screens popping

[ericheartsu]

Does the weather cause frames to pop?

Ive lost more screens in the past week, on press, or sitting up on press than i have in the past two years. I cannot figure out what is causing them to break!

Most are between 30 and 40n, all mesh from 156-355. they pop on press, while waiting for ink to be put on, waiting for additional shirts, you name they are popping!

[ebscreen]

Are your screen clamps torquing your frames in any weird way?

Follow a screen closely through your whole cycle. Sometimes there's a
doh! moment.

[ericheartsu]

Are your screen clamps torquing your frames in any weird way?

Follow a screen closely through your whole cycle. Sometimes there's a
doh! moment.

not that i'm aware of. It's happening on 3 different presses, and even on the drying rack post rinse out, and post reclaim.

[prozyan]

Have you changed reclaim chemicals recently?  Something new that might be weakening the mesh.

[balloonguy]

Have you changed any chemistry? We tried a stain remover 1 time. It was great the first time. The second time we used the stain remover screens started popping left and right. We lost like 40 in 2 days.

[GKitson]

Sounds like haze remover to me.  Don't allow the stuff in our shop, it eats mesh!

If you use the correct chemistry stains are not an issue, it is all about the process.

[ericheartsu]

we've been using the liquid renuit for a couple of months. we've changed emulsion recently, but nothing else

[alan802]

Do you have anyone new in the building handling screens?  Out of our popped screens, I can bet money that 8 out of 10 are done from the idiots handling the screens.  Every time I see one of the guys mishandling a screen I stop them and show them but the next day it's just back to the same old ways.  I'm fixing to start writing them up and really doing some discipline around here, we popped 2 135's, and a 205, and 2 123/55's last week and none of them were in production more than 6 months.

[ericheartsu]

i wish! i'm the only idiot here!

it's been really crazy, alot of times we'll set them up the night before, and come in, in the morning and they are ripped!

[GKitson]

we've been using the liquid renuit for a couple of months. we've changed emulsion recently, but nothing else

Per the MSDS pH is 10.5.   Every time it is used the diameter of the thread is eaten away by the alkaline caustic action of the haze remover.  It removes stains by removing the surface of the thread.  The result is cumulative and the thread gets more brittle with each use of the alkaline product.

~Kitson

[ericheartsu]

how did you guys get around using dehazer? I find waterbased inks dye our mesh

[ScreenFoo]

It's very rare I get a popped screen and can't figure out how it was abused or mishandled.
Does it start by the frame?  Probably smacked the roller.  Did it start in the corner?  Wasn't softened well enough.  Not to mention the amazing scratches that you can put into mesh when you use poly brushes that are contaminated with debris....they are the most fun since they will seem to pop randomly as you describe...

[GKitson]

how did you guys get around using dehazer? I find waterbased inks dye our mesh

Well, I can't address the WB question as we are an all plastisol shop.

For us, NO  use of 'hot' solvents which just set the ink pigment stain into the mesh.

Controlled amounts of ink degradents and careful attention to the process to completely remove the ink residues & stains allow us to have 10 year old mesh with hundreds of cycles with no trace of ink staining.

It's all about picking the right products for the application.

~Kitson

[Printficient]

Eric, you can try F.S.I.C.  It is a great haze remover.  Same shop here that uses your emulsion, does Discharge/WB, uses it.  $36 per Gallon.  $35 per in the fiver.

[ericheartsu]

Thanks Sonny!

we use only panels here...and they either rip on the side under the tape, or right in the middle, mid press. (this particular one, i think had some debris on the screen, which caused it to drag.)