Author Topic: Quickest way to dry emulsion on a screen  (Read 8675 times)

Offline XG Print

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Quickest way to dry emulsion on a screen
« on: November 01, 2016, 12:45:19 PM »
Have a bit of an issue here.  We are slammed and I was down to my last 200 mesh screen in the screen room this morning and wouldnt you know it the second screen on the job that has to go today my screen guy burned it backwards  >:(  We cleaned and reapplied emulsion. What is the quickest way to get it to dry?  Hair dryer maybe?  Thanks


Offline Frog

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Re: Quickest way to dry emulsion on a screen
« Reply #1 on: November 01, 2016, 01:08:21 PM »
I'd be worried about a hairdryer drying the skin and not the entire layer.
In a clean area, I'd feel better with a fan blowing over it.
Then, next week, either buy or build a drying cabinet with a de-humidifier. Many report 30 minute times, that's not too bad.
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Offline mk162

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Re: Quickest way to dry emulsion on a screen
« Reply #2 on: November 01, 2016, 01:09:06 PM »
yup, drying cabinet with air movement and a dehumidifier.  It also warms the cabinet to aid drying.

Offline screenprintguy

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Re: Quickest way to dry emulsion on a screen
« Reply #3 on: November 01, 2016, 01:13:35 PM »
yup, drying cabinet with air movement and a dehumidifier.  It also warms the cabinet to aid drying.

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Offline ABuffington

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Re: Quickest way to dry emulsion on a screen
« Reply #4 on: November 01, 2016, 01:37:30 PM »
If you are pressed for time and need it now you can put a space heater behind a fan and put in screen room and use all the air volume of the room to force dry.  Frog's advice is sound for down line improvements in drying.   In a 100 cabinet with forced air and dehumidifier the dry time is 18 minutes at 60% humidity outside.  If raining, 30 minutes or more. 
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Offline RICK STEFANICK

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Re: Quickest way to dry emulsion on a screen
« Reply #5 on: November 01, 2016, 03:49:17 PM »
I have stuck it in and out of a dryer in a crunch. cant get too hot and you must flip it over.. it will make the screen lose tension and is by no means a normal thing but hey if your in a jam ..
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Offline jsheridan

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Re: Quickest way to dry emulsion on a screen
« Reply #6 on: November 01, 2016, 04:05:59 PM »
the only thing that drys a screen is the removal of moisture.

It can be cold and dry or hot and dry.. just needs to be dry. a little air movement will help speed up the transfer of moisture from the film to the air.
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Offline Prince Art

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Re: Quickest way to dry emulsion on a screen
« Reply #7 on: November 01, 2016, 04:12:18 PM »
If you have a room dehumidifier & floor space, you can improvise a rack for the screen (4 rolls of masking tape works), then throw a box or maybe a heavy sheet over the dehumidifier + the screen. (If you use a box, make sure it's propped up a little to allow some air flow.) You can also just lean the screen next to dehumidifier near a wall - not ideal, but that was my last boss's trick. Never clocked it, but this can get a screen usable fairly quickly.
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Offline 3Deep

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Re: Quickest way to dry emulsion on a screen
« Reply #8 on: November 01, 2016, 04:13:37 PM »
I've got a cabinet with a fan installed in it and can dry screen in about 15 to 30 minutes, I can't say they are 100% , but they burn pretty good and don't break down, then again I'm not doing 1000 pc runs on them.
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Offline mimosatexas

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Re: Quickest way to dry emulsion on a screen
« Reply #9 on: November 01, 2016, 04:31:25 PM »
I have a 7x10 room with a 40pt dehumifier and an 18" wall mountain oscillating fan.  It also has a 5000btu window unit A/C to keep temps under 85 during the summer.  The dehumidifier will keep it over 70 in the winter.  The room is insulated and all walls are interior walls, built as a room within a room.  I can dry a full rack of 24 screens in about 30 minutes usually with the fan on the opposite side of the room.  When I REALLY need a screen faster I will turn off the oscillation and move the screens closer to the fan and can have usable screens in about 15 to 18 minutes. 

Offline Sbrem

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Re: Quickest way to dry emulsion on a screen
« Reply #10 on: November 01, 2016, 04:47:46 PM »
A lot of decent options, but the best is a dedicated screen dryer down the line, not that it solves your immediate problem...

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Offline ebscreen

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Re: Quickest way to dry emulsion on a screen
« Reply #11 on: November 01, 2016, 05:02:16 PM »
FWIW we recently moved our post-cleaning drying to a vertical setup with fans blowing down on them
ala Mr. Kitson. Significantly faster than horizontal.

Offline ZooCity

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Re: Quickest way to dry emulsion on a screen
« Reply #12 on: November 01, 2016, 08:55:00 PM »
FWIW we recently moved our post-cleaning drying to a vertical setup with fans blowing down on them
ala Mr. Kitson. Significantly faster than horizontal.

Interesting.  We blast degreased screens with compressed air knives and dry horizontal in the cabinet.  It's fast due to the air knife atomizing most of the water out, but I don't like how much time degreasing takes and have been thinking about ways to expedite this and also use less air on shifts. 

No streaking or issues with dust using your method?

Offline Gilligan

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Re: Quickest way to dry emulsion on a screen
« Reply #13 on: November 01, 2016, 09:19:20 PM »
FWIW we recently moved our post-cleaning drying to a vertical setup with fans blowing down on them
ala Mr. Kitson. Significantly faster than horizontal.

Interesting.  We blast degreased screens with compressed air knives and dry horizontal in the cabinet.  It's fast due to the air knife atomizing most of the water out, but I don't like how much time degreasing takes and have been thinking about ways to expedite this and also use less air on shifts. 

No streaking or issues with dust using your method?

What air knives are you using?

We have a typhoon gun that works great, but it's a single point and would love more efficiency.

Offline ZooCity

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Re: Quickest way to dry emulsion on a screen
« Reply #14 on: November 01, 2016, 09:26:27 PM »
mcmaster carr has 'em.  #5213K21

We had a couple that were wonky with a weird air leak inside the housing but they replaced and otherwise have been stellar.   They are at every station in screen flow and at the blow out booth as well.