Erasing Thermal Plates

[RGPW17100]

As mentioned you really need to work the pen on a wet plate. A dry plate they work fine. We use Azura plates by Agfa and the trick is to use Azura plate cleaner after you use the pen. Not sure if it will work for fuji though. As your press operator mentioned after using the pens it looks like you can see the shiney aluminum like the back sides of the plates. The plate cleaner helps this however when we used a conventional plate cleaner scratch remover it also removed the image and the plate was not serviceable. Ask your fuji supplier for a plate cleaner for those plates. If they dont make one they sell a product similar to agfa FPC that will work with the pens and you can also use it as short term storage gum.

[rich apollo]

The Nikken pens are excellent. They work great on thermal plates. I was using them on Fuji LH-Pj plates. The trick is to let the chemical sit for a minute or two. Don't keep rubbing - the process is not instantaneous on these plates. Remember to rinse and gum the area after, cause those puppies are aggressive as hell.

I also found out by accident that the 'wrong' scratch remover makes a dandy image remover. Doesn't tear up the anodized surface like image deletion pens.

[Al Ferrari]

Rich,

Good to know about the time delay for the Nikken pens. The normal tendency is to "quick rinse without waiting before the smudge adheres." We'll try it and see.

So which brand makes the "wrong scratch remover" please? Struggling pressmen want to know!

Al

[Ritter]

The Heidelberg (Agfa) pens and the Kodak pens I've used have worked quite well with the thermal plates provided by the vendor. Strongly recommend using same vendors pen with plate.

[Al Ferrari]

"As mentioned you really need to work the pen on a wet plate. A dry plate they work fine."

So which is it: do it on a dry plate, or on a wet plate?

Al

[rich apollo]

Rich,

Good to know about the time delay for the Nikken pens. The normal tendency is to "quick rinse without waiting before the smudge adheres." We'll try it and see.

So which brand makes the "wrong scratch remover" please? Struggling pressmen want to know!

Al

Yeah, pressmen would come in to me all the time with the end of their Nikken pens all mashed out - looking like a flower in full bloom. They'd ruin a pen in one use - while I could keep one for months. Pressmen are so...twitchy; impatient. They're like having a pack of very large chihuahuas running around the plant.

Honestly, Al, I don't remember. I think it was Fuji or Prisco, but it could've been some old Kodak stuff we had laying around. I don't know that it has to be a specific scratch remover, just one that is contra-indicated for your plates. Each chemical company has several scratch removers that are recommended for different plates. We just happened to try one that softened the emulsion on that plate.