Upgrading Washout Booth

[Get Shirts]

I am interested in upgrading my washout booth setup to include a side dedicated to Reclaim and a side dedicated to Post-Exposure.

Tons of options, lots of simple solutions, but don't want to miss the opportunity to add a feature that I'm unaware of.

What is the latest and greatest?

[GKitson]

Not a simple conversation.  You must take into consideration floor space, screen cycle count, asset utilization and future growth plans.  What is the best choice for a small single operator shop will absoutley kill a mid sized growing shop floor.

Try to visit several shops who will allow you to walk their floor and talk their process work flow before you decide what is best for you.

MEG is always open to visitors for this and other purposes.

Best,

[Get Shirts]

Greg, thanks for the reply and offer to check out your shop and procedure.

Currently I'm trying to rectify our bottleneck in this department. I know there are other solutions, bigger solutions, but for the time being I just want to be able to reclaim AND burn screens simultaneously.

Mainly I'm just reaching out to this resource to make sure someone didn't create a better mouse trap that I'm unaware of.

[Prince Art]

Greg, thanks for the reply and offer to check out your shop and procedure.

Currently I'm trying to rectify our bottleneck in this department. I know there are other solutions, bigger solutions, but for the time being I just want to be able to reclaim AND burn screens simultaneously.

Mainly I'm just reaching out to this resource to make sure someone didn't create a better mouse trap that I'm unaware of.

I'm running a small shop now, so washout & reclaim= 1 sink. But in a larger setting, I would prefer what we did at my last shop: make them 2 different sinks, in 2 different places. The two tasks never tripped over each other. Whatever the specifics of your shop, designing a workflow w/ the fewest possible "collisions" of space & tasks is going to be best.

[gotshirtz001]

Greg, thanks for the reply and offer to check out your shop and procedure.

Currently I'm trying to rectify our bottleneck in this department. I know there are other solutions, bigger solutions, but for the time being I just want to be able to reclaim AND burn screens simultaneously.

Mainly I'm just reaching out to this resource to make sure someone didn't create a better mouse trap that I'm unaware of.

I'm running a small shop now, so washout & reclaim= 1 sink. But in a larger setting, I would prefer what we did at my last shop: make them 2 different sinks, in 2 different places. The two tasks never tripped over each other. Whatever the specifics of your shop, designing a workflow w/ the fewest possible "collisions" of space & tasks is going to be best.

If/when I have the space, this is what I will do. Seems pretty easy to set up a mirrored system with a wall separating the processes and tee off shared plumbing.


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[Maxie]

I took the measurements from one of the suppliers and had someone build me washout booths from stainless steel, wasn't that expensive.   
I have two, one with a glass back for washout (in a seperate room) and one for cleaning screens, I had this made in a L shape, I find it much more conveient than a long straight one.
The one for cleaning screens has a trough at the back where the checimals run into a filter system I copied from Pierre.
One thing I think is essential is to have a lid on them, not all the depth because you need light but enough to stop the water splashing upwards.
If you can get to MEG it's a great place to visit, you'll learn a lot from a great guys.

[Get Shirts]

Maxie, this is what I was looking for. Thanks for the input. Would you mind posting a photo of your setup?

[Maxie]

Ok, I'm not at work until Thursday, will send then.
If you like it I can send measurements.

[RICK STEFANICK]

We have 2 booths side by side and have no issues. Both units are backlit with the reclaim booth being much bigger for working with multiple screens at one time coming out of the dip tank. The reclaim has a 3000 psi. and the washout a decent 1600 psi.( yes we wash out with pressure after the eco rinse to finish off the finer halftones. I dont see a reason for a wall.

[Maxie]

I have my wash out and reclaim sinks in different rooms but use one pressure washer.      I ran a high pressure pipe between the rooms.        I have heads on the spray guns that  spread the flow so there is less pressure for opening screens

[Maxie]

Here are the photographs I promised.
1 Is a soak tank I had made, holds two screens, behind it is a dip tank I don't use anymore, I moved to the Saati spray system that I think is much better.
In the corner is a vacuum which we use when we are in a hurry.
2 Wash out sink, after exposure, has a glass back and led on the wall behind it.  It's in it's own room and the spray gun is connected to the washer in the cleaning room.
3 Screen cleaning sink, has a roof which I think is essential and I prefer the Saati spray guns high, in their set up they have them low down.
4 The corner of the screen cleaning sink, I put a bakeing tray on it that drains into a emulsion bucket with a pump, I use this for cleaning squeegees and flood bars.
I don't know if you can see the proportion but the sink is not that big so I can use the corner for stacking screens without walking aroung.
I normally keep the corner section clean and use it for draining screens.      It's built as a seperate piece that fits onto the main sink.
5 Under the sink I have a drain system based on what I learned from Pierre and Greg, water and emulson drops into a tank, drains into another tank and then a third tank which has a pump that pumps through a filter into the drain.      On the right is a big filter, I filter all the incoming water.
I cannot post more than 4 photographs so the last one will be in another post.     

[Maxie]

Photograph from previous post.
Filtration system.