Go back

UV ink is not adhered to the substrates, what should i do?

Answer: UV ink, once cured, may not adhere to all surfaces. The type of surface and pretreatment used will greatly effect ink adhesion.

① Please use the recommended print environment temperatures for the best print results. UV ink will not optimally harden and adhere in low temperature environments.
The recommend environmental temperature is 25℃-30℃.

[If the printer is UJV-160]
The platen heater will improve both curing and surface adhesion. However, if the heater temperature is too high, the media may deform. Please use suitable temperature settings for each media

② If the surface of UV lamp glass is dirty, UV irradiation will be reduced.
Please clean the bottom of the lamp housing using alcohol and a clean cloth.

③ Additional UV irradiation may be needed after printing has completed.
MIMAKI UV printers have a function which allows UV irradiation without printing. If the print result was not cured enough or the cured ink comes off from the material easily, please provide additional UV irradiation.

[If the printer is JFX]
The “Post cure unit” for JFX is an option part. It is mounted on the front of the gantry to provide additional UV irradiation. The JFX plus series includes this unit as a standard feature.

④ To increase the UV irradiation: increase the pass count, Use uni-directional, normal print speed, and lower ink limits.

⑤ Check and change the UV irradiation level.
You can set up the UV irradiation level in the SETUP menu on the control panel.

⑥ Use surface treatments when required.
a) In case of rigid media such as polycarbonate and acrylic.
For rigid media such as polycarbonate and acrylic, we recommend that the surface is first cleaned and washed with ethanol and/or IPA (Isopropyl alcohol). This will remove any dirt or oil that might have come into contact with the board. This will also help decrease static electricity buildup.
b) For plastic films such as PET, please examine the surface treatment
In case of PET, ink adhesion will increase with “highly adhesive processing.” In order for the UV ink to adhere easily, PET should be corona/plasma treated. Additional primers may be needed in some cases.
c) For cast or extruded metals:
・Please consider surface modification such as a plasma treatment.
・ Please consider using a commercially available primer.
d) In case of inorganic material such as glass and metal(SUS、Al):.
Please consider using our genuine primer to promote surface adhesion.
Primer is the foundation treatment agent for increasing adhesion of UV ink to substrates to be printed. Ink adhesion might be increased by primer application on inorganic material such as a glass and a metal