AFGA plate substitute

[Alex Arriaza]

im having so many problems with the lithostar ultra plates for the Galileo V5 CTP, there is always something new, and they are not reliable at all, we've been searching for the real problem and the conclusion was the plates, they came to the shop already blinded, so its pretty frustrating and we are wasting at least 100 plates per month, so i would like to know if there is a subsitute for this plates?

 

[KevinC@EFI]

im having so many problems with the lithostar ultra plates for the Galileo V5 CTP, there is always something new, and they are not reliable at all, we've been searching for the real problem and the conclusion was the plates, they came to the shop already blinded, so its pretty frustrating and we are wasting at least 100 plates per month, so i would like to know if there is a subsitute for this plates?

If you have a 30mW laser system there are options from all of the "big 3" plate manufacturers, as well as some other minor players. If your system is a 5mW, you'd have to upgrade the laser system or trade in the machine - the silver-based LAP-V is really the only plate still available for those systems.

The newer Galileo's have 30mW support (like the VE, etc.), but I'm not sure about the V5 you mention.

Let me know if you want details on the Kodak plates or solutions and I can help.

Kevin.

 

[VladCanada]

He meant Galileo VS, and switching to another technology (photopolymer plates) needs another type of plate processor.
Alex has problem with vendor, not plates: wrong transport-storage conditions, expiry date could cause the blinding.

 

[Alex Arriaza]

Actually Vlad Canada is right in everything, i believe the problem comes from the distributor, there was this one time in which they did had the size of plate that we needed, so their solution was to open a box of new plates with bigger size and then cut it to the size we needed they did that for at least five deliveries, thats why i want to change not only the vendor but also the plates, if anyone can recommend plates that are suitable for the CTP i have and the processor please let me know

 

[VladCanada]

Plates probably were cut not in safe yellow light as well...
Unfortunately you have no choice but AGFA.
Need more freedom - switch the technology to photopolymer, and you will have AGFA and Fuji Brilla options (and some "made in China" )... and more plate-processor brands to buy.
The question is - money for that step to your freedom.

 

[has-been]

Alex:

Even though it means a different processor, I think that you should really consider the photopolymer option.There is a very good reason why there is only one manufacturer of silver emulsion plates.

Regards:
hasbeen

 

[SteveAgfa]

Murray:

Are you upgrading his laser with that advice? (smile)
I suspect Alex's VS is an original 5mW laser.

Regards,

 

[VladCanada]

If Steve is right, they will need the second step to freedom: Galileo carriage upgrade to 60mW laser.
I've never had such amount of money in my possession

 

[has-been]

HI steve:

I think that the upgrade goes without saying. But maybe I am wrong to assume that everyone is aware of the higher lazer requirements after all this time.

Did you notice that I did not name any plate manufacturer?

Regards:
Murray Billinghurst

 

[VladCanada]

"Without saying" works only for customers with a Service Contract.
Laser upgrade has never been mandatory procedure like an internal SW upgrade, for instance.
AGFA, Fuji, Kodak... does not matter who.

 

[has-been]

Vladcanada:

By stating "goes without saying" I do not mean that there may not be a cost factor involved.
I was simply stating that, after all these years, I would think that anyone seriously invoved in CTP should be aware of the fact that higher power lasers are required for photopolymer plates than foor silver emulsion plates.

With no reference to any particular manufacturer, you should be very wary when considering upgrading a platesetter designed for silver emulsion plates, unless the manufacturer can guarantee the results.
Too-many times I found that different manufacturers platesetters, that were designed for silver emulsion products, revealed a multitude of problems when higher power was introduced.

has-been

 

[maxon]

With no reference to any particular manufacturer, you should be very wary when considering upgrading a platesetter designed for silver emulsion plates, unless the manufacturer can guarantee the results.
Too-many times I found that different manufacturers platesetters, that were designed for silver emulsion products, revealed a multitude of problems when higher power was introduced.
has-been

Now this sounds particularly interesting, can you elaborate on this please ?

 

[has-been]

maxon:

To elaborate (just a little) I must first explain that I spent quite a few years converting silver emulsion platesetters (most manufacturers) to photopolymer plates and found similar results in pretty well all of them.
When you upped the power, optics problem would appear and in many cases, light bounce reared its ugly head. In addition to this optics maintainance became a real headache.
With the understanding that these same platesetters work quite well (to varying degrees) on silver emulsion you only had to understand the differences. I used to refer to the problems by comparing the platesetters to a car with a wheel out of balance -"It runs smoothly at 30 mph. but shimmies at 35mph."
Yes, a lot of the problems were caused because the early lasers did not produce a "clean" beam.

Fortunatly, more powerful lasers were developed. Up to the Violet lasers, in my time. With the advent of the higher powered lasers, platesetters, being manufactured, would show-up these deficiencies and the problems could be corrected before they hit the market.

has-been

 

[SteveAgfa]

Murray:

Wha? This thread is in the context of Agfa and the Galileo. The Galileo had
light baffles containing the beam path, to avoid reflected energy fogging the
plates elsewhere.

This is a simple case of the initial violet laser diodes used for CTP starting in 2000
were 5mW. This was more than enough power to expose a silver-based plate, but
not enough to expose a photopolymer plate.

The original green Galileo used a 100mW laser, so from day one it could
handle both silver and photopolymer plates sensitized toward 532 nm. In
fact, in 1997, our engineers in Wiesbaden remarked that the green Galileo
delivered the best image on N90(a?) since the daze of the Lino Gutenberg.

When the 30mW violet lasers came out, this was on the cusp of delivering
proper exposure for photopolymer (depending on the CTP design), since age
and humidity would impact the ideal for photopolymer (more so then). I don't
believe we ever shipped a 30 mW violet Galileo. Even the Palladio 30s were
really 60 mW. With the cut-in of 60mW violet laser, the Galileo was designed
to image both silver and photopolymer violet plates.

Silver plates continue to have their strong advocates; Agfa plate customers have
that choice, as we have both violet silver and photopolymer plates. Those
vendors with photoploymer-only, will of course praise photopolymer alone.

Regards,

 

[marktonk]

Interesting,

I have never seen the problem Murray stated with a Prosetter...in fact, a Product Manager from his old company had called me one day asking questions about the Prosetter laser and Optics, he really was impressed with the quality level of his plates being exposed on a Prosetter. Yes, this was a 30 mW laser that we could control to image not only photopolymer but also silver halide. This same quality level and control is applicable to the 60 mW Prosetter too. Let face it, some CtP were not designed with the optics and control to do so. In Europe, the trend with the Prosetter was toward photopolymer but in the States we preferred the higher quality level and fast roll up of the silver plate with the Prosetter

Best regards,

Mark