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Fatboysmart,
Thanks for the answers! As you state, the maintenance is very little and user friendly. We have been printing alcohol free here for years and I am glad to see you are too. I think eventually this will become the norm
Adexec,
.We add a debris removal system to vacuum any emulsion debris while imaging. Some plates require it and some do not. Hey, even some chemistry plates will require it.
There are many different plate technologies and they all work but have different attributes. I will explain why Heidelberg USA has chosen a Chemfree plate over processless. The Chemfree has an offline clean out unit that also gums the plate. Gumming protects the plate from oxidation and this is no different then what you do with 99% of plates. By doing so, it also adds contrast to the plate so that it may be viewed as a quality control step before hanging on press. You know, a logo lost hi res or there is a hot spot on plate or typo on text. Processless has a very low contrast so offline QC is difficult. With the chemfree contrast, you can read the plates with a plate reader. I heard special plates readers were coming out to read processless plates but I have not seen them.With Chemfree, the emulsion is also cleaned off in the clean out unit. With processless, it is clean off on press. The emulsion comes off on the first sheets but what if you do not use full size sheets all of the time, where does the emulsion go? Your dampening system will require cleaning sooner. The chemfree plate is also daylight safe so you handle them as you would any conventional plate, you do not have to be concerned with white light. With processless, you do need to take heed because if it is left out too long, it will require a longer dampening cycle to clean it.
These are the reasons why we choose Chemfree over processless. Both technologies work but have different attributes and rules that must be followed. Fatboysmart is following his and he is happy with his results. That being said, there are over 40 plates certified on the Suprasetter and each has it own pros and cons, but they all do work within their boundaries, be it chemistry, chemfree or processless.
Regards,
Mark
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