Agfa Amigo TS and Premature Wear

[Hopkins Printing]

Just curious if anyone is using Agfa's Amigo TS plate and experiencing premature wear (color fade)? I believe this plate is rated for somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 impressions however we are seeing wear starting as low as 25,000. A job last night needed several plate remakes at about 60,000.

Service confirmed our platesetter was ok and that plates were being imaged optimally, we haven't changed ink or press chemistries in about a decade, and we used to get much more longevity with previous Amigo (non TS) plates.

Anyone?

Thanks in advance,
hp

 

[Dan Roll]

Just got a call today with a printer complaining of a similar issue, loss of highlight dots at 75-80 thousand impressions but no image loss in type or solids.... Was there a resolution in your case?

 

[Hopkins Printing]

Hi Dan,

We were not able to resolve the issue so we switched to Agfa's Energy Elite Pro plate.

Best regards,
hp

 

[Hopkins Printing]

Hi Dan,

Quick question. Is the printer using any of kind of equipment that extends the life of the plate processor chemistry?

Thanks,
hp

 

[Dan Roll]

Thanks for the replies. I will ask about replenishment, a concept I am totally against as printers IMHO would be better served to replace developer more often and not replenish at all rather than extend the life of developers often awash with trillions of spent emulsion particles. My experience has been abuse of replenishment leads to toning and narrow ink water balance issues rather then physical image loss, but I am not going to pretend I know how this plate emulsion converts during exposure or what mechanism causes it to adhere to the plate. I am not as connected to the plate industry as I have been in the past and many of my best technical resources have retired so I am shopping around for an expert in this area familiar with the Amigo line to advise me.