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screen printing => Ink and Chemicals => Topic started by: brandon on February 12, 2013, 04:16:40 PM
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A big thank you to John Sheridan here.
Over the past few years in regards to discharge/old water base disposal we tried the kitty litter, hardener stuff, this and that. I finally just decided on doing the monthly run to the city dump where they handle toxic crap like that with an incinerator.
But for the life of me can't figure out why did I not think of cement. Duh! Works like a charm. Dump a box/bag in a 3/4 filled five gallon bucket of the waste and several days later solid as a rock. Mix it up of course. Safe to go in the dumpster. Contacted the city. Good to go!
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This is rad.
I too thought that, as long as you could instigate a drying/curing, there should be no need for haz disposal of DC ink.
I am still working up the courage to mix our bucket 'o stank and see if I can make a useable ink out of it. I have been recycling a lot of DC ink by saving colors for up to 2 months and then adding back a little fresh ink and reactivating. I don't see why we can't have a bucket of recycled grey ink, just like with plastisol. The stank goes away when you reactivate.
If that's a no go, cement it is!
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why can't you just put the ink in a bucket out back and let it dry out. It may take a few weeks but it will evaporate.
The agent is gone in 8 hours to 2 days and then you just have water and pigment right?
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That's what I used to think as well but the city and also a chemist told me nope. Even though it might appear to be dry or "cured" it is not. It needs to be encapsulated and dried completely, basically like once cement is cured you can get it wet again and again and it stays rigid - not going back sand and water and this case discharge!
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why can't you just put the ink in a bucket out back and let it dry out. It may take a few weeks but it will evaporate.
The agent is gone in 8 hours to 2 days and then you just have water and pigment right?
That works great when you live in the furnace of the US....lol You could cook a turkey in your car where you live too in the summer. We are close to the beach not to mention it is a red flag to the fine happy city if they see open containers outside with ink in it. They are pretty nosey around here with that kind of stuff.
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A big thank you to John Sheridan here.
Over the past few years in regards to discharge/old water base disposal we tried the kitty litter, hardener stuff, this and that. I finally just decided on doing the monthly run to the city dump where they handle toxic crap like that with an incinerator.
But for the life of me can't figure out why did I not think of cement. Duh! Works like a charm. Dump a box/bag in a 3/4 filled five gallon bucket of the waste and several days later solid as a rock. Mix it up of course. Safe to go in the dumpster. Contacted the city. Good to go!
I'm a bit of an environmentalist, mainly regarding recycling. Since these hardened buckets of concrete can never be used for anything (down here they actually crush up old concrete and recycle into new mix), all I can see is an ever-growing mound of concrete in buckets.
I like the idea of the incinerators, but that's just me. Problem eliminated and nothing solid left behind. Since the bags of sackrete are not free, I would think incineration would be a cheaper and less trouble option. Takes time to mix that stuff up and last time I checked, a 5 gallon bucket of hardened concrete ain't that light to toss around.
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why can't you just put the ink in a bucket out back and let it dry out. It may take a few weeks but it will evaporate.
The agent is gone in 8 hours to 2 days and then you just have water and pigment right?
That works great when you live in the furnace of the US....lol You could cook a turkey in your car where you live too in the summer. We are close to the beach not to mention it is a red flag to the fine happy city if they see open containers outside with ink in it. They are pretty nosey around here with that kind of stuff.
Why would it be a ready flag. Water base inks are environmentally friendly. They are so green they will not hurt anything, right. Hell the last job I printed I just drank the left over ink, tasty.
There has to be a way to dry the ink out and then just toss it in the trash. Maybe a crock pot or something like that. I have been mixing left over ink into the next run of that color. I have had no waist in the 3 months I have been doing DC. I have about 400 grams of ink set aside now. I am sure some of that will not be able to be used.
How many gallons of left over ink are you guys making every month?
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It's best to get a hanle on exactly how much to make in the beginning. Once you have your formuals down most should find it takes just minutes to make more. The best solution here is to minimize the waste on the front siide.
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Glad to help guys!!
Once it's a rock in a bucket, off to the dump it goes.
How many gallons of left over ink are you guys making every month?
Around this shop.. an average day is 2-5 gallons of waste over 2 shifts.
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Ouch thats a lot but I'm sure you're working on bringing that down.
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Glad to help guys!!
Once it's a rock in a bucket, off to the dump it goes.
How about rather than making it merely landfill-friendly, actually using the blocks?
Sounds like the makings of a unique decorative retaining wall in the garden.
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Ouch thats a lot but I'm sure you're working on bringing that down.
I wish I could say they're doing something about it and or are finding ways to reduce cost through efficient use of materials and time.
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5 gallons a day that's about 110 gallons a month (22 day work month) Thats alot of cement blocks.
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I'd start working on a pyramid or something, maybe another building built just from discharge cement blocks.
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5 gallons a day that's about 110 gallons a month (22 day work month) Thats alot of cement blocks.
It really depends on what's being printed in a said week. We just came out of a 3 week period where its been all DC base with Plas top colors so the waste is low, now 3 weeks before that was DC all day on all machines and during those times, waste was high.
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Anybody ever used old discharge as standard WB on lights? I've been meaning to try,
but am too nervous to do so on an actual job.
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Anybody ever used old discharge as standard WB on lights? I've been meaning to try,
but am too nervous to do so on an actual job.
everyday!
The ink is really dead when it clumps like cottage cheese or separates in the cup.
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Interesting.
By really dead do you mean as in not even fit for lights any more?
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Here is a little tip: If you want to save your discharge ink put it in a air tight container and put about 10 sprays of water on top of the ink before sealing the container. The ink will dry it self out when the agent in the ink gets to the end of its life. It will also suck the air out of the container. The added water will keep the ink usable and keep the top of the ink from crusting over.
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Here is a little tip: If you want to save your discharge ink put it in a air tight container and put about 10 sprays of water on top of the ink before sealing the container. The ink will dry it self out when the agent in the ink gets to the end of its life. It will also suck the air out of the container. The added water will keep the ink usable and keep the top of the ink from crusting over.
I do this exact thing.
Also chicken to try printing from the bucket 'o stank. Well, not chicken about printing it but chicken about mixing it.
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5 gallons a day that's about 110 gallons a month (22 day work month) Thats alot of cement blocks.
It really depends on what's being printed in a said week. We just came out of a 3 week period where its been all DC base with Plas top colors so the waste is low, now 3 weeks before that was DC all day on all machines and during those times, waste was high.
So yeah, that is a lot for us. Years ago when we started with discharge we had problems but now its a 5 gallon every couple of months. Sometimes 3 or 4 months, sometimes two. We just have a few lying around closed up because I just don't have time to drive to the dump. But we do recycle all water base and plastisol every bit we can.
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I think it can be mixed to a grey and printed again. But, I think it will have to be re-activated. Absolutely going to try this before disposing of our bucket.
Coverage through a 150/48 is around 0.04g per sq inch, give or take + you need a minimum 200-300g just to run enough ink in the screen. If you calculate, you get pretty close. I'm keeping a log and noting usage wherever I can to get closer on other mesh counts but have been able to get it fairly close by gut.
This is obvious but, the best trick is to mix you ink and only activate a little at a time.