Let's talk dip tanks...

[Inkworks]

Our stack method is quite a bit faster than the video posted. He handles the screens too often. We use these:



or a gong brush to apply the chemical by just dipping an end of the brush into a bucket of chemical (not dipping the whole brush in, just an end so you can control how much chemical you are applying), apply & scrub in one. Once you have a stack built grab and rinse.

I think by the time you've done the careful carding of ink before reclaiming, spent the extra time cleaning up the mess of the sticky plastisol being sprayed all over the booth and frames, and factored in the extra cost of the tank and increased amount of chemical used, that the stack method is probably pretty much just as fast and maybe a little cheaper.

It honestly never occurred to me that people might have been reclaiming 1 screen at a time through all the steps. I was shown the stack method on day one of my screen shop career.

[Dottonedan]

I have seen a few shops that have air pumped in at the bottom. Apparently it's beneficial enough for them, but I don't know if the Co the bought it from provides that option or if they did it themselves.

Here's a question for some of you using a dip tank for developing. Have any of you added air to agitate the water? Or do you find it isn't needed? How long do you let it sit in the tank?

[Screened Gear]

I bought a dip tank and after 6 months of using it I sold it. They are nice but for me they slowed me down.

[mk162]

i find it funny how dip tanks are either a take it or leave it thing.

I like ours, it might not be faster, but it's less actual labor, and that I like.

[alan802]

I like the stack method and if those screens are spotless like we try to get ours then I think that's a faster method than what we currently do with a dip tank.  I'll say one thing though, the stencil thickness plays the largest role in how fast/easy a screen is to reclaim.  A 110 with 150 microns of emulsion does not spray out near as fast as a 305 with a 45 micron stencil.  We could probably reclaim 40 screens per hour if they were all 305's but closer to 15-20 per hour if they were 110 or equivalent since we don't really use many 110's here.  My goal for my guys is 20 screens an hour but I've had guys who could do 30/hr and some that struggled to get 15.  De-taping and de-inking takes time and a good tape that comes off without much effort is worth a lot of time.  I wish I had a stainless table like that tapped into the washout booth so I could try that method.  Those that use a stack, do you have a similar setup as what's in the video or is it something different? 

[Inkworks]

We just use a nearby table with a melamine top. Coroplast tops are also a good alternative as it resists almost all chemicals, is cheap, soft, and double-sided.  Done right the stack method doesn't get much chemical on the table, and none dripped on the floor like the dip-tank is prone to.

Next week we'll do a time comparison of 10 screens both ways, similar meshes in each batch of 10.