Is an LED UV retrofit worth the investment? What do I get for my money? That is the voice of the minder, the director and the production manager looking to protect their business. The truth is that LED-based UV curing provides multiple solutions to issues encountered with heat-set drying and traditional UV curing technologies, including the following:
- inks cure instantly, so there is no need for drying time or powder;
- printers can expand substrate offerings to include plastics and other materials that don't absorb inks;
- heat-sensitive substrates can be printed on safely, with quality results;
- LED UV lamps last significantly longer (10x) than traditional UV lamps, saving time and money (our LED-UV modules can provide 30,000+ hours of curing, when operated at the proper power capacity);
- heat, ozone and mercury are eliminated from press rooms, making them safer and improving overall environmental impact - plus eliminating the need to safely dispose of mercury arc bulbs;
- UV inks are free of solvents, so LED UV curing eliminates the release of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and avoids the environmental issues caused by them;
- the energy costs and heat-related hazards of heatset drying can be bypassed;
- value-added coatings can be used efficiently and effectively;
- high-end printing effects, like drip-off (a.k.a. "strike through"), can be achieved, and further developments in this arena that are broadening creative applications and what is possible with printing.
Our friends at Opal Print run a Heidelberg 5-col press with LED UV and haven't looked back, WATCH their story below: