Xerox Versant envelope double feeding

[SoggyWinter]

Versant 3100, but this may be applicable to more Xerox hardware. We just discovered that fanning envelopes before feeding into Tray 5 greatly decreases double feeding with difficult envelopes. Hope Santa gets me an envelope feeder for Christmas 8)

 

[TJPrinter]

This is good to know. I was wondering if you had to use tray 5 because they wouldn't run in trays 6 or 7 either.

 

[kslight]

When I had Xerox machines I made jigs out of chipboard for each envelope size to assist with feeding. Air fed drawers work much better at preventing double feeding, does your printer not have any air fed drawers? I’m assuming that tray is friction fed.

 

[MailGuru]

Mmmm.....our Versants had an attachment that fit inside the high capacity input trays. Feed was fast, efficient and no doubles

The video above looks like you are feeding from the manual bypass tray at only 10 to 20 envelopes at a time?

 

[SoggyWinter]

When I had Xerox machines I made jigs out of chipboard for each envelope size to assist with feeding. Air fed drawers work much better at preventing double feeding, does your printer not have any air fed drawers? I’m assuming that tray is friction fed.

The air feed drawers on mine constantly double feed with 176gsm/67# cover uncoated and some envelopes. With #9 and #10 envelopes it can also be a hassle getting the stacks to the right height and angel so they feed at all.

 

[SoggyWinter]

Mmmm.....our Versants had an attachment that fit inside the high capacity input trays. Feed was fast, efficient and no doubles

The video above looks like you are feeding from the manual bypass tray at only 10 to 20 envelopes at a time?

Pretty much. I have the envelope bracket, but these envelopes weren't feeding reliably in Trays 6 and 7.

 

[TJPrinter]

I always use trays 6 & 7 and have found that some brands of envelopes don’t run as well as others. For years I ran Lindemeyer #10 diagonal envelopes with no issues, then out of blue I started to get bad wrinkles. I switched to digital side seam (same price) and the problem disappeared. Could be they switched converters or something, but I can’t reliably run the diagonals anymore.

I have a paper profile just for envelopes and I have the air assist set to Multi-feed handling table. When I run envelopes, I also replace the standard feed tire with the tire below. I bought some on Aliexpress and they work great. A bit softer and little more aggressive than the standard feed tires I get on service contract. Thousands of envelopes are printed like this with very few misfeeds, and most misfeeds occur when I get lazy and try to overload the tray. Otherwise, they feed continuously, switching between trays 6 & 7 non-stop.

 

[MailGuru]

Ours would use trays 6 & 7, non-stop. Worked great for #10's, 6x9's, and A7's. #9's would jam. Had to tape a cardboard "jumper" at the bottom curve of the paper path where it changes to an upper direction. Then, they would run smooth as silk.

We'd print 5 to 10 thousand at a clip all week long in no time flat.

 

[wonderings]

On my old 2100 I loaded both high cap trays up with #10's and they ran flawlessly. Miss having that press for envelopes. Ran offset envelopes as well, did not have to get digital envelopes in.

 

[MailGuru]

We just discovered that fanning envelopes before feeding into Tray 5 greatly decreases double feeding with difficult envelopes.

Always helps.

IMHO, one of the most important pieces of knowledge in our industry is how to work with paper.

You can teach how to run the printers, cutter, folder, and inserter because they are all finite and specific. Working with material, on the other hand, comes from years of trial & error experience. It's hard to teach that.

 

[SoggyWinter]

Always helps.

IMHO, one of the most important pieces of knowledge in our industry is how to work with paper.

You can teach how to run the printers, cutter, folder, and inserter because they are all finite and specific. Working with material, on the other hand, comes from years of trial & error experience. It's hard to teach that.

Agreed. Have you come across video courses or books on understanding paper?

 

[richsweeney]

Every so often you have to wash the rollers with water. I just snap them out rinse dry. We don't have any issues with double feeding. We also use the overpriced xerox envelope feeder.
And we just put them straight in without that special jog.

 

[rambo]

what is the best toner based digital press out there for running envelopes? i'm using the xerox versant 280 and quality is good and can deal with loading small amounts and some skewing but every time you reload a batch the machine cycles for about 30 seconds before it starts up again. driving me crazy. they need to add an envelope setting so it starts right up without warming up each time. its not like it needs to fuse really well as envelopes are text weight uncoated stock. i cant' believe they have not created an envelope setting or work around? or some how designed tray 5 bypass as a top loader for continues feeding? the company that solves this issue is going to make a lot of money. doesnt seem too difficulty?
any thoughts?
Ramsey

 

[SoggyWinter]

Cheap option:

Expensive option $7700:

Xerox Envelope Feeder and Conveyor for Xerox Versant 180/3100

The Xerox Envelope Feeder and Conveyor for Xerox Versant 180/3100 make continuous, uninterrupted envelope production simple. This is a used unit. No warranty.

www.abdofficesolutions.com

Inkjet Option $80,000 give or take

iJetColor

The World’s Fastest, Most Profitable Short-Run, Inkjet Envelope Solutions

www.ijetcolor.com

I don't think toner is good for large envelope production runs because of the heat and artifacting belts and rollers in the toner printer, and of course, typical click rates not being cost effective for envelopes.

 

[TJPrinter]

what is the best toner based digital press out there for running envelopes? i'm using the xerox versant 280 and quality is good and can deal with loading small amounts and some skewing but every time you reload a batch the machine cycles for about 30 seconds before it starts up again. driving me crazy. they need to add an envelope setting so it starts right up without warming up each time. its not like it needs to fuse really well as envelopes are text weight uncoated stock. i cant' believe they have not created an envelope setting or work around? or some how designed tray 5 bypass as a top loader for continues feeding? the company that solves this issue is going to make a lot of money. doesnt seem too difficulty?
any thoughts?
Ramsey

The 280 will feed envelopes nonstop if you place them in trays 6 & 7 and set your paper source to auto tray select. Use the card brackets that came with the 280, they are uses for narrow width stock like envelopes. Don’t fill the trays like you would standard stock, start with small stacks in each tray until you determine how many envelopes will feed consistently. When one tray empties it will immediately switch to the other tray with no delay. Fill the empty tray and keep going like this until the job is done. It will run at about 50 envelopes per minute done this way.

I like the dedicated envelope feeder that they have, but unfortunately, it’s overpriced.

 

[ReproElectroProspero]

It's worth noting that the xerox versant is notoriously finicky when it comes to envelopes. People saying that ___ way of feeding has no issues for them, but you experience constant issues with it - are likely using envelopes with much better properties. Envelope curl is a big one, but in my experience trying to print envelopes on the Versant, side seam vs diagonal seam made a HUGE difference. However no matter what I did, envelopes from my supplier caused problems. Ended up getting a dedicated envelope inkjet (ColorMax8) and stopped running envelopes on my toner machines unless it was an emergency.