Post reclaim drying

[jvanick]

how does everybody dry their screens after reclaim?

I know some of you lean them against the wall... -- we do the same, but occasionally water will get trapped between the upper edges of the 2 frames and then drip down when you separate them.

we've tried flat, but those screens ended up with water spots (even after using DirectPrep2 and other degreasers) -- we have REALLY hard water here at the shop, and no water softener.

any other ideas?

[Alex M]

Put the screen on an angle in the rack. Water will roll down to one side and off.

[Frog]

I lean 'em, but I do few enough at a time to not need to stack 'em while leaning.
Otherwise, I do them flat in my drying cabinet, and don't see a problem with spotting, but we have good water (except that the drought has forced our company to augment their supply and it now has a distinct taste and smell.

We'll see if it changes anything in the screen cleaning and making process.

[Doug S]

I lean 5 against the wall not stacking though.  They stay there until the next 5 are reclaimed and then they go in the rack.  The water is pretty hard here also.

[GaryG]

Fanning them out on the floor letting only the corners touch
helps water from gathering. Clean floor of course.

[TCT]

4'  2*4 with 2*2 chunks as spacers screwed into it. Screen, 2*2, screen, 2*2, screen, ect. The 2*4 puts the screens at a nice angle for draining. The 2*2's slave them out nice, and as long as you insert the corner of the screens between the 2*2's, they provide enough support to keep them upright.

[jvanick]

4'  2*4 with 2*2 chunks as spacers screwed into it. Screen, 2*2, screen, 2*2, screen, ect. The 2*4 puts the screens at a nice angle for draining. The 2*2's slave them out nice, and as long as you insert the corner of the screens between the 2*2's, they provide enough support to keep them upright.

can you post a pic?

Our biggest issue is space... when we're trying to dry 30-40 screens at a time it gets really tight in the screen room.

I might have to try the other Alex's recommendation of putting them in a rack on an angle... thinking I can modify one of my racks to just act as a drying rack.

[mimosatexas]

Inspired by gkitson's racks http://www.theshirtboard.com/index.php/topic,13007.0.html

[jvanick]

Inspired by gkitson's racks http://www.theshirtboard.com/index.php/topic,13007.0.html

Greg uses those for post-exposure drying.. not for post-reclaim.  Blowing dust onto your freshly cleaned screens seems to be a recipe for pinholes...

Plus, I wouldn't want water dripping from the top levels to the bottom.

[mimosatexas]

I use the same racks for both, no issues at all.  Each fan has a filter on top that I change when needed.  The screens dry to the point of no drips within about 5 minutes, so as long as you are going left to right or right to left on both levels and start on the top, no drips.  I haven't had a pinhole or snake eye since I started using it...

[3Deep]

I do the same as Kitson's for post re-claim and to dry after exposure, and yeah dust is sometimes a problem so i use a lint roller before I coat screen's, only way your going to have perfect dust free screen is to have a nice clean room to store screens, which most of us don't have room for or a very nice cabinet.

[jvanick]

I use the same racks for both, no issues at all.  Each fan has a filter on top that I change when needed.  The screens dry to the point of no drips within about 5 minutes, so as long as you are going left to right or right to left on both levels and start on the top, no drips.  I haven't had a pinhole or snake eye since I started using it...

Missed the filter part

Might have to give this a try... at drip-free in 5 minutes, I can always rotate them through...

[mimosatexas]

Every shop is going to be different, and this is probably more info than you need considering you are just asking about post reclaim drying.  I have around 40 23x31 static screens in the shop currently, not counting things like super low mesh that I cycle just when needed, and my process for my larger sized screens varies (i have everything from 25x36 up to 58x46).  I usually am doing 1-2 cycles a week right now, sometimes with small fill ins of 6 or 12 screens when I have a little down time and need a particular mesh count that I have already used up.

My basic setup:
I have a dirty sink and a clean sink.  Dirty sink has my dip tank and two horizontal racks that hold 25 screens each.  I put dirty screens in one rack right off the press, after taking off tape and carding off ink.  Whenever I feel like it, I will cycle these through my dip tank that is filled with Supra.  I only pressure wash off the emulsion and ink.  These "half" reclaimed screens get put in the second rack and wait to be hit with 701 for dehaze/degrease.  Once this rack is full, I fill in from top to bottom on the other rack until I have cycled all screens through the dip tank.

Whenever it is time for the second half of reclaim, I grab screens six at a time for dehaze/degrease.  They basically go from the rack to the clean sink where they get a quick scrub on each size with 701, then leaned as a stack on the wall to the side of the sink.  I then shift the stack around (i have a catch where I just lean them the other way so I can access the first screen I dehazed in the stack).  This means the 701 has a few minutes to work its magic before pressure washing and soft rinsing.  Once soft rinsed, I have a light positioned above the sink in a way where I can quickly see any sheen or irregularity in the mesh from drops or drips of the 701 that may not have gotten rinsed off fully.  If it looks good, it gets put on the rack I linked.  I pressure wash, rinse, and rack the remaining five screens in the stack.  Then I repeat this for another stack of 6.  By the time I am through with another stack, the first stack is drip free, though the mesh isn't always completely bone dry yet, which doesnt matter because I won't unrack them until another stack of 6 has gone through the process.  Once I have 18 done, I usually find something else to do for 20 minutes or so, then unrack and stack in my screen room, which has a dehumidifier to get out any last residual moisture.

I have found that doing the dip tank throughout the week in 15-30 minutes here or there works the best for me, then batching the degrease/dehaze.  Also, having the clean vs dirty sinks has helped enormously with snake eyes and dealing with random crud.  I also noticed if I batch the dip tank and it has been a slow week where the ink has sat for a few days the haze is worse than doing it every day or two in smaller batches, so the cleanest screens come from getting it into the supra asap.  Also, I know you are using the SP1400 just like I am, and I have noticed that the Supra is awesome for it, but if I use the 701 before dipping (like many suggest) it makes the supra less effective.  I'm sure there is some reaction happening between the 701 and the SP1400 that is hardening it somehow, because it comes off like butter when I don't try to de-ink first, and the 701 takes care of any residual haze after the Supra without issue.

The only time my process varies is with waterbased screens, where I rinse the ink off using just water, and usually try to get them into the dip tank immediately since some of the pigments in the waterbased inks stain really fast (like red) if you let the screen dry at all.

[Maxie]

What is the size of your sinks?
I have one big one, maybe two small sinks would be better.

[mimosatexas]

one is about 48 wide x 30 deep and maybe 48 tall.  I use that as the dirty sink.  The other is 60 inches wide x 30 deep by 60 tall.  I needed the large one to fit the larger screens I use for flags and all over prints.  Bigger is better if you have the space.  Less splash back for one...