MyBinding Knowledge Base
What are some quick tips for fixing my pouch lamainator?
Pouch laminators tend to be easy to use, but sometimes even the most experienced operater can run into trouble when using one. A lot of these issues – including pouch jams – are pretty common and they can be taken care of without much effort. Here are some quick fixes for the most common laminator problems so you can stay productive.
- The edges of the pouch aren’t completely sealed. Whenever your document comes out of the machine and the pouch hasn’t been completely sealed, it means there wasn’t enough laminate around the item. This could be because the pouch is too small or because the item was placed too close to an edge. In the future, make sure you choose a pouch that’s large enough for your document and leave about 1/8” of space between the edges so everything seals correctly.
- My document is all cloudy or wrinkly. This is a pretty common problem people experience when they use a laminator. Fortunately, it doesn’t usually mean there’s anything wrong with your machine. If the item looks cloudy, it means that the temperature wasn’t high enough when you passed it through the device. You can run it through again a couple more times to clear up the problem. If your item came out and looks wrinkly, it means the opposite: that the temperature was too high. You need to lower the temperature to keep this from happening in the future.
- There are weird spots all over my document. If your materials come out of the laminator covered in spots, they don’t have a weird disease. They are, however, dotted with glue deposits because the machine’s rollers haven’t been cleaned in some time. This is pretty easy to do, especially since there are a lot of cleaning kits on the market. Just follow the kit’s instructions and your laminator will be ready to give you crystal clear results again.
- My laminator is jammed. What do I do now? Unfortunately, jams do happen when you’re using a pouch laminator. It can be pretty easy clears things up, however. If part of the document has already come out of the device, you can gently pull on it to remove it completely. Unless the item is damaged, you should be able to run it through the machine again to finish the job. If the item is totally stuck and hadn’t started emerging, you might be able to free it if your laminator can open up like a photocopier. If that isn’t the case, be sure to contact a service technician for assistance.
< Over the years, a number of customers have asked me whether they can use twin loop wire with their plastic comb binding machine. These customers often don’t want to have to buy a brand new machine but like the look and feel of twin loop wire binding. However, the answer to their question isn’t as simple as it seems. You see, they actually do make twin loop wire that is designed to work with the plastic comb binding hole pattern. With that said, if you want to use these wires you are going to need a way to close the wires. What is Spiral-O Wire? Let me explain a little bit more…There is a product that we carry called Spiral-O Wire. This wire has 19 loops and is designed to work with the hole pattern from a plastic comb binding machine. Spiral-O Wire is sometimes called Wire Combs or Ibico Wire and was originally designed for use with some of the older Ibico binding machines. A number of the older Ibico plastic comb binding machines also included a twin loop wire closer on the front of them to allow users to use both plastic combs and wire. This 19 loop wire was designed for this purpose. What Equipment is Needed? As the Ibico brand has been phased out by GBC and all of the older Ibico plastic binding machines have been replaced with new models, they no longer have the twin loop wire closer on the front of them. This presents a problem in trying to use these spiral-o wires since you can’t use the wires without a way to close them. One of the only options left is to purchase a Twin Loop wire closer. However, since twin loop wire closers are not incredibly cheap this option usually only appeals to users who have larger electric plastic comb binding machines. Otherwise, it is often advisable to simply buy a low end 3:1 pitch twin loop wire binding machine (the supplies are cheaper). This being said, if you have one of the older Ibico binding machines that has a wire closer included you are in luck. The Spiral-O binding supplies that we carry will work perfectly with your machine and you will be able to use both plastic combs and wire depending on your needs. These Spiral-O binding supplies are available in Black, Silver, White, Blue and Red and in sizes up to 1″ in diameter. If you aren’t sure what type of wire binding supplies that you need to work with your machine simply give us a call. Our trained sales representatives will be glad to help you find the correct supplies for use with your machine.(Read More)
