Roller Frame tape....again

[ZooCity]

Looking for a new tape to protect the rollers, i.e., not ink side tape but a semi permanent one.   We have ran through a ton of the Newman Yellow tape.  I like how it releases clean but it also buckles and curls a lot, interfering with film alignment.  Sometimes it frays and just interferes with everything.  Most of all, I'm tired of buying things directly from Stretch Devices, we're treated really poorly there and they often take a month or more to deliver product to us but don't bother to give a head's up. 

I fear the Polyken tape after cleaning many a used roller but I wonder if it peels of OK if using milder chems like we do? 

I might trade easy removal for a tape that stays smooth on the screen.  I have I think another hundred or so that we're getting ready to stretch so I want to make a better decision here.

What's everyone using? 

[Jwcontractscreen]

I used polyken and loved it. No real residue left. I would spray the frames down with graffiti remover and scrub them before re meshing. It came clean real quick.

I moved away from newman products for the exact way you feel. I'm not sure who they do business well with, but everything I ordered from them was very late. I cancelled my last order of about 5k in stuff and switched to shur loc.  Those guys really show how they appreciate the business. No excuses from them ever.

[ericheartsu]

We have a couple rolls of the polyken 221 and it peels just as easily as that newman tape. I think that's what we are going to buy from now on.

[KevWilso]

I have tested a lot of different tapes for this; and my customers always go back to polyken 221.  221 does a great job but it does have a gummy adhesive.

[jsheridan]

That tape will only last so long so take some steps to help it last longer.
Something often overlooked is the cleaning process in which kinds of chemicals the screen is cleaned with and how that effects the adhesive on the tape.

Just about any ink wash out there, for a commercial application, is known to attack the glue, hence why the polyken works so well, it's a natural rubber adhesive that is naturally chemical resistant. Take that screen and wash it in a recirculating squeegee wash type tank, that glue turns to a liquid mess and breaks down the frabric of the tape, gets stringy and when you remove it.. leaves all of the adhesive residue on the frame.

If you're using a dip tank, use one of the ink/reclaim solutions as this won't attack the adhesive and allow it to last longer. When the time comes to take it off, polyken will leave a little residue, but nothing like the mess above.

[ZooCity]

Alright I'll get some and see what happens, thanks everyone.
Our chems that will touch the tape are  cci envirosolve, gemzyne in the dip tank,  franmar d haze. It's harder to find,  but I could put us back on the gel version of d haze which helps keep it off the tape.

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[alan802]

I've never really had any issues with the tape we've put on our rollers.  Granted the screens that bust are only 3 years old or so but the polyken peels off without much of an issue.  I've read many bad things about the polyken over the years but we've never had those problems and it's all we've ever used.  I have had used rollers that had lots of tape residue that I was pretty sure it was polyken but I have no idea how it was applied and how it was taken off (or tried to be taken off) but the frames that I've applied the polyken to that I take off it comes off in one pull and doesn't leave much of anything behind. 

[sqslabs]

Alright I'll get some and see what happens, thanks everyone.
Our chems that will touch the tape are  cci envirosolve, gemzyne in the dip tank,  franmar d haze. It's harder to find,  but I could put us back on the gel version of d haze which helps keep it off the tape.

We use Gemzyme as well and haven't run into any issues with the Polyken.  Thumbs up.

[ebscreen]

Tried everything and always end up back at Polyken. We've had the same experience with SD.

The used rollers we've purchased through the years have typically sat around unused for long periods of time,
leaving the adhesive to sort of bake on if you will. When we pop a circulating screen the tape/adhesive usually
pulls off with little effort, though if you grab it wrong it can shred into strips, not unlike pallet paper.

I've instructed the screen dudes to try and keep as much of the tape on the mesh portion of the screen as possible,
with only enough on the rollers so that it doesn't come off before it's time.

[ZooCity]

[quote author=ebscreen link=topic=13796.msg133117#msg133117 date=1420823932
I've instructed the screen dudes to try and keep as much of the tape on the mesh portion of the screen as possible,
with only enough on the rollers so that it doesn't come off before it's time.
[/quote]

My thoughts exactly.  Probably going to try the 2" wide v. the 3" for this. 

[IntegrityShirts]

I rip the 3" polyken down the middle and do 1.5" strips, just enough to get past the rollers and across the strip and onto the mesh. Has worked really well for me and still provides the same protection.

[ebscreen]

Yep, 2" here.
3" was too much, 25x36" frames.

[ScreenFoo]

I rip the 3" polyken down the middle and do 1.5" strips, just enough to get past the rollers and across the strip and onto the mesh. Has worked really well for me and still provides the same protection.

This works really well for me too, except I rip down 2", and I don't cover up the channels.  With tape covering the channels it is more cleanup than when I leave them open, and make sure they are well rinsed during ink and stencil removal. 

If you cut them short an inch or two from the end of the roller, you can keep softening the corners too...