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screen printing => Equipment => Topic started by: Dottonedan on October 24, 2012, 10:59:48 AM
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Hello all. Please review this vid and let me know what you think. The fire marshall may require me to be farther away from the wall. He may also require some heat shield on the wall. I'd really like to make it work so that the dryer is in that small back area blocked off from the front production area.
It may also not be feasible on the body to lean in a window like that for long orders. Hard on the body. It would be reaching trough the wall onto the belt, by about a 2-3' lean in.
Dryer location (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CXWZNZkyFY#)
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I'm not sure about passing a wet shirt through an opening and placing them on a belt. Does the feed end of the dryer hang over the legs enough to have the belt actually extend into the press room? I realize that means the opening of the dryer would be adjacent to the wall itself. What about building a hood over the dryer that would capture some of the heat from the open ends and feed that into the bathroom to vent out? I think Wayne built a nice hood over his dryer and had pictures.
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The opening can be as large of a window as I want to make it. Would be plenty of room. 36" wide by 36" tall or more. if needed.
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That vent in the bathroom likely just goes into the ceiling and not out to the atmos.
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It does. Found that out. I imagined they all went outside. Nope. Anywho, I could take it outside. I do have a vent coming in on the back right side in the bathroom wall. Would need to bust into the wall a little.
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Why a window? Why not open it up like a door all the way to the floor?
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Dan your vid was kind of hard to really see anything being so narrow, ain't no way to but that dryer and press close?
Darryl
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Why a window? Why not open it up like a door all the way to the floor?
The intent for having it in that back room was more so for keeping the heat back in that room separate from the production area. So, the larger the window, the more heat that escapes into the air conditioned area. A door would defeat the purpose. ANother reason for te dryer being in that room obviously is for space, but really for keeping the heat out (as much as possible).
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Dan your vid was kind of hard to really see anything being so narrow, ain't no way to but that dryer and press close?
Darryl
Yes, I could put them both in the same room but I'm trying to see if I can keep all or much of the heat in that back room. Comfort and cost reasons.
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Looking at your video again, I'd cut a slot about a 8 to 12 inches high and the width of the belt and support in the wall, put the dryer on wheels, and slide the infeed end through the slot in the wall. I doubt there'll be enough heat off the dryer to catch the place on fire, and you could place some reflective material on the wall facing the dryer to help. Roll the dryer away from the slot when not using it. What are the chances that the fire marshall will show up when you're baking shirts? In the building I was in, I wired up a couple of fluorescent fixtures over my press area with an extension cord, and all connections were with wire nuts wrapped in electrical tape . . . no strain relief. The cord hung down the side wall and I'd plug it in as I needed it. When the fire marshall showed up, he stood there looking at it. The only thing he made me do was get the fire extinguisher hanging on the wall inspected and tagged. He and I both knew that the lighting wiring wasn't "code", and I guess he assumed that I unplugged it when I wasn't there, which was true, but he never asked, and I've learned to keep my mouth shut . . . . well, sometimes anyway.
JMHO
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Dan you can run some metal flex duct and just about take your heat out anywhere you want..that stuff you can hang from the ceiling until you find the exit you want.
Darryl
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I am no dryer expert but I would put the dryer 25 percent in the room with you and 75 in the other room. I am guessing but 75 percent of the heat that will heat up your room comes from gases and heat escaping when shirts come out of the tunnel. As long as that end is in the other room your fine. Heat is one issue. You want your dryer in the ideal place for production. That's were the money is. If you have to take a step or have to be careful because the way your dryer is your cutting your production. I'm a one man shop and its not that I can't print lower and still get them done. Its I don't want to take any longer than I have to. Its frustrating when your printing and don't have an ideal set up.
Good luck and I know once you start printing you will want to make changes.
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PS - Dan hold your phone sideways when doing videos so its wide screen.
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So you afraid of a little heat. Candy Ass ;) I would extent the belt through the wall as tpitman said.
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Dan I looked at your vid again now i see it clear now, if your going put a hole in the wall why not just remove that wall and place it on the other side and your press and dryer will be in the same room, unless that wall is weight bearing or have electric plugs in it. You could stand a fake wall up in know time.
Darryl
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I can't see your video because I'm on my phone right now but I'm hoping you are going to have someone catching shirts in the next room? All I can think about is a shirt hanging up and up in smoke we go! Like I said I can't see the video.
I've been thinking of just getting a couple of range hood exhaust fans and attaching them to both ends of the dry to vent out the heat and smoke from the dryer. I don't know if the hoods can handle that kind of heat...
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Speaking of dryers heres what I do. This was made way back when I first started this place up. At 20 ft of heat these puppies come out pretty hot The angled fans serve the dual purpose of flattening and cooling the garments. Every dryer has one.
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For a small shop (1 person usually printing ) I really would want to see the end of the dryer and or make quick checks that what i'm printing isn't scorching etc., or in the odd case where you dream about the Ferrari your going to buy with all the money your making you forget about the heap of shirts at the end of the dryer :)
Sorry but screenprinting= heat even in the great white north.
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Yes, I'm aware that we have heat involved in this process. :). But while I am able to really think about this, I want to make it as cost efficient as I can. Over the years, I've seen people do some pretty creative things that were effective at keeping the heat contained and cost down. So I'm sure "something" can be done.
The room is not wide enough to stick the feed side into the wall as some have suggested. It's a narrow back room.
I could put it next to my press ( original and more obvious plan) but it takes up so much real estate.
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Again can't you just move the whole wall...if your thinking about doing any cutting and just build a another wall and both would be in the same room.
Darryl
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Again can't you just move the whole wall...if your thinking about doing any cutting and just build a another wall and both would be in the same room.
Darryl
I'm not seeing the benefit of bringing a wall in closer to my press and making my production area smaller. You may not be seeing the whole picture. I want the dryer in the back smaller room A, to keep air conditioning cost down....and B, to keep more room available out near my press area. The dryer fits nicely in that back smaller room length wise, parallel to the wall. My press will be on the other side of that wall.
I do see where people commented on not being able to see the end of the dryer and scorching. For that reason, I may have changed my mind since I will be the only one there for a good while.
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Dan your a designer. Lets see the shop layout. I did this in Illustrator way before I got my shop. see below.
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Nice. I already did one, posted it hear a while a go, but can't locate that folder today for some reason. Well, I know what i did, but can't locate it now. LOL. Just hadn't looked hard enough but yes, I did the layout. In fact, my space is almost the same. Sq Footage is prob. less. I have 1300 (they cay). Seems smaller to me.
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You have to know how they figure the square footage. Here they do it roof drip line to drip line. Its really not fair since the drip line on my shop is 5 feet out past my outside wall. I negotiated the price so I am paying what I wanted. My place is 2800 square feet.
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I've put my dryer inlet through the wall with the main part of the dryer outside the AC'd area. I watch for scorching and cure temp when the load starts and I haven't had a problem later in the run. I also put a small wireless camera over the end of the belt to see what's going on. I have a small monitor where I look up while printing and can always see what's going in.
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Here is my layout again.
I can fit the dryer on the press side, but why bother if I can get more room.
dsh (http://www.theshirtboard.com/index.php?action=profile;u=328), I like that. ")
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hi your sorting staging area looks big , also it seems odd walking shirts back over to that area after printing, doesn't look like you have room to do it at the end of the dryer.
I used to use 6' folding tables to layout but have switched to 5 rolling carts approx 24" wide by 30" long 22" tall . They can hold bout 3-400 shirts each .the spare ones are used to fold on at the end of the dryer. Staging for me is an area along the dryer to the press. I line jobs up leaving them in there boxes and laying out just before printing.
Personally we do alot of "contract" printing and don't pre count customers shirts has never been a problem. If we do order shirts from a supplier it is one order per purchase order and the boxes come to us packed and ready to print.
I get the dryer in another room but its not ideal even for a small shop.
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also is "ART" a desk area , if so why not move it up front with what I assume is a showroom/office. If your doing end user stuff sooner or later they are going to want to look over your shoulder while you tweak there design . With that I could see another layout that could work.
A safelight room is not as nescessary with a small shop A rolling cabinet ( bakers cart with sides) or a cabinet will work . especially since you have that room that you can basically turn the lights off when you coat.
Having screen cleaning in a room is a plus.
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Dan I would remove the wall (or atleast half of it) and make that whole space larger, the heat your trying to stop won't matter as much as you think as long as you have a pipe on your exhaust vent on the dryer going out.
Darryl
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Dryer output next to ink mixing makes me cringe big time. I want un/finished garments nowhere
near my ink/washout/screen area.
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I'd move the art area up front to open up space in the print room. Use a folding table to sort. If you have two, only open both as necessary. Move the dryer into the press room and duct the heat thru the wall to the crapper. Build a hood like Wayne's if you wanna draw more heat off the ends.
The shop I print at in Daytona has a big-a$$ed dryer ducted up into the ceiling, and the press has a shuttle flash. The room is air conditioned and never gets above 76. Now granted, it's a bigger room, but still, you feel very little heat coming off the dryer.
Since your customer area is separate, it'll stay cool. You won't be printing 'round the clock, so what heat there is probably won't be as offensive as you might imagine. And since the print area is closed off to the outside, you can always print nekkid . . . just remember to put your pants back on before greeting any customers up front . . .
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Dan,
In your layout you didn't leave any space for you to walk in or out of that corner. I know for a fact that you are built much like myself...we can't "squeeze" through like we used to. I didn't see a spot for your "XL" flash unit either.
I like the layout that Darryl did. Minimize your staging tables and move your art to the front showroom area. Another consideration is with your film output device. Lots of lint in the print area that film printers won't like.
Best of luck,
Bill
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Dan I would remove the wall (or atleast half of it) and make that whole space larger, the heat your trying to stop won't matter as much as you think as long as you have a pipe on your exhaust vent on the dryer going out.
Darryl
Darryl,
That does look pretty good. The one reason why I've kept that wall there is because of the lease. They emphasized that whatever is built here structurally, must stay as is. I would be pushing it with a small window in that wall. Who knows tho. They may allow me to put the wall back once I need to end the lease. I will check on that.
Putting the art room out in the show room is a no go. I don't want to be out there for people to gawk at nor, do I want to take out retail space. It's small as it is. It would take up almost half of the retail retail state.
The printer will be moved to the inside (are area) once I get one that works.
I may be over reacting to that heat fighting with the air conditioning and maybe a hood vent will work fine.
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If that wall doesn't go all the way up then it isn't "structural".
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I think you are referring to (load bearing). It is not a load bearing wall, but they are referring to anything that is built and affixed to the building as in new walls, rooms, etc.
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Am I missing something? A properly vented dryer shouldn't need range hoods or the like, and should be warm to the touch at worst on the outside skin. my 20year old HIX can run at full blast all day and still be just warm on the outside after 8 hours.
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That may be for you and your dryer. I would venter to say, that for most dryer manufacturers, the (outside area being hot) is not a concern to them. The concern they have is how hot it's getting on the ink and rightfully so. I'm sure the they may give some thought to outside the dryer "protection" as in some type of insulation so people don't get burned. I doubt they care and most people don't care about the excess heat rising from the dryer and combatting with your air conditioning in your shop (as most production areas are not air conditioned places) anyways.
So, this is why I want to control the amount of unwanted heat outside of my dryer. Venting, closing it off in a secluded room etc. Just looking at options. I've seen a few good ideas. One guy used that thin foam sheet insulation and built walls around his dryer. The feed was on the inside (air conditioned area) and the body and exit were all on the outside area. Looked pretty good. Another guy (member here) created a type of funnel vent over top to take more of the heat that would rise...out. Stuff like that.