Newbie advice needed on Heidelberg Prosetter 74

[tommylos]

Hello,
I am looking to buy a used Heidelberg Prosetter which is not popular in my area.
I have been told that one of the challenges that I might face is that they use UV negative plates which are not readily available in my area. What is there is the CTcp positive plate used by Amsky.
My question is, can the prosetter also use these CTcp postive plates?
Many thanks.

 

[maxon]

Negative. In several ways. That is, the answer is negative. You need negative plates i.e. photopolymer violet sensitive plates. Violet laser (405 nm) platesetters such as Prosetter can only expose plates having sensitivity better than 60 microJoules per sqcm (typical range is 40 to 55 µJ/cm2 for all violet plate types).

 

[CHAVEZ]

My question is, can the prosetter also use these CTcp postive plates? You can not use positive plates, additional the plates are Violet not UV, so Kodak, Agfa and fuji have this kind of plates, the technical name es Photopolymer Violet plates
The information from maxon is precise and correct, and will be important to know what kind of print are you thinking produce.

 

[tommylos]

Thank you very much for the much needed advice. After enquiries I have realised that photopolymer violet plates are not available in my area. Thus the Prosetter would be a bad purchase. We only have CTcp positive plates mostly used by Amsky and also thermal plates. What about a Heidelberg Suprasetter, does it work with thermal plates or there are also specific plates that it works with?

 

[Martin Mueller]

The HD Suprasetter works very well with all thermal printing plates (830 nm) in the market.

 

[tommylos]

Well, I am currently eyeing a used year 2009 Suprasetter A52/A75. It has been configured for proccessles plates but they say it can also do convectional.
It is being sold with no software, the dealer says the printer was using it via online from Heidelberg.
What software do I need to run it and any leads on how I can get it? What do I need to know and check about these used units to be able to get a good one? Many thanks

 

[Magnus59]

Well, I am currently eyeing a used year 2009 Suprasetter A52/A75. It has been configured for proccessles plates but they say it can also do convectional.
It is being sold with no software, the dealer says the printer was using it via online from Heidelberg.
What software do I need to run it and any leads on how I can get it? What do I need to know and check about these used units to be able to get a good one? Many thanks

You need Heidelberg Prinect Metashooter. Every so often one comes up on the second hand market, if purchasing from Heidelberg, they will ask for you soul, your firstborn and a lifetime of servitude

 

[Martin Mueller]

@tommylos
Be carefull with buying a second hand Prinect / MetaDimension Shooter. The shooter must exactly fit to your Suprasetter. Heidelberg changed the Suprasetter technical specifications several times since the release of the machine over ten years ago.

 

[Repro_Pro]

Buying a used plate-setter without a compatible, working rip/shooter is highly risky.
You must also have a skilled, competent, experienced (and hopefully not too greedy) technician around.
Depending on the specific make and model and its popularity, spare parts may also be costly and/or hard to find.