Scratches in Kodak plates

[J. de Drukker]

We use Kodak CTP plates.
Electra excel HRL and the last year there are scratches on it, we believe they are already in the plates before we develope them, only our supplier says we are the only one with this problem, that's what we can't believe.
Are there more companies who have complaints about these plates (kodak electra excel made in UK Leeds).
Are we really the only company with these scratches?
The scratche are grouped mostly on the right end side of the plates.

 

[vansrv8er]

Scratched plates

Scratched plates

If you spin the plates before loading or imaging, does the scratch move to the left side? if it does it is on the plate? Sorry for the late response. Are you still having issues?
Thanks
Van

 

[KevinC@EFI]

Hi J. de Drukker -

I sent you a private message yesterday, but I'm not sure if you're checking those. If you can supply me your company name and which dealer you purchase through, I will have our local teams follow up.

If the scratches are actually on the plates when you open the package, it could be to a wide number of reasons - but factory-induced scratching is extremely rare (not to say it has never happened though). However, if it's happened more than once (different batches / shipments from our factory), then my first suspect would be poor handling somewhere in the supply chain. Knowing your dealer name will help us track that down to ensure it doesn't happen again.

vansrv8er's suggestion to try rotating plates after imaging to see if the scratches rotate too is a good one. Scratching in the processor is a common problem due to old brushes, dirty rollers, and setup problems.

Send me your details by email or through the forum and we'll gladly help you out.

Kevin.

 

[Bansheei]

Nope, your not alone. For most of 2008 our AGFA plates had scratches through them. (Very, very annoying) Although AGFA admitted this straight away, and they would swap the bad batches for new good batches. We could see the scratches in the plates before they got loaded into the platesetter. Apparently it was due to dodgy equipment being used to cut down the plates...

 

[TBjammin]

We were haveing problems with scratching on Kodak plates and found that it was due to the angle of the delivery table at the end of the processor. We had to adjust the angle and put a stopper at the end to minimize the contact of the back of the plate coming out of the processor with the one that was already finished.

A steeper angle (past what the table adjustments would allow) and a styrofoam block to stop the plates from sliding any farther than needed to clear the processor.

If the scratches aren't coming from the end of the processor, check your plate handling procedures to see if at any time the back of one plate is contacting the emulsion side of another. We found that, for some reason, it doesn't take much pressure for the back of a plate to cause a scratch.

Hope this helps.

 

[J. de Drukker]

Thanks for your suggestions,I've contacted Mr. Cazabon.
Our supplier and Kodak are working on a solution for this problem, if we've found out what causes the problem I let you know.

 

[WendyM]

We too have had problems with plate scratching. DITP Gold plates.
Our scratches seem to be in 'groups' and on an angle.
Our suppier has been brilliant in helping us try and work out where the problem is.
They have completed an audit on our plateline, with no standout issues there.

My belief is that it is a handling issue.
One area we highlighted was the plates stacked at the end of the processor were being 'dragged' across the bottom of the plate in front as it was removed from the stacker unit. Plates now have to be 'peeled' away from the plate in front completely before it is removed from the stacker.
This has had good results.

We also noticed the plate punch, depending how the plate was loaded into it, caused scratching on the back of the plate. We have put masking tape over the edges where the plate makes contact with the punch as it is being slid into the punch. This would only help if the front of the plate came into contact with the back of the plate.

When stacking our plates for transportation to the press room, they are face to face with a piece of paper inbetween.

The above have all helped, but not eliminated the scratching issue.
It have now passed it to the press room to follow up on their handling procedures.
Still waiting the outcome.

I too would love to hear your solution... when you find it

 

[jberhalter]

Scratches in Plates

Scratches in Plates

I have had that problem in the past, the scratches were in the metal before the coating was applied which made it difficult to see before imaging. I did not involve my supplier, I went straight to my Kodak Rep. and he credited us for the plates (8 boxes) which we used anyway for line work jobs.