I was wondering if you are able to wash out a screen after taking it out of the exposure unit under running water without using a power washer. I am using an exposure unit with UV bulbs and exposing for 6 mins. I am thinking that this might be too long and thats why i need to use a power washer. TIA.
Depending on the bulbs, your times might differ form mine. You should use warm water and little pressure to wash the image out of the exposed screen. I expose mine for about 1 min and less on yellow screens. Try a exposure calculator. You can get them from your suppliers. I reclaim all my screens with chemicals and a power washer to make sure they are clean of all ink, and emultion.
No to get a good clean image the running water wont work trust me ive tried when i first started and it wasnt worth the time that i spent. if you want a good clean image and dont have a pressure washer you can use the spray nozzles they use to water the grass they work great you should try it out.
heres a similar picture of the one i use i bought it at a dollar store.
Although it is important to get a pressure washer eventually it'll make your job way easier they have alot of them for sale on craigslist at a good price.
I was wondering if you are able to wash out a screen after taking it out of the exposure unit under running water without using a power washer. I am using an exposure unit with UV bulbs and exposing for 6 mins. I am thinking that this might be too long and thats why i need to use a power washer. TIA.
When trying to wash out an image after burning, I would not use a pressure washer. It's too easy to blow out the image with fine details. The garden hose attachment is a good suggestion, that's the way you could easily set it up and get a little more pressure than running water.
If you are having a tough time washing out the image after using a garden hose, then yes, you are over exposing the screen and need to do a step wedge test. Do a search on these boards and you'll find multiple ways to do this. This should give you an accurate measurement of time needed for your exposure setup.
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The only time you should use a pressure washer is if you're reclaiming screens OR if you are washing out a halftone design with very fine detail (in which case exposure time is very critical down to the half-minute). KIWI sells an exposure calculator you may want to look into as well, it's VERY good to have around. What type of emulsion and bulbs you are using can determine exposure time. For regular spot color designs I expose for 4 minutes and the design practically "falls-out" when I hit it with the hose (i have a spray nozzle attached) and for halftones, i use a pressure washer standing back about 2 feet and it comes out well.
Test your variables. Put emulsion on a bunch of screens (different mesh counts) and burn a simple 1-color design for 3, 4, 5, 6 minutes and see which comes out better. Be sure not to underexpose as well. you'll notice the color of your water looking the same color as your emulsion if this happens.
Hope this helps and post further questions if you have any.
This is perplexing, i watch a lot of Ryonet videos and i specifically remember when i switched from capillary film to direct emulsion Ryon said that with the dual cure emulsion a garden hose with a nozzle wont get the job done, you'll need a pressure washer with at least 1500 psi.
I dont have a pressure washer, and use a garden hose with a nozzle on it, and I have struggles clearing out the fine cracks and spots.
you might say lower the exposure time but the emulsion is still kind of it's raw color when it comes out of the exposure unit, after iv exposed it for about 10 min on a yudu's exposure unit, (yes i own a yudu please dont castrate me for it im working on upgrading)
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I use chromablue, and wash out with a thumb-trigger sprayer similar to what you might have on your kitchen sink. Works great. If I have the pressure up too high, I actually blow out fine details.
I once made the mistake of trying to clean up a screen I planned on keeping for a repeat customer with a pressure washer. Within 2 seconds I had blown out a big enough section that I had to reclaim the screen.
I don't know if my emulsion sucks or what, but I could probably get all the emulsion out with the pressure washer set to 0°. It would take forever, but it could be done. I use to have trouble with locked in emulsion at the edges of my glass sheet. I was able to get all of them out with the PW set to 0°.
This is perplexing, i watch a lot of Ryonet videos and i specifically remember when i switched from capillary film to direct emulsion Ryon said that with the dual cure emulsion a garden hose with a nozzle wont get the job done, you'll need a pressure washer with at least 1500 psi.
I dont have a pressure washer, and use a garden hose with a nozzle on it, and I have struggles clearing out the fine cracks and spots.
you might say lower the exposure time but the emulsion is still kind of it's raw color when it comes out of the exposure unit, after iv exposed it for about 10 min on a yudu's exposure unit, (yes i own a yudu please dont castrate me for it im working on upgrading)
I've seen ryonet videos using a pressure washer. But if ryonet is right about the dual cure then someone got to pinch me fast.
Will is right, a pressure washer can be used for fine detailed images but you need to watch the pressure and keep the washer's nozzle moving at a distance - with some ear muffs on. But from what I understand, it is not out of necessity, but a sort of guarantee that halftones will wash out fine. I say "sort of" because it can be done without a pressure washer.
Exposing screens 
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