Cleaning Coater for Efficiency

[CSPGarrett]

I know this is probably a "silly" question but how do you guys clean your coater as soon as you are done the most efficient way possible?

We card out the excess of course with clean up cards, but after that have always wondered do you just use a wet rag or go to the washout sink?  I feel we do loose time with that part of our operation, especially since we now can coat up to 3 times per day.

[jvanick]

we try to coat all the screens that need coating at the same time...

cleanup is carding out the excess emulsion, then rinsing in the sink... I find if you wait too long, the emusion hardens on the edges and or inside the scoop coater and makes it a pita to get clean.

[mooseman]

we card out with auto body (plastic) squeegee. Coater gets wet down and cleaned with a Scotch Brite pad

we use the heavy duty type
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Scotch-Brite-Heavy-Duty-Scour-Pads-3pk/13281595?action=product_interest&action_type=title&placement_id=irs_top&strategy=PWVUB&visitor_id=MdSAJE3z-C9WSPR9F4Nur0&category=&client_guid=8a37168f-007d-46b3-8c56-d11fc96c1cfa&customer_id_enc=&config_id=106&parent_item_id=26384757&guid=02a57293-1320-41fb-a759-38bc8cbe6d5a&bucket_id=irsbucketdefault&beacon_version=1.0.0&findingMethod=p13n

but the softer no scratch version ay also work well
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Scotch-Brite-Non-Scratch-Scour-Pads-3-count/26384757

We cut the pads down to a smaller size and just wipe out the coater.
The Scotch Brite will not scratch but it will bust the emulsion that has begun to thicken etc. and the pad washes out completely so we simply throw it in a rack and reuse it next time.
We have tried many other things but so far we like this one best.

mooseman

[bulldog]

I have a hose at my washout booth with hot water and a garden hose nozzle attachment at the end. After carding out the excess I just spray it down. The hot water cuts right through the emulsion. Takes about 30 seconds to wash everything then I just wipe down with a blue shop paper towel.

[Frog]

I clean out with cardboard or credit cards cut to the profile of the coater, and then, yes, take the minute (or less) to rinse and wipe clean.


Not part of this question, but I also occasionally dress or burnish the edge of the coater with a block of wood with a shallow groove.

[Gilligan]

Card out ink with ink cards (I think we still use them, they fold up to fit the bottom nicely)... then my guy puts it in the bottom of the washer, we have a spigot that is on the wall of the washer that when turned on flows into the bottom... he sets the coater under that and lets it run while he puts up everything and then comes in and finishes cleaning it off.

I've never heard him mention any desire for anything better, and he's a pretty good whiner if anything is harder than it should be.

[sqslabs]

We use ultimate clean up cards, followed by a thorough wash in the booth with a scrub pad.  I tell my guys the scoop coater should always look like the day we received it, but of course over time a bit of buildup will happen.  Once it does, we submerge it in the dip tank for a bit, power wash it and its good as new again.

[Binkspot]

I use the mixing stick from mixing the emulsion to scrape it. Then just hit it with the garden hose or power washer.

[mimosatexas]

If youre coating multiple times a day you need more screens and more storage space for coated screns. I had a similar problem a few months ago and just upped my stock of screens and built a screen room finally. Fixed so many headaches...

[jsheridan]

I put in a large sink in the screen room large enough to hold the coater. Keep it all close together, neat and organized.

I took an ink scraper we have, cut it into a "V" to match the trough, then scrape out and wash the coater immediately after all the screens are coated.

[Dottonedan]

Being on the sidelines and seeing many screen rooms. It's been too common to see this cleaning of the emulsion coatt get overlooked as being not very important. I've seen more than a few shops with streaks in their mesh that causes iregular results for exposure of half tones.

Where this makes or breaks a print is when you have very fine half tones and your exposure works well in the more dense areas and not so well in the thinner areas. Some rows of dots just right and some overexposed.  The down side is that this can easily get overlooked  in a fast paced in and out type of shop and they proceed with production. You hope someone notices that the dots look odd in some areas before going out the door.

[bimmridder]

Guess I never really looked that hard at it. I just use a plain old cooking spatula. Kind of molds itself to the curve, and still works on the flat parts. Just scrape it back in the bucket.  Been using the same one for 6 1/2 years. I was thinking about replacing it 'cuz it just look dirty though. Auto coating, so we have four toughs to clean. Hot water and a scrub pad in the developing sink.

[dsh]

I just use a plain old cooking spatula

Me too.

[alan802]

If you're coating multiple times a day then why not just clean the edges really good then put the cover on the coater and it will be ready for the next coating.  We've left ours over the weekend with the cover on then come back on monday and take the cover off and start coating again.  If you leave it long enough with a crappy cover that lets moisture out then it will dry up inside, but we don't have that problem.

[ebscreen]

Like cleaning out the end of a bucket of emulsion, leaving it out to dry might actually be a benefit.

My dude spends what seems like an inordinate amount of time cleaning the coater, but then I remind myself
how important it is.