head can do..........only slower. It's all about the energy applied to the plate emulsion. That's why the plates are rated in millijoules. You can either raise or lower the laser power, or, raise or lower the drum rotational speed to achieve the same thing. If you use the Kodak Thermal Gold, or the Agfa P970, or probably any similarly rated plate from any manufacturer, you should be OK with the 20 watt head. Kodak usually runs the laser/drum speed at a very conservative rate to prolong the laser life, especially if you have a service contract with them, because they want it to last a really long time to save THEM money. The imaging speed of a 3244 "S" machine is 7.4" per minute, and the 3244 "F" is 15" per minute. You can figure your plates per hour from that. Be sure to allow for load/unload time also, usually 1.5 - 2 minutes per plate.
 

PressWise

A 30-day Fix for Managed Chaos

As any print professional knows, printing can be managed chaos. Software that solves multiple problems and provides measurable and monetizable value has a direct impact on the bottom-line.

“We reduced order entry costs by about 40%.” Significant savings in a shop that turns about 500 jobs a month.


Learn how…….

   
Back
Top