Aluminum pallets with a soft top rubber

[Denis Kolar]

This might be a stupid question, but here it is anyhow.

Just ordered new aluminum pallets from Action for my Antec Legend press.
They come with a soft top rubber on them .

Do I still use pallet tape on them? If I do, what is the purpose of the rubber? Would the paper affect it at all?

Thanks

[Frog]

Two different things.

Rubber is for the softer surface that some prefer for printing, as well as heat dissipation.

Pallet tape is for easing clean-up of adhesive.

[mk162]

we use those...and we put paper on them.

back in the days of spray tack we didn't use paper and then used mineral spirits to clean the platens.  this hardened the rubber faster and was probably not the best thing for them.

we now use paper and waterbased tack and it's great

[Denis Kolar]

Great, I use waterbase glue also.
I just did not know if the paper will affect the rubber

Thanks guys

[3Deep]

I can answer this very quick, put glue on that rubber top and then try and clean it after a few print runs and you'll gladly use the pallet tape after that.  Having rubber tops give you a softer surface to print on and  plus it helps on flash temps, wish I had rubber tops on my manual, but I know for an auto rubber top pallets is king maybe not so much for a manual.

darryl

[ScreenPrinter123]

Great, I use waterbase glue also.
I just did not know if the paper will affect the rubber

Thanks guys

Just don't leave the tape on there too long.  In our experience if we don't change it out frequently enough it can become very hard to remove.  Frequently for us is probably a lot less often than most places because we are not high volume so we are changing it out every 3-6 months.

[jvanick]

Frequently for us is probably a lot less often than most places because we are not high volume so we are changing it out every 3-6 months.

wow, I wish I could change out the platen tape every 3-6 months... we're doing so many hoodies (even in the summer!), and performance fabric that we're switching platen tape out several times a week, if not daily.

(when printing performance fabric, you need SMOOTH platens or you'll see the lint/strings/etc telegraph into the print)

[mimosatexas]

Are you not wetting and scrubbing off the lint? I can go months with the same tape as well and refresh the glue as needed. Few squirting with water and a scrub pad and they are good as new for a long time. The glue releases all of the lint easily when wet. I have seen people apply glue over the lint but never saw the point as it still leaves a shitty print surface and scrubbing off the lint takes like 5 seconds per pallet

[jvanick]

we have not had good luck scrubbing the lint off here...  it never leaves the platen tape clean enough?

Maybe we're doing something wrong... but the procedure i've tried in the past:

spray with water from a spray bottle.
scrub with red scrubby pad.
- just makes a sticky mess.

[Denis Kolar]

we have not had good luck scrubbing the lint off here...  it never leaves the platen tape clean enough?

Maybe we're doing something wrong... but the procedure i've tried in the past:

spray with water from a spray bottle.
scrub with red scrubby pad.
- just makes a sticky mess.

Are you sure you are using the right glue? Or a right tape?
Mine comes off pretty easy all the time unless I use Spray Tack for hoodies.

[jvanick]

we are using TexTac, but had the same problems with XenTac from Sonny.
tape was both Sonny's platen tape and something from R-Tape that we get from one of our suppliers that we have better results applying.

how wet does the platen need to be?

how do you clean up the scrubby pad?

how do you deal with the remaining glue that's there?  just let it stay?

we like the platens perfectly smooth for performance fabric, and going from crappy linty gildan to performance is always a challenge.

-J

[Frog]

we are using TexTac, but had the same problems with XenTac from Sonny.
tape was both Sonny's platen tape and something from R-Tape that we get from one of our suppliers that we have better results applying.

how wet does the platen need to be?

how do you clean up the scrubby pad?

how do you deal with the remaining glue that's there?  just let it stay?

we like the platens perfectly smooth for performance fabric, and going from crappy linty gildan to performance is always a challenge.

-J

I spray a few spritzes, and it (usually) stays on for a rotation. Then a wipe with a scrub pad, from which the lint is picked off in a solid hunk after doing all the boards.

[mk162]

yeah, there should be some glue left over...most of the time we can just warm the glue back up and run.

we use a heavily diluted degreaser...the purple stuff from sams, 1c per 5 gallons of water.

get the platens wet, not soaking, but wet.

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

After hoodies, and before performance fabric we change paper too, over rubber tops.

I use Transferrite Low Tac paper in 16" wide rolls for the Gauntlet auto AND the manual, and they both have aluminum platens with the (silicone?) rubber soft tops. THIS PARTICULAR paper comes off nicely.

I was told that Buna N (Buna Nitrile, I think....) rubber sheeting is economical and pretty heat resistant. I've yet to try it, and I'm not sure where to source the adhesive. I've got to re-do a board or two and I can source the Buna N locally, in about eighth inch thick sheets.

We use waterbased adhesive whenever possible, and web spray on fleece. Web Spray is just like spray tac but comes out a little stringier than "mist" so it has less overspray.

The rubber tops tend to shrink over time. Otherwise, I really like them. All my platens have them except the homemade, odd sized MDF boards I keep around for my manual.

The fuzz comes off easily from printing normal tees.  Just water and spongy scotch brite pads is what we use. Once around to soak, then scrub off the fuzz on the second round and towell off. I pick the fuzz off the scotch brite pads pretty often, but there is not a significant of adhesive that comes off the paper. Almost none...

[IntegrityShirts]

yeah, there should be some glue left over...most of the time we can just warm the glue back up and run.

we use a heavily diluted degreaser...the purple stuff from sams, 1c per 5 gallons of water.

get the platens wet, not soaking, but wet.

I have done my own fully accredited scientific testing of purple power vs. simple green brand cleaners. Hands down simple green is the way to go, full strength with a stiff bristle brush I picked up from tractor supply. I was a die-hard water-only advocate before making this switch, but it really is better with simple green. Purple power was WORSE than just plain water in my super scientific studies lol