Curing time for any ink is accelerated by using IR. Polymerization of the surface layer of ink is a chemical reaction and one of the first rules of chemistry is that heat speeds up chemical reactions.

In practical terms using low wavelength IR does quicken the drying time & hard drying inks reduce scuffing... in my experience. However, there are many combinations of fountain solution, quality of incoming water supply and paper stock that making generalisations may not be helpful.

Skippy? Not sure what you're getting at Meny. Explain, please.

Most people in the "western world" still use oil based inks.

Can only speak for ourselves - we're UK based and we've used vegetable based inks for the last 5 years. (K+E Novavit Bio). Do you have stats to qualify the post Mr H?

Hi,

Not a great deal of printers use the bio inks and i do go into a lot of different ones.

Regards.

Have you tried ink from a different supplier? We once had this same problem were the ink was great to print with but it caused a lot of hassles when the job reached the finishing area, ie. scuffing/bleeding off etc.
To me running an oxidizing only ink is insaine, how are you ment to have a quick turn around and back up jobs in a very short time frame with that ink, you simply can't.
As for not using the IR that to me is rediculous If I run a job without the IR on I have a at least a 25-35 % longer wait for it to set before I can back it up compared to running with the IR on.
Also look into trialing another companies stock, not all are created equal, the problem could be stemming from poor quality stock.
With your fount some have driers in them some don't as well
look at using a fount that allows you to get down to 3-4 % IPA you will notice a great drop in the amount of ink needed for the same coverage area then if you were running at say 10% IPA, as the IPA acts as a solvent and during the ink/fount emulsion the IPA is breaking down the ink somewhat.

We are about to run this ink. how do you find its drying time on all stocks ranging from bond/uncoated board/matt board/gloss compared to the normal oil based ink?
At the moment we are using BEST ONE ink but too me the magenta is very weak.

Bio inks we've run for 5 years. The setting times are no more than your standard inks, in fact we blind trialed them against each other and overall we plumped for the Bio CMYK set. Overnight fresh in the ducts but we do wash up rollers every night.

Good luck.

Richard, just used the bio ink for a job tonight, and was very impressed with it.All colours looked alot more bright and vibrant then what I was used to.
apart from the fact the magenta stinks like a sweet lolly bag and filled the room with that smell
I noticed I was able to drop water % down by 10-15 points. There was zero picture framing on either the plate or cylinders. (normaly I get a lot of ink pilling picture framing on the poly plates)
And I had to lower my cip3 profiles as the amount of ink needed to get correct density was much less then the current ink I had been using.
The only thing I think may be a problem is wet trapping. unless I layed the colours down in the wrong order.
I had 95% screen magenta and 100% cyan for full coverage of a 320x450 sheet
and it looked a little mottled. order layed down was KCMY maybee it should have been kmcy..
Drying time was a little slower then my old ink but I can put up with that.

Richard do you know the difference between the novavit bio 918 and the 908 ??

Guys , the modern Bio / vegi inks are good and set up well - very well.
the problem is that the IR has no power over them - so if you use IR , you simply pay for un-needed energy - well , your money , your problem.
One more point about IR & vegi inks - if you have a light covereg , no problem.
if you have a heavy print , the IR will build a thin "crust" on top and it will feel like dry while on the inside , the ink is still wet. it can get to a point when the crust on top holds the heat in and boiles the ink under it so it gains force and finds it's way out , cracking your ink surface.
This is no good for your quality unless you are after a "cracked china" look.

DO your self just good - leave the IR out and change your water settings:
low Alcohol
low PH
conductivity to suit the press & ink
and the right temp at the rollers

all this will give you less emusification of the ink , better drying & setting time and better total result.

Exact parameters - acording to your press , inks , kind of jobs & chem set.

WIll be happy to advise

ELi Zamet
israel

We mainly print KMCY, we find it makes for better dark blues. If you get mottle with KCMY that sounds a little like a trap issue, change sequence and try reducing the tack value of the subsequent (Cyan) ink.

Try this for info...

http://www.na.flintgrp.com/sheetfed/Novavit918_NA2.html

Meny, it sounds like your IR is set way too high since you are describing crystallisation of the ink, have you tried using a lower setting? Say 50%?

We've run our Komori on as little as 3% alcohol with Varn Protector Fount but found that the inks' stability was compromised so now back on Varn Supreme & 5% alcohol.