Pregasol dried on screen during reclaiming.

This section is all about how to reclaim screens by removing the stencil with emulsion remover. Topics include working with emulsion removers, pressure washers, trouble shooting and waste disposal concerns.

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SplitEar
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jan 29, 2013 6:04 am

Pregasol dried on screen during reclaiming.

Post by SplitEar »

Hi,

I'm using a diluted Pregasol K-FL to decoat my screen, due to an emergency I sprayed it on my screen to decoat (usually i leave it for 2 minutes then rinse with water to successfully reclaim my screens), i left the pregasol on the stencil for an hour, came back and it had dried, now it will not wash off at all, no matter how much pressure and chemicals i use.

Looking at the Kiwo datasheet, it says avoid allowing it dry as it is incredibly hard to remove dried pregasol on a stencil.

I was thinking of buying Pregan Paste to try and remove this stencil, but i was wondering if this would work? Or if anyone else has encountered this problem?

Thanks,
-Alex

PS:

I also thought of buying Pregasol P (a ready to use decoater) as it is stronger an much better at removing emulsion, i was wondering if my case was hopeless or not, thanks.
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Catspit Productions
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Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2012 10:47 am
Location: Phoenix, Arizona

Re: Pregasol dried on screen during reclaiming.

Post by Catspit Productions »

Hey Alex,

Thanks for signing up to the forum and posting!

Unfortunately in my experience you have what we call screen lock here. I do not know of any way of removing screen locked emulsion form the mesh without damaging the mesh fibers. In other words if you are actually able to get it off in any manner you are likely damaging the mesh which will inhibit the flow of ink by closing mesh openings with frayed fibers.

Now if anyone has any idea about how to remove screen locked emulsion from the mesh without damaging the mesh fibers then please let us know what you did and why you believe the mesh is still in good working order.

This is a very common problem that many people experience especially when buying used old screens with emulsion on them.
Jonathan Monaco
Catspit Productions, LLC
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Saati
Instructor
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Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2012 10:02 am

Re: Pregasol dried on screen during reclaiming.

Post by Saati »

I would love to give you good news but unfortunatly Jonathan is right on the money. Sometimes (I stress....sometimes) you can get the emulsion to soften up with a haze remover and blast it out with a pressure washer but for the amount of time and effort it usually makes sense to use a #11 exacto blade and start over.
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ppdlao
Master Screen Printer
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Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 9:18 am
Location: Villahermosa, Tabasco, México.

Re: Pregasol dried on screen during reclaiming.

Post by ppdlao »

I was wondering about this particular issue in this very moment, now is crystal, let the screen to dry with the emulsion remover on it, will cause the Screen Lock for sure :( every screen printer nightmare I think..
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