Problems with Agfa P970 thermal plates

[30YearsandCounting]

We have a problem with intermittent spots on the Agfa P970 plates. Agfa has been in many, many times... cleaned, tweaked and adjusted everything. Still getting spots. How are P970s running at other shops? Anybody else have this problem?

[Goran]

Originally Posted by 30YearsandCounting

We have a problem with intermittent spots on the Agfa P970 plates. Agfa has been in many, many times... cleaned, tweaked and adjusted everything. Still getting spots. How are P970s running at other shops? Anybody else have this problem?

Although I am not using these plates for long (two months), no problems of that kind so far.

Are these spots located randomly or there is a pattern?

[30YearsandCounting]

There is no pattern at all. Position varies. Size is usually about 1/2 mm. Usually no more than one or two on a plate... but most plates are fine. Processor has been flushed, cleaned, rollers changed etc. The work area/environment is very clean. It is an intermittent problem and those are the worst kind. But, it's a problem that will not go away.

We've been using these plates for several years. What experience has everybody else had with them?

[TigerPress]

Originally Posted by 30YearsandCounting

We have a problem with intermittent spots on the Agfa P970 plates. Agfa has been in many, many times... cleaned, tweaked and adjusted everything. Still getting spots. How are P970s running at other shops? Anybody else have this problem?

We had the same problem on and off for 2 years and finally switched to Azura. Since P970's are positive working, a spot on the plate is almost certainly cuased from dust particles blocking the laser. If you are using an X45 or Avalon I can give you three ideas.

1. Most important - make sure your machine has an air knife installed. This is an air nozzel right where the laser hits the plate to blast away any dust. This is a free upgrade from AGFA.

2. Clean your ironing roller regularly. We used to do this twice per month to keeo particles from being transfered into the coating.

3. Clean all exterior surfaces with a damp rag everyday to keep down the dust.

A much better idea would be to dump P970's alltogether. I can tell we had nothing but trouble with them and it cost us a lot of wasted press time. Switching to a negative working plate will solve almost all your spotting problems.