# Cheap UV curing lamp for screen inks?



## keithld50 (Aug 23, 2007)

I am new to screen printing and I read that you can use a small UV / Ir curing lamp to cure the screen inks. I havnt been able to find much info online other than $500 plus curing units. 

Is there a cheap UV lamp alternative that I can use to cure the screen inks that anyone can recommend?


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

You can use a heat gun like they have at Home Depot. $20-30. Takes a lot longer, and more hit or miss curing the entire print, but people use them.


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## brent (Nov 3, 2006)

Whether you do the heat gun thing or get a proper IR flash cure unit to cure, invest in an IR thermometer gun. It may cost you more than a heat gun, but you can monitor the temperature of the inks and ensure that they are reaching a curing point, which is priceless if you want to sleep at night knowing that your customers' shirts won't fade.


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## Tj Ryonet Tech (Jul 28, 2008)

There are IR dryers out for less than $500.


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## keithld50 (Aug 23, 2007)

Tj Ryonet Tech said:


> There are IR dryers out for less than $500.


Can you provide links or names of units that will work and dont cost $500? 

Will a heat gun cure UV screen ink thats instructions say to cure under UV lighting? What about a heat press?


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

keithld50 said:


> Can you provide links or names of units that will work and dont cost $500?
> 
> Will a heat gun cure UV screen ink thats instructions say to cure under UV lighting? What about a heat press?


Here is one Black Body 16x16 Afford-a-Flash, 120V, 1575W, 13.3 amps

I think you are mis-reading instructions for UV ink. You don't CURE the ink under a UV light source. You PRINT the ink under a UV light source so you can see that the ink is being applied correctly. Otherwise, it is invisible.

You cure UV inks the same way you cure any other plastisol ink; with the dryer mention above or with a heat gun (more difficult) or with a conveyer dryer.


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## Tj Ryonet Tech (Jul 28, 2008)

There are no UV inks for direct print on textiles. And no they do not cure with heat. The whole premise behind UV inks is that they cure with a light source. They are generally used for POP products such as cd's or paper products. There are many uses for UV inks. The ink is not invisible to see and comes in many colors. The most popular way to use it is CMYK mode however. Here the link to a great article about using and curing UV inks. 
ScreenWeb | The Mysteries and Myths of UV Curing


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

Tj Ryonet Tech said:


> There are no UV inks for direct print on textiles. And no they do not cure with heat. The whole premise behind UV inks is that they cure with a light source. They are generally used for POP products such as cd's or paper products. There are many uses for UV inks. The ink is not invisible to see and comes in many colors.




Do you mean no invisible heat cured uv plastisol inks except this one? http://www.lancergroup.com/lancer/ink_catalog/direct_printing/catalog3d_sm10.html


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## Tj Ryonet Tech (Jul 28, 2008)

that is a UV sensitive ink but not technically a UV ink.


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## jeffie (Jan 30, 2008)

Hey, look in ww grainger under infared heaters....we relamped our conver dryer from 37 kw to 9 kw using these lamps ...saves $150/month on power heats up in 2min vs 1 hour ......green and saves $$$ ...jeff


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## GlennC (Mar 7, 2007)

Hey Jeffie,
can you provide a little more details. I'm just not clear which ones you used. When I searched infrared heaters, I came up with 18 pages on their site. Do you by any chance have part number? Cost, name? something that will help me hone in a little closer. 
Thanks,
Glenn


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## jeffie (Jan 30, 2008)

Hey, im in the 09' catapg 3896,3897,3898 all show quartz ir lamps/heaters...lot of "feild work" would be required but our freedon tuf press uses this type of flash and in less than 2 sec we flash full back sweats they are 3 lamp 1kw each.... our dryer has 4 (mostly use 3) 1ucp8 set about 8" above belt with "beam overlap " (8or10" on center) man it works great went from 100 amp 3phase power to single phase 60 amp......jeff


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## GlennC (Mar 7, 2007)

Thanks... That's what I needed to figure this out. 
Now I get it!


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## Virtualburn (Mar 24, 2011)

Tj Ryonet Tech said:


> Here the link to a great article about using and curing UV inks.
> ScreenWeb | The Mysteries and Myths of UV Curing


Thanks for the link. The article has now moved --> here <--


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