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screen printing => Screen Making => Topic started by: Raw Paw on March 23, 2022, 07:46:06 PM
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Hello warriors of the print realm.
Hopefully simple question here.. It just same to my attention our T9 is not reclaiming nice.. Rather than disolving into a nice lather after spraying on the emulsion remover and scrubbing, it is being blasted off in chunks. The chunks are then clogging our drainage system. No dip tank, manually reclaiming and spraying.
This is our emulsion remover - https://www.screenprintsupplies.com/products/cleaning-chemicals/printers-choice-screen-printing-chemicals/printers-choice-emulsion-remover-concentrate-130/ (https://www.screenprintsupplies.com/products/cleaning-chemicals/printers-choice-screen-printing-chemicals/printers-choice-emulsion-remover-concentrate-130/)
Are all emulsion removers more or less the same? Should we use a specific one for PP emulsions? I know underexposure can cause reclaim to be difficult, I was also made aware that having too strong of emulsion remover can be counter productive and cause this issue. Any other variables to be aware of?
Thanks
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Scrubbing with emulsion remover and using the pressure washer immediately, as you've been doing, should be fine. If by chance though, it's allowed to sit for a while, I've seen problems where it's harder to reclaim. I don't think we've used T9 here (maybe experimented with it once) so this is kind of general as emulsion removing goes.
Steve
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I run into this problem more than I like, I use two different emulsion brands and one reclaims very easy and the other blows out in chunks at times, I'm thinking the one that blows out in chunks has more solids in the mix than the other brand, we use the same emulsion remover for both. Now I will say unlike you we don't scrub the screens, just spray let sit for a minute or so and blast away.
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have you reached out to murakami? I feel like they could probably give you better insight than anyone here. Unless there is a murakami specific shop on here.
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I use the T9 here. I have a dip tank though and never had that problem unless I'm reclaiming a 24 or 40 mesh. There have been times that I've used straight genzyme emulsion remover when my tank chemical get weak.
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Revisit your exposure times. Make sure you are getting complete exposure. Ensure that your screen-room is at an acceptable humidity level. The emulsion layer needs to be below a certain level of humidity to obtain proper exposure. Next, contact River City to check on shelf life of your emulsion remover and also if it is the best chioice for PP emulsions. Look at your on press wash or screen opener and also your ink remover/degradent. PP emulsions don't get along well with most solvents.
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Revisit your exposure times. Make sure you are getting complete exposure. Ensure that your screen-room is at an acceptable humidity level. The emulsion layer needs to be below a certain level of humidity to obtain proper exposure. Next, contact River City to check on shelf life of your emulsion remover and also if it is the best chioice for PP emulsions. Look at your on press wash or screen opener and also your ink remover/degradent. PP emulsions don't get along well with most solvents.
We are using T9 for many years now, never rally had the issue he is describing. And yes exposure times might the key. And like you said solvents. We use CCI Envirowipe. Works great for all PP emulsions unlike standard solvents and other cleaners.
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Revisit your exposure times. Make sure you are getting complete exposure. Ensure that your screen-room is at an acceptable humidity level. The emulsion layer needs to be below a certain level of humidity to obtain proper exposure. Next, contact River City to check on shelf life of your emulsion remover and also if it is the best chioice for PP emulsions. Look at your on press wash or screen opener and also your ink remover/degradent. PP emulsions don't get along well with most solvents.
We are using T9 for many years now, never rally had the issue he is describing. And yes exposure times might the key. And like you said solvents. We use CCI Envirowipe. Works great for all PP emulsions unlike standard solvents and other cleaners.
We upgraded to a dip tank and the chemicals in it are handling T9 much better. Will look into solvents if the problem persists, this is a great suggestion. Thanks everyone!
Also I did reach out to Murakami to sort the issue, their representative was saying it wasn't the emulsion remover / they are all made the same, so I reached out here for some more clues.