Is anyone running a Cobalt 4 platesetter that has had recent ongoing problems with laser power, imaging, or calibration issues? I have heard from a couple of other printers regarding these issues and am trying to determine if it is my machine or there are larger problems out there with this model.

Hi Mike,

Is this a newer device with fiber-optic violet laser-diode technology? I don't know buddy. This platesetter has really been going against the grain on what works best in CTP and its designed for trouble. The two biggest debates on computer to plate since CTP was started, the Escher Grad Cobalt 4 went the wrong way on both.

Internal Drum vs. External drum. The debate went on and on, but here we are about 8 years into CTP, about third generation. The results are obvious, external drum imaging and mechanics always were and still are the best design for CTP imaging and reliability. The warehouses are full of old internal drum machines that no-one wants. Creo, Scitex, DS Screen, and Heidelberg lead the pack with their external drum CTP machines and the others...internal drums are simply not the best way to go with CTP.

Visible Light Laser Imaging vs. Thermal Laser Imaging. Here again, after millions of posts on prefessional venues, forums, lists etc. The results are in. Thermal Laser imaging always was and still is the best, most consistant way to image in perfect fidelity, day in, day out. There's no question that thermal is far more repeatable, stable, and accurate. Again, Kodak/Creo, Scitex, DS Screen, and Heidelberg lead the pack with their reliable thermal imaging CTP. Many made a bad decision based on consumable costs and costs of Thermal laser heads etc. But, in the end, the thermal lasers lasted longer than anticipated, and due to the overwhelming mass of thermal CTP installs, the thermal plate actually becomes the most used commodity plate, lowering its cost per square foot.

The Cobalt-4 ias a CTP solution that images on both photopolymer and silver-halide plates. The Cobalt 4 internal drum imaging technology and fiber violet laser-diodes pioneered by Escher-Grad wind up being it's limitation. The Cobalt-4 may use the same amount of electricity as a PC, but it's a false economy, a trade in quality that doesn't add up for most. Although you don't need a 24-kilowatt oven like used for thermal platesetting, the plates out there now are bakeless for thermal and getting up to 1,000,000 run with no-bake thermal CTP.

I'm not sure how long you've had the Cobalt and what is your budget, but I'd set my sites on a DS Screen Platerite 4000, or a new baby Lotum, the Kodak/Creo/Scitex new purple baby Lotem, a nice box. Or a Creo Trendsetter. Again, since all of these are so good, you can even buy one used with confidence. Look at their resale value vs some internal drum visible light CTP, like comparing a Toyota to a Yugo in terms of resale.

Let's talk specifically about your imaging problems. Maybe some of us can help you to monitor, measure, cope. Sorry to be so blunt, but you know this forum is a great place for STRAIGHT TALK. There's no CTP vendor pimping out the venue for propaganda. This is all printers prepress folks, end users on here. If we see any vendor lying BS, they get the boot. What plates are you using, what is your plus or minus variance, what are you using to measure plate/dot fidelity, yada, yada.

peace.

Ha Ha, righte-oo picaBOY. I'm not that familiar with this device, do you have any specs on it? BTW Mike, if you scroll around, there's some really detailed posts about why thermal is superior and external drum vs internal. Not sure, you may not know what the debate has been and pro's con's etc. I'm not familiar with Cobalt if you guys have specs, post em, let's check it out, see how it stacks up.

We NEVER got consistent laser power on ours, finally got rid of it.
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May a moody baby doom a yam

Now that I'm very late to read this post, let me state that I am one of the *former* users of a Cobalt 8 up.

Our experience with the Cobalt was bad, bad, bad. It's one of those things that management decided to purchase because of cost of entry, only to blow thousands and thousands of dollars and many man-hours they thought they would have saved. It did NOT work as advertised.

My unvarnished advice to you: Get that thing out of your shop now. Go straight to a Creo(Now Kodak) or Fuji or Screen external drum thermal platesetter. You will get production out, and sleep at night. Well, at least you won't have to answer calls from second shift as to why plates can't be made.

There's a reason why common wisdom in our business says buy external drum thermal. Because it works. If you want further info, please check out my other posts on this forum and others (prepress forums, printplanet). If you like you can email me privately.
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George/Spectrum Graphics

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