Strange smearing results

[Shirtbum]

Design

Design

So I have printed this design a couple times using same design on different screens and both times same result. I was hoping someone might have an idea why?

Ill try to post a photo of the design but basically what has been happening is the " O" in "San DiegO" is becoming smeared and running together between the letter and the outline. It prints perfectly for several shirts, always at the start of the run then it begins happening. I have looked at the following things and to the best of my ability these things either do not seem to have an effect or are correct, say like for example my off contact. This is a one color, Royal blue, on 156 mesh.

Off contact. Have checked that, seems to be fine. Screen is about 1/16-1/8th and level.
I have wiped away any ink accumulation from the shirt side of the screen.
Have tried adjusting my stroke pressure harder softer faster slower. More flooding, less flooding, etc.

All the other letters in the design print fine, it's just this letter and gets worse the more runs I do. After doing all I could think to try to correct the problem, I went ahead and made another design starting from zero, new screen, new ink, same results.

This photo does not really show the problem, but i didnt take a photo of the bad ones, sorry. At least I got some decent prints before it crapped out.

[Leadfoot]

Did the design expose evenly? One thing that comes to mind is that maybe something is not quite right? Though that may not explain why it prints fine a few times then doesn't...def need someone with more experience to chime in.

[Catspit Productions]

This sounds like maybe the screen could be the culprit here. If you have checked the off contact and it is low at about 1/16th of an inch and the screen looks parallel to the pallet then we need to look at the screen or the pallet.

Make sure the pallet is flat, smooth and level. Any warping on either side could cause this. If it flexes or moves on the bracket you can have issues.

Now for the screen is it rigid and square? Is it metal or wood? If it is wood is it warped? Is the mesh stretched tightly across the screen on all four sides? If it is metal is it square? Does it mount in the print head and stay level to the pallet on all four corners?

Also is your squeegee sharp, straight and true? Does it bed down, out or up near the edges? Try a harder, newer squeegee.

One last thing, how close is the design to the frame edge?

These are the things I would look at first. I hope this helps out some. Let us know what you discover.

[Shirtbum]

Thanks you guys for replies. The squeegee and screen were both virgin new. Screen as for tension I have no way to accurately measure that except to say that it felt nice and taunt to me.. The squeegee I used on this was a 70 durometer.. Now the platen has me wondering..it was also basically new. But, when I got it, I scribed a center line just so I wouldn't have to write it on every time and would always have a reference. What happened to this platen though is both sides of the center line raised up just ever so slightly. You almost can't see it, but I can feel the raised edges if I run my fingers along the center line.. I wonder could this slight, we have to call it a defect now, but could this slight defect be enough to cause muddying of colors at the opposite side frame center? I hope I didn't ruin my platen.

[Catspit Productions]

Yes, unfortunately this could very well be the cause of your issue. If the pallet is warped in any way it can be a problem. It could be you have problems on one side due to how you print. Meaning just the slight intricacies of your methodology may make you have different issues with different screens at different times with the warped pallet. Screen printing can be like that.

Often excessive flashing heat can warp wooden pallets. I recommend converting to metal pallets to avoid this problem in the future and to make sure you have a nice smooth, level and parallel to the screen pallet.

That should solve your problem I think. Since we eliminated the screen and the squeegee it follows we should examine the pallet.

As long as we know the press is okay... LOL

I hope this helps out.