We are having Fuji Tech Reps coming in on Tuesday, We have been using Pro-T (ecomaxx now) for about 3 years we were a beta customer in 06'. At first we did have some development issues on the press but a quick wipe down of the plate with 50/50 water alcohol sub solved the problem. However as of recently we have been getting some really aberrant results. plates falling to develop on the lead edge, significantly on the front right edge. No problems on first job of the day, fresh ink train, fresh water. We use the recommended fountain chemistry from Fuji. Per some advice we pulled all the ink forms and distributer rollers out of the press and gave them a really good scrubbing, regained good tack and velvet feel. Thought we had it licked but alas problem came back.
We have put new water form and metering rollers in 3 months old (factory ink forms are 16 months -6m impressions). We have polished and gummed dampening system, we have decalcified water system, we have removed and cleaned water trays, we have adjusted nips throughout the ink train and water system. We have monitored PH and conductivity. We have increased pre-dampening and decreased pre-dampening. The same for pre-inking. No obvious culprit.
I believe that Fuji will solve it, they are sending their big guns in, I will share what the fix is and what I learn. I am relatively new to this business 6 years and had to learned printing kinda on my own so lots of trial and error. But despite the problems we are able to produce a fantastic product, consistent 15-17% gain across CMYK and a very good gray balance. Once we solve the development problem we will do a formal implementation of Gracol 7 (informal right now).
I do believe Fuji will solve it, smart fellows and my sales rep has always solved the problem.
I will follow up after their visit.
Work Flow - Rampage - Screen Platerite 4300 - Ecomaxx - Ryobi 524 GX - Supreme Bio Ink