P5 350/Durst

[Qbot]

Anybody out there using a P5 350 Durst? Wondering how it runs B-flute that has a bad curl to it.

 

[Seeking Knowledge]

Qbot,

First off, congrats that is a very nice machine. As far as running really curvy B-Flute, you may be in trouble. While the Durst has zoned Vacuum areas, unless they correspond with your sheet perfectly you are going to have vacuum loss. There are a couple of ways to help with the curve. Make sure stock is on a properly sized pallet, no hang over. If you can re-stack the stock flipping ever 25 sheets the re-strap and let sit for a day or two. Lastly if you have a away to expose the Sheets to heat right before you run them, that too will help. We use an off line UV coater curing unit, that helps a lot.

I hope this into is useful for you. I also do know that Vutek offer “skies” to help hold down curvy boards, works okay but if you have fine copy, not a good solution. Not sure if Durst offers anything similar.

Take care,
SK

 

[Qbot]

Hello Seeking Knowledge, thanks for the reply and sorry for my late response. More than 2/3 of our work is fluted material. So sounds like we are in for a challenge. The Durst will have the “skies” but like you said probably means running with a bigger print gap which means fine type starts to look "fuzzy". The P5 is suppose to be able to run two 60x120 sheets side by side. Wondering if anybody has tried that? 60 to 100 boards an hour is what is expected.

 

[Seeking Knowledge]

Qbot,

Cardboard can be a headache on hybrid, roll to roll machines. My experience with Durst was a Rho HS 900. I do not recall running cardboard on it, we had a flatbed too. That is really the best way. On Vutek's I know you can run two and three sheets at the same time. If you can do it on a Vutek I am sure you can on a Durst. There are tips to keep cardboard flatter as I mentioned above. Good luck, the one thing that I really liked about the Durst was that when you do increase the print gap, the bi-directional offset is auto calculated. On the Vutek it is a manual process and can be a royal PIA.

Good luck, treat the machine right and it will treat you right. Follow all maintenance routines.

Take care,
SK

 

[Repro_Pro]

I am not familiar with your machine but - if you can access the vacuum table, you can temporarily tape over the holes that are exposed outside the area actually covered by the board you print onto.
That should increase your vacuum hold down considerably.