The Amergraph 150 is great, I've had mine for 8 years. I see price is much higher than when I bought. The magic of these units are the 'eye' that measure the light quantity and give the same results each time. Just buy machine that fits the size screens you intend to print with. The 150 will burn up to 23x 32 or something like that. I am still on the same blanket and second or third bulb. Stick with same emulsion and coat same way each time and figure your time and you are set to get perfect screens. Ameragprah has a special gauge for figuring it out.
Metal Halide Exposure unit reviews please
Hi guys,
It's been a while off the forums for me, but it now looks like I am going to go into this business on more of a full time basis.
I'm now looking at replacing my exposure unit to dramatically decrease my screen production time, (currently a workhorse vacuum model), and my conveyor drier (will start a new thread for that one)
So there are a couple of vacuum metal halide units around for about the $5000 mark. Has anyone bought and used a commercial metal halide unit with vacuum, and how does it perform?
Any problems or any features you like in particular? How does a 3k bulb compare to a 1k bulb?
I don't have the time to devote to building a unit and messing around with it. I'm looking for a reliable, "out the box" solution
So far I've seen these 1200W units:
Amergraph AdVantage 150 Exposure Unit : $4400
Nuarc MSP 3140 Single Point Vacuum Exposure Unit: $4725
Anyone tried either one? or any others to consider?
Thanks,
Richie
It's been a while off the forums for me, but it now looks like I am going to go into this business on more of a full time basis.
I'm now looking at replacing my exposure unit to dramatically decrease my screen production time, (currently a workhorse vacuum model), and my conveyor drier (will start a new thread for that one)
So there are a couple of vacuum metal halide units around for about the $5000 mark. Has anyone bought and used a commercial metal halide unit with vacuum, and how does it perform?
Any problems or any features you like in particular? How does a 3k bulb compare to a 1k bulb?
I don't have the time to devote to building a unit and messing around with it. I'm looking for a reliable, "out the box" solution
So far I've seen these 1200W units:
Amergraph AdVantage 150 Exposure Unit : $4400
Nuarc MSP 3140 Single Point Vacuum Exposure Unit: $4725
Anyone tried either one? or any others to consider?
Thanks,
Richie
1 - 7 of 7 Posts
Thanks for that,
may I ask what your exposure times are, (with emulsion type and screen mesh)?
I currently have 12 minutes exposures with dual diaz and 156 screens. I may experiment with QTX/HiFi to try and get that down, until I buy the Metal halide unit
Thanks,
Richie
may I ask what your exposure times are, (with emulsion type and screen mesh)?
I currently have 12 minutes exposures with dual diaz and 156 screens. I may experiment with QTX/HiFi to try and get that down, until I buy the Metal halide unit
Thanks,
Richie
The timing is a machine number that is a quantity of light that is measured from the 'eye' in the unit. Mesh doesn't seem to matter. I use pre activated and it seems the light is on for less than a minute. The unit has a vacuum blanket and once you press 'start' it gives the vacuum 35 seconds head start on the light coming on.
We have the Nuarc 3140. I don't know anything about the Amerigraph, but Nuarc has been stellar. I found it used for $825 (first generation). I have since seen them for a little over $1k for fist generation and $2k or more for second. If you keep an eye out, you'll find a used one for a lot less money than new. I also know many ppl with 3140's and everybody absoluteley loves them.
We replaced one blanket and one bulb in three years. It has been fire and forget and has saved a lot of headache and increased the productivity.
Our times for the SBQ/Photopolymer have been about 1:30 for 305's and 2:30 for the 110's. Dual cures are about three times as long. Your actual times will depend on the emulsion, coating and the bulb wattage.
pierre
We replaced one blanket and one bulb in three years. It has been fire and forget and has saved a lot of headache and increased the productivity.
Our times for the SBQ/Photopolymer have been about 1:30 for 305's and 2:30 for the 110's. Dual cures are about three times as long. Your actual times will depend on the emulsion, coating and the bulb wattage.
pierre
Thanks guys,We have the Nuarc 3140. I don't know anything about the Amerigraph, but Nuarc has been stellar. I found it used for $825 (first generation). I have since seen them for a little over $1k for fist generation and $2k or more for second. If you keep an eye out, you'll find a used one for a lot less money than new. I also know many ppl with 3140's and everybody absoluteley loves them.
We replaced one blanket and one bulb in three years. It has been fire and forget and has saved a lot of headache and increased the productivity.
Our times for the SBQ/Photopolymer have been about 1:30 for 305's and 2:30 for the 110's. Dual cures are about three times as long. Your actual times will depend on the emulsion, coating and the bulb wattage.
pierre
I've bought some photopolymer to try out with my current exposure unit and will look into getting one of the above as soon as the business is making the extra money.
Thanks for your feedback - really helpful to hear real world examples of exposure times and experience with the units
Richie
I've got a NuArc digital vacuum exposure unit and my exposure times are between about 90-180 seconds. I think it's a 3140. I use the CCI DXP pink dual cure emulsion. It works great and the mesh count doesn't seem to effect the exposure time. I've exposed 110 - 230 mesh screens with the same exposure time and have gotten identical results. I use a single coat of emulsion on each side of the screen. The only thing that effects the time is using different types of emulsion. I can't recall my wattage but it's a metal halide bulb and I've never had any problems with it. Love This Unit! I got it used with a shop's worth of other equipment for $5k.
1 - 7 of 7 Posts
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