Epson 7900CTP manual

Epson Stylus Pro 7900CTP Computer to Plate System User’s Guide ®[...]

2 | Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 System Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 PCU Safety Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . [...]

Introduction | 3 Introduction The Epson Stylus ® Pro 7900CTP Computer to Plate System enables small business printers to print Epson DirectPlate Aluminum plates to run on their presses. To run a print job on the system: • Computer-separated images are produced with the RIP software • The images are printed on a plate • The plate is heated in[...]

4 | PCU Safety Instructions PCU Safety Instructions Before using your PCU, read the following safety inst ructions to make sure you use the equipment safely and effectively. • The electronics and heating element use dangerous elec trical voltages. To reduce the chance of personal injury or property damage, turn off and unplug the PCU when maintai[...]

Purchasing Supplies | 5 Purchasing Supplies The Epson Stylus Pro 7900CTP Computer to Plate System was de signed exclusively to use Epson DirectPlate Aluminium plate technology. Epson currently offers a complete lineup of plate sizes to work with the majority of printing presses available. If you do not see your press in the table below, check www .[...]

6 | System Requirements System Requirements Your computer mu st meet these requ irements to run the RIP software: Minimum • IBM ® -compatible PC with a Pentium ® 1 GHz CPU or equivalent • 1GB of RAM • 80GB hard drive (20GB av ailable space recommended) • Microsoft ® Windows Vista ® or Windows ® XP • DVD drive Recommended • Pentium [...]

Setting Up | 7 Setting Up Pre-installation Checklist You will need the following components: • Epson Stylus Pro 7900 printer • Plate curing unit (PCU ) • Plate guide • Epson DirectPlate Aluminum sample pack (12 × 18 inches ) • EFI ™ eXpress CTP software RIP CD • Hexagonal (Allen) (2.5 mm/0.10 inch) wrench • Teflon ® tape for use o[...]

8 | Setting Up the Printer • Windows-based PC (see “System Requ irements” on page 6) (not included) • Ethernet ® (CAT-5) network cable or US B cable for connecting computer and printer (not included) • Metric ruler (with half-millime ter increments) (not included) Before you begin, make sure you have suff icient space to set up and use t[...]

Setting Up the PCU | 9 Setting Up the PCU Yo u s hou ld a ll ow an a rea of 50 × 33 in che s ( 127 cm × 84 cm ) fo r t he P CU . Th e P CU has an L6- 20 P pl ug and requires a 220 V L6-20 electrical outlet. Caution: The electrical outlet must be rated for 220/240 V AC (with an acceptable range of 208 to 240 V). 1. Place the PCU on a level, stable[...]

10 | Setting Up the PCU 4. Make sure the trays are fully seated in the slots. You can check this by looking through the slot openings to see if the trays are level with the belt inside the PCU. Note: Both trays should be at a slight incline towards the PCU. 5. To make adjustments if necessary, use the plastic nuts located underneath the tray to cre[...]

Calibrating the PCU | 11 Calibrating the PCU After setting up the PCU, follow the steps below to calibrate it. The recommended initial settings for the PCU are a temperature of 190 ° C and a speed of 1.5. To cure properly, the Epson DirectPlate Aluminum plate should reach an even surf ace temperature of 150 to 160 ° C. Note: Depending on the temp[...]

12 | Calibrating the PCU 3. Set the temperature to 190.0 ° C on the control p anel using the temperature arrows and then press . The set temperature indicator on the right displays (in green) the temperature you set. The temperature indicator on the left displa ys (in red) the actual temperature. 4. Set the Speed control knob to 1.5. 5. Wait for t[...]

Installing the Plate Guide on the Printer | 13 Caution: The transport belt should be kept moving when the heater is turned on. This reduces the surface temperature of of the transport belt and improves belt life. Always turn off the Heater switch on the control panel before you turn off the main power switch. Let the PCU cool to 100 °C or less, ac[...]

14 | Installing the Plate Guide on the Printer 4. Tighten the screws (first #1 and th en #2 as shown) with the two hexagonal wrenches, making sure the fixing pin on the right of the plate guide fits tightly against the black plastic cover component. Note: The hexagonal wrench included with the Epson Stylus Pro 7900CTP system and t he one included w[...]

Installing the Plate Guide on the Printer | 15 4. When the plate prints out, us e a metric ruler to measure the distance from the l eft edge of the plate to point A on the printed plate. Then measure the distance from the left edge of the plate to point B. If the distances to points A and B are equal, go to step 7. If they vary by more than 1.0 mm,[...]

16 | Installing the Plate Guide on the Printer 5. Use the hexagonal wrench incl uded with the Epson Stylus Pro 7900CTP system to adjust th e alignment of the plate guide. If distance A is greate r than distance B, tighten the alignment screw; if distance B is greater than distance A, loosen the screw. Half a rotation of the screw moves th e guide a[...]

Installing the Plate Guide on the Printer | 17 Applying the Guide Strip After the plate guide is aligned correctly, attach the Teflon guide strip to the printer to prevent plates from catching under the plate guid e. 1. Remove the adhesive backing from the strip. 2. Align the strip as shown against the plate guide, and apply it from just above the [...]

18 | Setting Up the RIP Setting Up the RIP Insert your EFI software RIP CD into your computer and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the software installation. Refer to the documentation included with the EFI so ftware for setup and usage instructions. Also, see www .proimaging.epson.com for additional online videos and training tools on[...]

Loading a Plate in the Printer | 19 Loading a Plate in the Printer Caution: Examine each plate carefully before yo u use it. If the plat e is dented or the corners or edges are bent, do not use it. Even the slightest bent corner can damage the printer. Use only Epson DirectPlate Aluminum plates. WARNING: The plate edges are sharp. Use caution to av[...]

20 | Loading a Plate in the Print er 2. Make sure the printer is tur ned on, the P p ower light is not flashing, and the roll paper cover is firmly closed. 3. Press the l Paper Source button until the Sheet icon appears on the LCD display. 4. Press the Paper release (ePlaten) button. 5. Set the printer to the highest paper suction setting. Th is wi[...]

Unloading a Plate from the Printer | 21 W ARNING: The plate edges are sharp. To avoid injury remo ve your hand from the plate after you press t he Pause/reset button . 8. Press the Pause/reset bu tton and let go of the plate. Th e printer loads and aligns the plate in the correct position. 9. When you se e PAPER SETTINGS > ARE THESE SETTINGS OK?[...]

22 | Using the PCU 2. Turn on the Heater switch on the control panel. 3. Make sure the settings are correct (see “Calibrating the PC U” on page 11). Note: You should not have to chan ge the settings unless you experience a problem on the press. 4. Wait for the PCU to warm up to the set temperature; this takes approximately 5 minutes. The light [...]

Using Epson DirectPlate Aluminum Plates | 23 Using Epson DirectPlate Aluminum Plates Plate Curing Tips The requirements for curing can vary with temperat ure, humidity, and altitude. If you don’t get the number of impressions you expect, you may need to ad just the cure rate. You can usually achieve the best results with lower surface temperature[...]

24 | Cleaning Plates Dampening Tips • If a transition roller connects the dampening sy stem and the inking system (e.g., ALCOLOR and other similar c ontinuous-feed dampening sy stems), deact ivate the tr ansition roller . • If the printing press has a pre-dampening function (for example, the Heidelberg Printmaster QM) , set a higher pre-dampeni[...]

Correcting Plates | 25 Correcting Plates You can delete images with IWATSU Elotax Co rrector OX-1. You can also use AGFA Lithostar Copyrapid Correction Pen. Also, a pencil eraser works well to delete a small section from an image. Reusing Plates Epson DirectPlate Aluminum plates ca n be reused if you w oul d like to store them for use again to repr[...]

26 | PCU Specifications PCU Specifications Specification Description Dimensions Width: 33 inches (838 mm) Depth: 16 inches (406 mm) Height: 10.5 inches (267 mm) Electrical 220/240 V, 20 A male plug Requires a NEMA L6-20 receptacle The supplied cable has three conductors: Green = Earth/ground Black = AC Phase (208 – 240 VAC) White = Neutral Plate [...]

Notices | 27 Notices FCC Compliance Statement The PCU has been tested to be compliant with the following standards: EN 55022:2006/A1:2007 Class A ITE emissions requirements (EU ) ICES-003 Issue 4 Class A Di gital Apparatus emission s requirements (Canada) FCC 47 CFR Part 15 Class A em ission s requirements (USA) VCCI Class A ITE emissions requireme[...]

CPD-28133 Printed in USA[...]