Anyone still running a Durst Lambda? Small Issue

Hi everyone,

1st post here so will keep it brief.

We are a Prolab in Sydney Australia running what is one of the last Durst Lambda's in the country printing on Kodak and Fuji products like Pearl and Flex. Thankfully we still have some local support, but have a small issue we can't shake. We'd like to keep it running as long as we can, having just replaced two lasers recently we think it has lots of good printing ahead of it.

We get thin white lines running the length of the prints and can't seem to nail why, or how to stop it. It primarily only happens on the Fuji Flex paper but has started to show on some other papers as well. From what we can work out it seems to be dust as it moves and shows up on different parts of the print. Then goes away for the next print...the inconsistency is the problem along with a definitive answer as to wat is causing it. We have tried cleaning the slow that covers where the paper gets exposed but then it either goes temporarily or moves to another part of the print.

Any suggestions or knowledge of anyone who may be able to assist would be appreciated

Thanks in advance.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pixel Perfect

Hi everyone,

1st post here so will keep it brief.

We are a Prolab in Sydney Australia running what is one of the last Durst Lambda's in the country printing on Kodak and Fuji products like Pearl and Flex. Thankfully we still have some local support, but have a small issue we can't shake. We'd like to keep it running as long as we can, having just replaced two lasers recently we think it has lots of good printing ahead of it.

We get thin white lines running the length of the prints and can't seem to nail why, or how to stop it. It primarily only happens on the Fuji Flex paper but has started to show on some other papers as well. From what we can work out it seems to be dust as it moves and shows up on different parts of the print. Then goes away for the next print...the inconsistency is the problem along with a definitive answer as to wat is causing it. We have tried cleaning the slow that covers where the paper gets exposed but then it either goes temporarily or moves to another part of the print.

Any suggestions or knowledge of anyone who may be able to assist would be appreciated

Thanks in advance.

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I have a Durst Lambda, pretty much shut it down , except now going to do BW silver gelatin and BW film negatives.
I have never seen that issue you are describing, what is the relative humidity in your lab on a daily basis??

Fuji Flex may be creating static electic charge as it unwinds and attracting dust .
But I find it hard to believe that it would be in the beam of light exposing the paper is pretty specific type of exposing, not like an enlarger where the dust is coming from the glass carrier.
White lines are pretty specific and it sounds more like a problem in the hardware or mixing box for the three beams of light.
I am lucky I have Phil Vossler from Durst an hour half away from me.

Wish I could help you more.

Bob Carnie bob@bcpg.ca

Unlike Ciba, Fujiflex is a low-static medium. A thin white linear scratch would seem to indicate some kind of contaminant particulate caught between the rollers. It's not a fragile medium at all. Maybe all the transport rollers for the entire workflow should be carefully inspected, all the back to the XY sizing cutter.

I'm assuming you're not describing "banding", which used to plague earlier Lambda operators around here.

Hi, I think i got an answer for you as we had the same problem recently. We managed finally to fix it! You just need to cut the paper (as you normally do after exposing). but this time before exposing and 3 or 4 times. That is only way we found to get rid of those white tiny stripes especially on Fujiflex!

Hope it is not too late!

We also have a problem with our lambda. It no longer exposes the paper saying that there's no more paper to be exposed, however the roll is brand new... if anyone has an idea why...

Thanks!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pixel Perfect

Hi everyone,

1st post here so will keep it brief.

We are a Prolab in Sydney Australia running what is one of the last Durst Lambda's in the country printing on Kodak and Fuji products like Pearl and Flex. Thankfully we still have some local support, but have a small issue we can't shake. We'd like to keep it running as long as we can, having just replaced two lasers recently we think it has lots of good printing ahead of it.

We get thin white lines running the length of the prints and can't seem to nail why, or how to stop it. It primarily only happens on the Fuji Flex paper but has started to show on some other papers as well. From what we can work out it seems to be dust as it moves and shows up on different parts of the print. Then goes away for the next print...the inconsistency is the problem along with a definitive answer as to wat is causing it. We have tried cleaning the slow that covers where the paper gets exposed but then it either goes temporarily or moves to another part of the print.

Any suggestions or knowledge of anyone who may be able to assist would be appreciated

Thanks in advance.

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Hi all,

Sorry for my late reply, I appreciate the messages

I have never seen that issue you are describing, what is the relative humidity in your lab on a daily basis??

Our Lambda is in an enclosed garage that is air-conditioned, so the humidity is kept under control.

Thanks Also Bildlabor, I will give that a try and see how we go. I would also like to follow up with Phil Vossler and see if he has any answers, I will let you know how we go with it

Thank you