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I need a UV dryer to speed up coroplast drying time. You can flip the sign and continue screening the other side without cleaning the screen a second time.Does anyone have any info on how to build one of these.
-------------------- Bill Wood Bill Wood, Sign Artist 3628 Ogburn Ave., NE Winston-Salem, NC 27105-3752 336-682-5820 Posts: 397 | From: Winston-Salem, NC | Registered: May 2006
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-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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Bill, a UV dryer, (reactor) will not speed your drying time unless you are using UV curable inks. . . .and if you were, your ink wouldn't be drying at all without a UV dryer. So, what series of inks are you using and how are you "almost" drying them?
-------------------- Bill Modzel Mod-Zel screen Printing Traverse city, MI modzel@sbcglobal.net Posts: 1357 | From: Traverse City, MI | Registered: Nov 1998
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I'm using 7900 Nazdar corogloss and I do realize I have to use UV ink which is not a problem.I would like to build a dryer but I don't know where to begin.The 7900 dries fast but the screen will dry up before you can flip your signs to screen the other side.With the UV dryer,you can turn your signs and keep on screening and eliminate washing the screen between drying time.
-------------------- Bill Wood Bill Wood, Sign Artist 3628 Ogburn Ave., NE Winston-Salem, NC 27105-3752 336-682-5820 Posts: 397 | From: Winston-Salem, NC | Registered: May 2006
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Bill, i use 7900 all the time. yes it takes anywere from 20-30 minutes to dry, based on the thickness of the ink you are laying down, humidity and air temp. these inks dry by evaporation, some time we use a fan on our drying racks to speed drying.but you can get a forced air dryer for this, kind of like a dryer for t-shirts, to do what you are wanting, it uses a conveyor belt.
The advantages of UV ink that you mentioned are true, no drying in the screen and the ability to flip and print or print over what you just printed. but you must have the proper cure time or you will be in big trouble! a cure calculator is a must to be sure you have cured the ink all the way through. similar to the calculator you used to get your correct exposure for the curing of your emulsions for your stencil in the screen. again if you change any of the variables in your process, screen mess count, stencil thickness..ect it will effect the ink curing. i have not complete my research on this but am looking into converting to UV. i suggest that you do not build a home made unit, there are plenty of used unit available and you will probably save money in the long run going with proven equipment.
Lovelady
-------------------- "We have been making house calls since 1992"
Chris Lovelady Vital Signs
NOW WITH 2 LOCATIONS! Tallahassee, Florida Thomasville, Ga.
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Bill, Listen to Chris, you do not want to attempt to build a UV dryer. There's transformers and coolers involved. This is not a DIY project by any means.
Personally I hate the smell and characteristics of 7900 inks. 10 yeas ago I tried using NazDar's 9800 Poly Plus series. We had been printing many poly banners and I thought it was worth a try. It has excellent printing characteristics for press or hand and it drys quickly enough on drying racks. If you have a fan on them to just start pulling the bottom ones off, flip them, and keep printing. Longevity and adhesion to coro has been excellent over the years.
-------------------- Bill Modzel Mod-Zel screen Printing Traverse city, MI modzel@sbcglobal.net Posts: 1357 | From: Traverse City, MI | Registered: Nov 1998
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