Anyone seen these LED Exposure Units from Maple Print Supply?

[CBCB]

https://mapleprintsupply.com/collections/screen-printing/products/maple-led-exposure-unit

We're a growing manual shop and trying to improve our exposure quality, and time.

Just wondering if anyone has heard of / dealt with Maple Print Supply or these units.

The price is attractive, but I think my biggest concern is the lack of vacuum top. They said it comes with a padded piece of aluminum. I hope to keep it in our darkroom so the vacuum top seems necessary to block the light, and improve undercutting obviously.

What do you guys think?

[Frog]

I hope to keep it in our darkroom so the vacuum top seems necessary to block the light, and improve undercutting obviously.

What do you guys think?

I don't think that the lack of a vacuum top letting out stray light is your concern, but rather the decrease in ability to hold fine detail without undercutting. Although many can achieve acceptable results with weighted tops, and the even better results with a compression lid, you can't beat a vacuum for good contact between emulsion and film, a key to sharp, accurate detailed screens.

[Homer]

https://mapleprintsupply.com/collections/screen-printing/products/maple-led-exposure-unit

We're a growing manual shop and trying to improve our exposure quality, and time.

Just wondering if anyone has heard of / dealt with Maple Print Supply or these units.

The price is attractive, but I think my biggest concern is the lack of vacuum top. They said it comes with a padded piece of aluminum. I hope to keep it in our darkroom so the vacuum top seems necessary to block the light, and improve undercutting obviously.

What do you guys think?

no.

[Nation03]

Aside from there being no lid or vacuum, it also doesn't have an integrated timer. I'd pass.

[jvanick]

with a diazo-based emulsion, you could use a stopwatch, and likely have significantly better screens than with a FL unit.

wouldn't be perfect, but then again, you're only spending $500 on a LED exposure unit.

Now... a potential idea for something like this would be a retrofit for a cheap old FL unit that still has a good vacuum blanket and pump..

[Frog]

with a diazo-based emulsion, you could use a stopwatch, and likely have significantly better screens than with a FL unit.

I might challenge this as I have seen results of vacuum topped flo units surpass those of MH lights with compression lids.
Of course, many don't need that perfection. (for instance, I hardly even need accurate halftones in my market)

Now... a potential idea for something like this would be a retrofit for a cheap old FL unit that still has a good vacuum blanket and pump..

Vastex offers such a product for just this purpose. http://www.vastex.com/Screen-Printing-Equipment/Prepress-Equipment/E-2000/E-2000.php

[3Deep]

Convenience makes every new idea so much more attractive than old ideas that you can't live without it , I when many years without a vacuum lid on my homemade exposure unit, but once I bought my store bought unit hey now!!!   if you can get that screen and film tight together during exposure evenly I see no problem with the unit, also depends on what emulsion your using.

[Prosperi-Tees]

And it's only $300 for black Friday

[Prince Art]

Will it work? Yes. Is it a good investment? I think not.

As someone who started a manual shop on a tiny shoestring, and who continues to learn the hard way (!), I've taken too many intermediary steps to get to a properly functioning shop. And an exposure unit that was too small, with no vac was one mistake.

We actually use a DIY LED unit now, which isn't perfect (no timer); but it's big enough for 25x36 frames, and it has a vac lid. And like Frog said, that vac makes a huge difference in the detail we can capture. I recommend holding out for a vac lid; and also strongly recommend getting a unit big enough to burn 23" x 31" screens. (Small screens may work for some, but we wasted a lot of time & money by not starting with 23 x 31, & standardizing everything from the beginning.)

[Frog]

Does anyone even know what the equivalent of just the light strips would run?
Tain't much more to it besides its simple case being aluminum rather than the typical DIY wood.

Actually to me, I can't imagine why they didn't shell out another $25 on hardware and at least give it a compression lid.
Heck, we've been upgrading simple flo units like this for years.

[Prince Art]

I bought 395nm-405nm LED strip lights for about $19 per 5 meter strip (~16 ft) off of eBay. You also need power supplies, and some connecting wires, but they aren't expensive.

That may not be apples to apples; there's more than one type of LED strip light out there. Our unit doesn't expose as fast as the pro models advertise; it take closer to a minute to a minute & a half, depending on mesh count. But it works.

Essentially, the units in question appear to be a screen frame, some LED strip lights, a power supply, a switch, and a piece of glass. Nothing wrong with that, per se; but a proper lid seems to be in order.

If someone can't afford a pro unit, and doesn't have time/interest in DIYing it from scratch, I think retrofitting a vac flo unit with LEDs (even cheap strip lights) seems like it could be a good option.

[blue moon]

the spacing on the LEDs and the distance to the glass is all wrong, I would stay away. . .

pierre

[Northland]

Does anyone even know what the equivalent of just the light strips would run?

To build an LED field (with 5/8" spacing & 1200 diodes) would be about $85 for the LED's
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5050-SMD-300-UV-Ultraviolet-Flexible-395nm-Black-Light-Strip-Lamp-5M-12V-Lights-/151671907574?hash=item235059a4f6:g:SLMAAOSwrklVJeau&vxp=mtr
And the drivers would be an additional $45
http://www.ebay.com/itm/AC110-220V-TO-DC-12V-Switch-Power-Supply-Driver-adapter-For-LED-Strip-10W-600W-/351724125719?var=&hash=item51e4643e17:m:m1MLz-kZKKf8-BdJKjzvZzQ

I've built one and have it mounted 2" below the glass in my exposure unit. It exposes a 180S mesh in less than 15 seconds (Chromolime ppl)

****EDIT***
The quality control on these LED strip products varies quite a bit. The problem is the double stick tape on the back of the strip. If it is not correctly applied (at the factory), the strip will pucker and not lay perfectly flat when installed. That may be more of a cosmetic concern than a functional concern.

[Rockers]

looks very similar to this one. You have to scroll down the page to see what I mean
http://www.theshirtboard.com/index.php/topic,18301.45.html

Maybe someone did copy this?

[CBCB]

Will it work? Yes. Is it a good investment? I think not.

As someone who started a manual shop on a tiny shoestring, and who continues to learn the hard way (!), I've taken too many intermediary steps to get to a properly functioning shop. And an exposure unit that was too small, with no vac was one mistake.

We actually use a DIY LED unit now, which isn't perfect (no timer); but it's big enough for 25x36 frames, and it has a vac lid. And like Frog said, that vac makes a huge difference in the detail we can capture. I recommend holding out for a vac lid; and also strongly recommend getting a unit big enough to burn 23" x 31" screens. (Small screens may work for some, but we wasted a lot of time & money by not starting with 23 x 31, & standardizing everything from the beginning.)

Tons of great replies in here. Thanks everyone!

This comment has got me really thinkin' though. We've been struggling with some tall prints on the smaller frames and we're just about to get some new mesh. Perfect timing, perhaps.

Just need to get a larger exposure unit. Your DIY situation has got the gears turning.


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