Ok, I am having something strange happen to the ink in my screen while printing. i make one pass and the screen is clogged right off the bat. It looks almost like flash back except the palate is not hot at all. I'm using union mixopake ink. I have never had this happen before with this ink. So I tried cleaning out the screen. When I started back up again the exact same thing happened. It was clogged after the first stroke and in the same place as before. Any ideas on this one i can't figure out what is happening.
did this occur on the 1st swipe with the squeege? Or after several? Try cleaning both sides of the screen. What are you using to clean it? Mineral spirits stays wet for a while, oily sort of. But if you try to print before it drys, the ink will get weird, it won't print right. Try thinning down your ink. What mesh is it on? It could be to fine. maybe the screen wasn't washed out properly. Sometime residue will run down the screen and clog it up. It looks like water in the screen. It can be fooling. For that just dip a q-tip in some water and rub the area.
I'm using 110 mesh. I tried cleaning both sides of the screen with the screen wash that I have, I don't use mineral spirits, and the problem persists. It always happens on the first stroke so it is not a clog that is developing over time. I don't know what else to look into except mixing up a new batch of that color and starting over.
it sounds like there is residue of some sort stuck in your screen. Could be dirt in the ink. If the ink is clumpy, it will clog the screen, and need to be thined. I like to use laquer thinner to clean my screens. Rag fibers can come off and clog the screen. Hold the screen up to the light, look into the mesh, all the little holes should be open. If the weather is humid or damp, it can cause problems, it makes the film tacky.
If there is no ink pushing through in one particular area, then it is most likley under exposed. When you under expose a screen and wash it out, there can be a film residue covering that particular area. What I would do is take a damp rag and dab that particular area with the water. Don't rub hard, but keep dabbing it. If you rub too hard, you will destroy your screen and have to make a new one.
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BelQuette Inc, 877.202.0886 & Screener's Choice, 330-345-5877
Mod1 Direct to Garment Printer, Made in the USA www.belquette.com
It must be something in the ink because the screen has printed well before. I jsut wish I knew what was in the ink because I'm going to have to throw it out otherwise
Ok I tried it with different ink and my results are no better. I looked at the print closer. Here is what it looks like. The whole design prints but some parts are matte finish and some are gloss. It almost looks as though the shirt is sticking to the screen when I pull back up. I checked the off contact and it is good and I'm using plenty of spray adhesive. I even tried raising the off contact but that made it too hard to make the screen make contact. The ink is fairly thick but I have used this ink before on a screen with less tension and i have not had this same problem. I am at a loss and the deadline for this job is rapidly approaching. Anyone have any other ideas.
One last thought and I promisse I will drop the issue. I am makeing new screen with the thought that I did not build up a large enough gasket with the emulsion on the t shirt side. Does anyone think this is a possibility that the low amount of emulsion is messing up the ink?
hi how many passes of emulsion do you apply? personaly i do it twice and it works great for me.
i have had the same problem in the past and to be honest it was totaly down to the ink because i had`nt mixed it before use.
I don't think it is the ink. It sounds like you have under exposed emulsion. Are you using vellum or clear film to make your screen. After washing the screen out & dryed. If you look at the sreen from a angle with the light from above you will see the haze from under exposer. As said earlier you can take a damp rag & wipe or just use spit on you finger & rub it will come out. If you prinyt before cleaning this out you will need to make a new screen.
I know that it is not an under exposure issue because i have made two sets of screen and have had problems with all six. The screen holes are clear themselves because if you make a few more passes it will finally clear the screen. It is as though the shirt is sticking to the screen when I pull it back off and then you get that messed up print. The thing is as well as i can tell the shirt is not sticking and i have plenty of spray glue on the palette. I have tried moving the off contact way up like to a 1/4 of an inch and the problem persists. Like I said before it is printing the whole image but some parts are matte where there is not very much ink and other parts are gloss where there are the right amounts of ink. This is starting to drive me crazy because nothing that I try is working. Also every product that I have used for this job is something that I have used in the past with success. This should have been a simple run and now it has gotten way out of hand.
I cannot tell you if it is a screen issue or not because I don't know your process. I can tell you it SOUNDS like a screen problem, like under exposure. There are so many variables in screen printing, but bad ink is not anything I have ever encountered.
Squeegee hardness, uneven pressure, incorrect angle, incosistent strokes, and that is just the printing process. Maybe if you do a step by step of everything you are doing, it will give us a better idea of how to go about helping you.
__________________
BelQuette Inc, 877.202.0886 & Screener's Choice, 330-345-5877
Mod1 Direct to Garment Printer, Made in the USA www.belquette.com
Did you try using a different color ink on the screen. A color that you know is not bad. Try black ink. Use a color that you can print in one pass and see if the problem is still there.
Clogged Screen Please Help 
