Let's talk Emulsion Remover's

[3Deep]

First I've been told by many reps over the years that all emulsion removers do the same thing which is true, but how fast they do it is another question all together.  I've been testing 3 emulsion removers from 3 different company brands I won't name the company or the brands but will call them emulsion A, B and C.  Here is the question I think we need to ask our reps when we buy emulsion because we all know it will work, but what is the best way to use it, in a dip tank or manual spray bottle.  I think reps think we all approach reclaiming screen's the same way, but some us still try to eat soup with a fork instead of a spoon LOL.  I still use a spray bottle because I use a lot of wood screens which I'm told are not really good to use in a dip tank, which makes sense to me.  Now emulsion remover A which I've been using for years is very fast acting, spray it on and in second's emulsion is running off without touching it with a brush, emulsion remover B takes a little longer and I have to pressure wash more and use a little more emulsion remover, emulsion remover C I can walk off for a few minute's and it's still kind of hard to wash out without even using a brush, this makes me think that B and C would be better used in a dip tank.  So why not stay with emulsion remover A well the price went sky high because of some chemical which is harder for them to get now so they say, but the replacement ain't to bad plus I'm trying hard to keep all my supply buying in one place.  Any of you have anything to add to this that I'm missing?

[Frog]

I haven't seen any difference in different removers besides strength.
I have gotten concentrates that allow and suggest dilutions from 35:1 to 4:1. Of course, one can still mix them to the dilution they wish.
Generally, the more concentrated, the better deal. Certainly lighter to ship.
What I don't know is if they get to the point of being considered hazardous for shipping when they are really strong, because for the last few years, I've settled for the wimpy stuff from CCI because it's the easiest for me to get.

[RICK STEFANICK]

We use a dip tank with supra and 701 as the final but way back when I was doing the standard reclamation process I believe I used ICC 833. Then because of cost went to the product that comes in a 5 with just the pink crystals and all you had to do was add water. ICC offered it so they were not shipping liquid but I cannot remember the product name but it was in the 60.00 range and you ended up with 5 gallons of stencil remover and it worked good enough. I have honestly not had a issue in the past using a dip tank with wood frames though.

[Homer]

CCI gemzyme.

you have to think about the cost of time as well. Product A works 2x as fast as B and C but costs more. How much is that time worth? Are you making up the price increase with faster production time? I know we are. I use Gemzyme in a dip tank, add a few ounces every day and works in seconds. I will do almost anything I can to buy back time, and if my costs go up 10%, so be it. I'll make it up somewhere else. We can use a cheap remover and wait 2 minutes but add that up over 100 screens, you added 3 hours to that task.  3 hours x my hourly rate = way more than the price increase on the faster remover. we don't make money cleaning screens, I need them turned and back on press.

As you know, other things come into play as well, proper exposure and such will greatly effect the performance of that emulsion remover too. But I know you know that, so it's tough to say what works and what doesn't. My shop setting vs yours.

[3Deep]

I agree with you Homer time is money, plus if I have to use more chems that's also a waste, I just hate buying from so many different places but I'm finding out you can't get everything you like under one roof.
@ RStefanick I've used the ICC 937 which is not bad at all can't remember if I used the 833, and you say you've never had any problems using wood frames in dip tanks Hmmm, got to look into that again.

[Wildcard]

I had 2 different emulsion removers where one worked way faster... and then I figured out that I was just diluting the 'good one' incorrectly and it was just a more concentrated mix.

[RICK STEFANICK]

I agree with you Homer time is money, plus if I have to use more chems that's also a waste, I just hate buying from so many different places but I'm finding out you can't get everything you like under one roof.
@ RStefanick I've used the ICC 937 which is not bad at all can't remember if I used the 833, and you say you've never had any problems using wood frames in dip tanks Hmmm, got to look into that again.
[/quote

For me a dip tank is the only option so when I say they were not a issue.. Other than maybe dry time

[ScreenFoo]

I went through a few testing, table method, no dip tank. 
We run dual cures, almost no WB/DC, decent exposures and no really hot solvents.
The ICC 937 came out on top for what we're doing and how we're doing it.

[Maxie]

I used a dip tank for a few months and then changed to  spray on system using Saati chemicals.
I prefer this because we are always working with fresh chemicals.
If you have good staff using the dip tank it's ok but we have a lot of temp staff and who knows how many times they forgot the screens in the tank.
It's also fast if you do batches, by the time you've put emulsion remover on a few screens, the first ones are ready to wash off.

[jsheridan]

The crystals I used for 20ish years.. sodium something something.. the cost of them went up a couple years back and did create a surge of new reclaim products.

A dip tank remover is designed to only soften the emulsion over a 5 to10 minute delay so as to keep the chemicals working longer vs the spray on, dissolve, washout quickly like that of delivery systems.

How you setup your reclaim process will dictate the chemicals you use.

[3Deep]

The crystals I used for 20ish years.. sodium something something.. the cost of them went up a couple years back and did create a surge of new reclaim products.

A dip tank remover is designed to only soften the emulsion over a 5 to10 minute delay so as to keep the chemicals working longer vs the spray on, dissolve, washout quickly like that of delivery systems.

How you setup your reclaim process will dictate the chemicals you use.

Thanks John that's the answer I was looking for, I knew there had to be somewhat of a difference in reclaim chems, like I stated in my post earlier remover A works fast when spray on in seconds while B and C takes longer to work

[jvanick]

if you are using a dip tank, do yourself a favor and buy either the PH testing strips or a digial ph tester.

we have a digital ph tester we bought on amazon for around $10

read your solution when it's fresh after around 10 or 15 screens to get a baseline.  (ours is around 5.0 or so)

When the tank solution gets above 5.75 or 6, we juice it up with an ounce of concentrate (Saati ER2).  Takes the solution back down to 5.0... we're now 11 months or so in on our tank and it works just as good as it did when it was fresh. (reclaiming about 30 screens a day).

Max time in the tank is a minute or so.  Emulsion is never allowed to fall off into the tank, although the color of the water does take on the color of the emulsion over time.