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NOVEMBER 21, 2012 by ROBERT LEAVE A COMMENT

Thermal or Violet Plate – Which is Better? Part 2

What about run length: Thermal platesoffer longer run lengths, but to achieve this, they
must be baked. Unbaked run lengths can be anywhere from 100,000-350,000, but when
baked, thermal plates can exceed 1 million impressions. Processless thermal plates can
give run lengths of 100,000 impressions. Violet plate run length varies among
manufacturers, from 100,000 to 250,000. Violet plates can also be baked to yield even
longer run lengths .
What about plate cost. The most expensive plates are processless thermal plates. We
are finding that cost per square foot on plates that require chemistry are about the same
with both technologies. You will however find that your chemistry cost may be a little
more with violet.
Environmental Concerns: Silver-based violet plates are the most harmful to the
environment but that technology has become almost obsolete, having been replaced
with photopolymer violet plates. Photopolymer violet plates do not have the hazardous
issues associated with silver based violet, but they do require chemical processing.
Thermal plates are silver-free, but many still require chemical processing. However,
there are also processless thermal plates available which eliminate the need for
chemicals entirely, thereby providing the least environmental impact.
Maintenance Costs: Maintenance cost for violet platesetters will be significantly lower
than thermal over the life of the equipment. In violet platesetters, there is only one laser
diode to replace. In some thermal platesetters, there are multiple diodes that may at
some point necessitate replacement. In other thermal platesetters there are multiple
diodes that cannot be replaced individually as they are enclosed in a single very costly
head. Not only are lasers less expensive to replace, they are also longer lived in violet
machines. Another cost associated with thermal is the replacement of the plate clamps
 which are not used on violet platesetters. The maintenance cost on a violet plate
processor can be more costly than on a thermal plate processor. Violet chemistryusually
gets dirtier than thermal chemistry due to the coating on the violet plates, this can at
times cause problems with the processor. This is however more of an issue with silver
violet than with photopolymer violet.
FILED UNDER: COMPUTER TO PLATE, THERMAL PLATE, VIOLET PLATE TAGGED WITH: COMPUTER TO
PLATE,CTP, THERMAL PLATE, VIOLET PLATE

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