Three hundred sheets of Mylar ruined by a $12 humidity gauge

I was printing a full set of plotter drawings in my shop outside Nashville when the humidity spiked to 80% and every sheet curled like a taco straight off the drum. The gauge said 45% all morning, so I trusted it until the third roll jammed and tore. Anyone else run into dry air getting blamed for a wet problem, or is it just my luck with cheap meters?

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umathompson23d ago

Whoa, that is brutal! I feel your pain on that one. You know, its funny you mention the dry air thing because I bet the cheap sensor was actually reading the heat and not the true humidity. Those little digital meters are notorious for lagging behind when the temp swings fast, and a Nashville afternoon can swing like crazy. So the gauge was probably telling you the reading from an hour ago, not what the air was doing right then. I’ve had the same thing happen with a hygrometer in my garage, it said 40% but my paper stock felt soft and limp, and sure enough, it was way past 60%. Once that plastic film starts pulling moisture from the air, it curls up fast, and there is no saving it. I’d say chalk it up to a hard lesson, and grab a second gauge or even a cheap wet bulb thermometer next time, two readings are way better than one bad one!