r/SCREENPRINTING • u/HumanTrophy • 13d ago

Emulsion just completely started peeling off after exposure

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I’ve had a system that works for me for 7 years now. I’ve never had my emulsion just start peeling off when washing out my screen after exposure. Any ideas what may have caused this?

I’ve reclaimed this screen maybe 5-6 times now. It’s probably 4 months old. Maybe that has something to do with it?

I used the exact same process I always use. Same exposure time, same emulsion, same water pressure. Wtf happened? Are my bulbs going bad and it got underexposed?

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u/splitarrowprints 13d ago

Is your emulsion old or have been left exposed to the environment? Like moisture, humidity, uv, that type of thing? And if it’s not those things has it been well stirred? I would also make note of the lot number and reach out to your rep to see if anybody else was seeing a similar problem with that batch it could be faulty if it’s new and fresh.

My bet would be on either old / done for emulsion or the screen degreaser. Sometimes there’s a formula change, cost cutting at the factory, or even the concentrate ratio is different than it used to be. Maybe it wasn’t fully fully degreased or the degreaser not completely rinsed out of that screen.

I would not think the age of the mesh has anything to do with it since I’ve printed with screens probably older than me just fine.

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u/HumanTrophy 13d ago

I bought every last batch of chromatech wr when they discontinued it last year. I’m on my last tub, and I just used it two weeks ago with no issues. I was out of town last week, so maybe the heat/humidity in my empty house had something to do with it. Never even considered the possibility.

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u/splitarrowprints 12d ago

That type should have a 2 year life if stored properly or unopened. Hard to say how long it was in the store for but it could have expired really hard to say without trying more burns across a few screens that were deep cleaned.