screen printing > Newbie

Ok... belt speed for curing (I know this is SOOO subjective)

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Gilligan:
But help me out anyway.

I have that Chaparral 24" x 12' dryer with a 4' tunnel.  It has 3 12"x24" panels.  Only 2 are in operation (one is brand new) they are the first two panels.  They draw about 12.5 amps each at 220v.

I have the panels pretty low... Umm, 3 inches would be pushing it.  The temp prob is in the panel itself and it's set to 975 (that's where the guy had it).

What belt speed should I be looking at to get a cure?  I know it depends on lots of factors... but the best I can give you is... Wet on Wet, black and red ink on a white shirt.  My shop is probably at about 75 degrees (give or take a few 73 at the lowest... hey, if you got AC in your shop why not be comfortable. :) )

I have cracked open the door and pointed a infrared gun right after the 2nd panel and the shirt would show anywhere from 270 to 320  Don't know why it varied.  I watched from the end of the dryer and I saw smoke coming off the print.  BUT every shirt (all 5'ish) didn't really pass the stretch test.  I know that stretching isn't the end all be all... but as ignorant as I am I try everything.  I took one of the ones that messed up and washed it.  Once and it looked fine.  We threw it back in the was again but I haven't seen what it looked like this time.

Any guidance?

I'll take pics of all the "parameters" when I get home tonight but I'd like to be printing when I get home... so any direction would be most helpful.

ebscreen:
As you're looking for a ballpark anyways (with washing being the be-all end-all) get you a
non-contact thermometer from an auto place or a discount tool store or whatever. They've
really come down in price since I bought mine 5 years ago, should be $25-$30 or so.
Aim for ~380 at exit.

Gilligan:

--- Quote from: Gilligan on September 14, 2011, 02:07:15 PM ---I have cracked open the door and pointed an infrared gun right after the 2nd panel...

--- End quote ---

ebscreen:
Sorry, missed that part. Switch the wiring so that the last two panels are in operation. Much
easier to gauge temps that way.

Gilligan:
True!  BUT, I'm not just wiring it that way for fun.  The last panel is "burnt" and I would have to swap the panels physically.  I'm just not in the mood to do that.

Though I did pull apart the 2nd panel (the one I replaced) and I might be able to fix it... I'll post that on my other thread though.

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