Print Drying (Outgassing)

[David Lowery]

we tend to leave flat and have no problems, apart from when you need the print right in the middle of the pile!

[Jason Xuereb]

So you pile your prints? I was under the impression with solvent inks you had to hang the prints to let the solvent drop down to the ground cause it was heavier then air?

[John Childs]

quote jxuereb:

I was under the impression with solvent inks you had to hang the prints to let the solvent drop down to the ground cause it was heavier then air?

Brilliant. 😀

We just take the roll of prints off the take-up roll, leave them on their core, and just stack them in the corner until we want to laminate them.

[Lorraine Clinch]

Bit of a dim ? here, but if the prints are layered, or rolled, as they are (generally, in our game) printed on to plastic, how do the gases escape? Won’t they be trapped in the middle, unless there is air between the layers?

[Peter Normington]

Lorraine, the solvent gas is very slim, and can sneak out of the thinnest gap, the rolled up prints or stacked, are print to backing layered so arent really sealed as such. I do as John does and leave on the roll till cut or laminated

Peter

[Jason Xuereb]

Cheers guys. My drying area in our new place doesn’t have to be so big then. I thought hanging would be best but didn’t know how we’d manage that. I guess we can roll them up on rolls and stand the rolls up on their ends to let the solvent gas hit the floor.

[John Childs]

No, you don’t need a large area.

However, to hang a twenty metre print your building would need to be sixty feet high.

😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀

[Peter Normington]

quote John Childs:

No, you don’t need a large area.

However, to hang a twenty metre print your building would need to be sixty feet high.

😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀

😀 😀

what about the 6 feet that would be left over from the 20 metres John? 😀

Anyway the gas would hurt itself falling from that height 😉

[Nicola McIntosh]

quote Peter Normington:

Lorraine, the solvent gas is very slim, and can sneak out of the thinnest gap

also remember if you have a solvent filled room with prints stacked in it…it will take far longer for the prints to dry as the solvents hang in the air…you need to have an expelair or cold air running around the room..to take the solvents away, and make the drying quicker 😀

nik

[Benno]

I let them on a roll to, but with smaller ones just lay them flat on a workbench.

A while a go I heard someone who had a set of ventilators below a rooster (sorry, didn’t know the correct English word) and put his rolls loosely rolled on them to let the solvents escape faster.

[Harry Cleary]

quote Benno:

A while a go I heard someone who had a set of ventilators below a rooster

we call that a c0ck-up!!! 😀 😀 😀

I’ll get me coat!

[Benno]

😳 Well, I mean a metal grid, just can’t remember the right word…

[Phill Fenton]

Surely it would be better to lie the prints flat (printed side down) on a bench. This way the little gases can get out of the print straight onto the bench much more easily without hurting themselves *hair*

[John Childs]

[quote="Benno"]:oops: Well, I mean a metal grid, just can’t remember the Don’t worry about it Benno. Harry likes his little joke. 😀

I would worry about leaving prints face up. If they are slightly tacky any dust that settles on them will stick.

[Mike Grant]

I have the luxury of a screen printing rack. Lots of space to layer prints. 50 racks so usually leave 2 racks between prints. :lol1:

[David Rowland]

i had been thinking similar, a bin with a grid on the bottom and a large fan, seen a picture of one on a instructional wrap sheet, but currently just leave it on the roll cores from take up. Cant live without the take up

[George Kern]

we usually print rolls at a time so they are usually wound up by the take media take up device, we have 2 external IR heaters and one row of CPU fans to keep steady air flow (never put fans up high where the print head moves, it will dry the heads out, put them low and on a low setting) when the roll is done we stand them upright on their endcaps they come with, and unwind them so they are loose and can dry better. Let them sit for a minimum of 24 hours then they are laminated / clear coated.

[Shane Drew]

Must confess I lay mine flat too, or as others have said, sitting on their ends in a lose roll.

Its just not practical to hang them when you are printing all day. I don’t have that much space free.

3M keep sprouting on that laying them flat will damage the glue.

I fixed that easily. I don’t buy 3M anymore :lol1:

I print with my air conditioner on too, too keep the air moving and dry.

[George Kern]

One thing I must say made a huge difference was the addition of a humidity control system. I doubt it helped with outgassing …but the prints dry much faster, our materials are at the proper storage humidity and it is just much more comfortable to work in during the summer months — even when the air is on we used to be able to feel how humid the air was but now its perfect. Might be an investment worth looking into.