We've just seen excellent results in a change in fountain solution here... We run in an un-air-conditioned pressroom, and as summer approaches here in Brisbane we are seeing pressroom temps ranging between 20 to 38 degrees C, and if this summer is like all the previous ones I've worked here that range will be around mid 20s to low 40s from late December through till early March. Obviously, that's far from ideal for a pressroom.... But it is what it is and we must work around it.
As the temps began to climb the picture framing issue we've had has gradually worsened, with heavy build up in the "frame" necessitating more blanket washes, and slight mis-feeds creating instant tear-offs and all the other associated headaches that come with excessive ink build up. Over the last month or so we had seen tinting showing up at an alarming rate (call it 5% @ 10,000 sheets) initially in the cyan deck, but on every unit before long.
We tried different inks, plate batches, cleaned technotrans and refreshed chemicals, the plate processor chems were also refreshed and the CTP laser strengths altered... All to no avail. I tested the fount on a processed plate with no discernible plate surface damage showing... And we were left scratching our heads. However, new CMY sets every 50k (maximum!) was causing the boss much grief in half million run jobs...
So we trialled a new fount, going from the then current Bottcher S-3006 (+7% IPA) to our new best friend, ABC/Allied pressroom products "Greenfount" (still running IPA- necessary in this heat).
INSTANT RESULT FTW!!! Straight away we have blankets and back cylinders that are 99% clean, zero tinting (this set has approx 200,000 impressions on it) and to top it off a cleaner, sharper dot that's improved print quality dramatically: we are using less ink, seeing very little piling, and in general it's made my job so much easier. We still can't believe the improvement.
We haven't changed anything else: roller strips, blankets etc are untouched prior to the new fount... So obviously the improvement is a result of nothing more than finding the right chemistry to suit your press and pressroom conditions.
Hope this can help out any Printers fighting this issue