Tips & Tricks by Tower Products

Fast-running sheetfed presses (16.000-18.000 prints/hour) sometimes show the problem of “picture framing”. The Tower founts HSW 200-EU and HSW 300-EU are formulated in a way that they are less sensitive to this phenomenon. Both founts are LOW SOLVENT and contain components (for better wet-out and emulsification) that ensure a better ink/water balance. These components also ensure better lubrication between plate and rubber blanket. When using one of the mentioned founts, sheetfed presses are less sensitive for picture framing. Also, by being LOW SOLVENT, these founts ensure that the image on the plate remains visible much longer. This ensures more high quality prints at long runs. Contact us to assist or advise you.

In the past, to remove ink from the plate, the press operator would use blanket and roller wash to remove ink from the plate surface. With today’s modern plate technology, this is not recommended as the emulsions are softer and more chemically sensitive. The removal of ink from the plate surface should only be done using Plate Cleaners that are compatible with the plate and plate manufacture you are using. Tower Products has developed several plate cleaning technology products that are compatible with all of the major plate manufactures products. They are: • Tower CTP Scratch Remover- A premium scratch remover. • Tower Plate Cleaner and Preserver-A cleaner and preserve that meets the Nestle compliance list. • Tower Universal Plate Cleaner- A stronger faster acting cleaner • Tower UV Plate Cleaner FP- A UV plate cleaner that meets the Nestle compliance list. All of these products contain solvents that will remove ink from the plate emulsion without harming that emulsion. The recommended proper application would be to wipe the plate clean, with a cleaner of choice, with a soft rag or damp sponge. Depending on the type of dampening system you can also apply the fount solution to clean the plate. Use of these products will ensure proper removal of ink and lessen the chance of damage to the emulsion of the plate. Need to know more? Please contact us via sales@towerproducts.eu

In today’s pressroom, printers are dealing with several areas of contamination in the ink rollers and water rollers of the press. Inks today, in many cases, are much higher in pigment loads. Surfactants are found in washes and fountain solutions; and calcium is present in most papers used today. All of these by-products are contaminants in the inking rollers that are not removed by simply washing up the rollers with just press wash. Simply stated, printers are dealing with contaminants that are solvent soluble, water soluble and insoluble. The trick is to be able to remove all of these contaminants so that the rollers are clean and able to accept ink and water. Washing up the rollers with solvent alone or water alone will not get the rollers clean. You need to employ a system that will clean all of the contaminants. Tower Products has developed a process to completely remove contamination from the rollers. This simple procedure will take on average 15 to 30 minutes to remove all the contamination that affects print quality. 1 - Wash up ink rollers using a quality water miscible press wash like Tower I.P Wash or Tower Colorkleen. 2 - Apply Tower Super Roller Cleaner to ink rollers and allow it to evenly coat rollers. Allow 5 minutes for product to work into rollers. 3 - Flush Tower Super Roller Cleaner out with a water miscible press wash. 4 - Apply Tower Deluxe Calcium Rinse to the rollers. Make sure the rollers are evenly coated and wet. Allow 5 minutes for product to work into rollers. 5 - Flush Tower Deluxe Calcium Rinse out with water. The benefits of utilizing the Tower Products Roller Contamination Elimination System are: • Print quality will be maintained at a high level. • Plate blinding issues will be kept to a minimum. • Roller life can be extended. Need to know more? Contact us via sales@towerproducts.eu