Please have a look at my screen

[Appstro]

Thanks in advance for your opinions. I will try to put every detail I can here so you can tell me if I did something wrong.

Washed screens
Envirowash
Dehaze
cleaned again with laundry detergent liquid
let dry two days

Coated screens
1/1
put fan on them
let dry overnight


Did a wedge step test on my exposure unit.
1 minute exposures up to 8 minutes
washed out wedge test
1 minute-no good
2 minute-no good
3 minute-iffy
4 minute- looked better
5 minute-missing elements
6 minute-looked acceptable
7 minute-looked great
8 minute looked great


printed film straight from illustrator using 100/100/100/100 black

exposed for 6.5 minutes as that seemed like the best time

Used hose sprayer to coat moth sides of screen with water well.

waited a minute for water to soak in a bit.

Used pressure washer holding tip about 18-24 inches away from surface of screen.

Washed in sweeping motion.

Looked good after 10 seconds or so,…..then began to blow out immediately.

I figured screen was underexposed..


New screen. Exposed for 10 minutes….

Same wash procedure…

Looked great at first

Set out in sun to dry and post expose

Then I looked at the screen and here is what I had. i went ahead and used it and used block out to fix what I could. I did 20 shirts and when I cleaned up the screens with plastisolve the emulsion started coming off the screen. 1st screen was 110 second was 150. What do you think happened?

I am also wondering why my used exposure unit could be taking so long to expose. Its the Ryonet 20x24 unit. How can I tell if my bulbs are worn out?

[Croft]

that doesn't look like 110 mesh ? far too course more like 80?

Was it brand new a brand new screen? new mesh? because I have had something similar happen with new or newer low mesh count screens, Also you may need to coat 2x on the shirt side and 1 hard one on print side, Also was it humid or not fully dried? and exposure time may also not be long enough.

[Homer]

 laundry soap? ...what emulsion? 2/2 or glisten method is best -for my shop anyway- looks way underexposed.

[Inkworks]

looks way underexposed.

x 2

[ebscreen]

x13


I remember fluorescents taking like 30 minutes with Speedball diazo emulsion.

Which emulsion you using?

[stitches4815]

cleaned again with laundry detergent liquid

Why would you do this?

[Appstro]

I probably shouldnt have used the liquid laundry detergent... At the time I thought it would be a good degreaser. I have since been told that Simple Green would be better.

The photo's are super close up. That whole area is only 4 inches wide. Its the pocket logo.

The emulsion is pro chem DXP pink.

What is the "glisten method"??

I am starting to think its the bulbs.... Ryonet says that it should take 5.5 minutes to get full exposure with new bulbs...

The screens were 150 and 110 mesh that I had to clean. I bought the whole unit used from a guy that decided to quit.

Not humid here is San Diego. I coated the screens following the directions in a few videos online. I remember thinking that the emulsion seemed thin to me once it was cured on the screen, but I am not 100% sure what it should look like so...

If I do 2/2 method or 2/1 method, do I let the 1/1 dry first then recoat or do all at the same time?

[prozyan]

It's underexposed.

And there is really no reason to degrease.

[jvanick]

glisten method is basically coating a few times on the shirt/substrate site first, until you see the squeegee side 'glistening' or shining. and then coat the squeegee side.  Takes a bit of practice, but ultimately you want to get enough emulsion over the mesh vs just in it. 

your pics look like the emulsion was quite thin.

I agree that it definitely looks to be under exposed.

once you get a proper exposure, you should be able to soak your screen in water after exposing it for a long time without any bad results...

how did the squeegee side feel after wetting the screen?  Betting it was slimy... a sure sign of under-exposure.

[Appstro]

Is this a good bulb instead of the ryonet $20.00 bulbs... seems like the same thing...
http://www.amazon.com/GE-35884-F15T8-Fluorescent-Black/dp/B002CYXIEM

[mimosatexas]

for 110 we usually do 3/1 or 2/2 depending on a few things, though I would lean toward 3/1 if done properly.  In the photos the mesh is poking out of the emulsion which means either the emulsion doesn't have enough solids to sit in the mesh, or there simply isn't enough emulsion on the screen.

I am also seeing a lot of undercutting (blurry edges) AND underexposure, which means your exposure setup likely isn't adequate to properly expose your emulsion.  Doing a proper coating will only make this problem worse as you will be adding additional thickness to the emulsion.

You should post photos and specs of the exposure setup you have as well if you have a chance.

[Appstro]

http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/product/RXP2024

[screenxpress]

It's underexposed.

And there is really no reason to degrease.

Thank you for saying this. 

I cannot remember the last time I degreased and I've been thinking I"M the oddball but I don't have an emulsion problem using QTX and 2 + 2 coat.............as long as the emulsion is not OLD!

[Gilligan]

I didn't realize how much I was under exposing until I got a real exposure unit.

Things SEEMED ok, but after seeing how a real exposure unit exposes I realized I was fighting under exposure.  We almost can't screw up an exposure now.

[Prosperi-Tees]

Without a vacuum top you will always fight exposure. I did the compression method for awhile and it was frustrating to say the least