Spotlight On: Screen Printing Exposure Units

Spotlight On: Screen Printing Exposure Units

Spotlight On: Pro UV Exposure Units

Ever since being introduced to the screen printing market, UV exposure units have rapidly increased in popularity.

It’s easy to understand why; they cut the screen printing process down significantly and make for more efficient production time. But what else do they offer in terms of the screen printing process? More importantly, why should you invest in one? 

At Art2Silkscreen, the exposure unit we’d recommend is the Pro UV Exposure Unit, a machine designed for ease of use and for better quality prints. 

Below, we’ve put together the reasons why you should invest in a UV exposure unity and how it will affect your screen printing process. 
 

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What Does an Exposure Unit Do?

Before we talk about the reasons why a UV exposure unit is worth investing in, it’s important to know exactly what they’re used for. 
If you have seen Part 3 of our screen printing tutorial series, you’ll have seen me using the exposure unit to create a stencil for one of our pre-meshed screens. 

As you might have gathered, it’s a very precise step and perhaps the most important part of the screen printing process. 
It involves carefully aligning your design and your screen together so that whatever artwork you wish to use for print gets etched onto the mesh. 

In short, the exposure unit is an extremely important tool that every screen printer needs. The better the exposure unit, the faster you’ll get your stencil. 

What Are the Benefits? 

Aside from being such a vital tool, there are many reasons to use a Pro UV Exposure Unit, however, the reasons we list here can be applied to other UV units we sell. 

Quick Exposure 

Ask any screen printer why they use a UV exposure unit and the first thing they will say is because it saves them so much time. 

The number one reason for this is faster exposure time. UV LED lights offer a much more targeted experience and emit UV rays on a specific wavelength, somewhere between 390 and 405 nanometres. 

Pair that with an emulsion that will cure within that chosen range and your screen exposure will happen a lot more quickly. 

At Art2Silkscreen, we typically expose our screens for 120 seconds. This is only possible thanks to the Pro UV Exposure Unit’s lack of any warm-up time which, with other units, adds to the amount of time spent making your stencil. 

This can increase your screen exposure time to as many as 50 or more per hour, making it much more efficient than using other methods such as the metal halide units. 

So, if you believe your silk screen production could speed up, a UV exposure unit is the right way to go.  

Low Energy 

Another enormous benefit for switching to a Pro UV Exposure Unit is the lower energy use and subsequent cost. 

Most UV exposure units only consume around 100 watts of power, which is a significant reduction when you consider metal halide units can consume up to 10,000 watts. 

That will save a lot on your energy bill for sure, but there are other benefits, such as the fact a UV LED unit only needs a standard power outlet in order to function instead of a 220 outlet. 

This makes set up a breeze and doesn’t require you to hire out an electrician to make sure your unit has enough power being distributed to it. 

You also never have to worry about relocating the unit as it will not have any trouble working from any other standard power outlet on your premises. 

Sustainable Light Source

Another budget-friendly characteristic of the Pro UV Exposure Unit is its sustainable light source. The bulb will last ten years before needing to be changed. 

The long lifespan of LED lights means you can save a lot of money never needing to spend hundreds to replace your bulbs, making them far more cost-effective than traditional exposure units. 

Unlike other light sources, UV LED lights also won’t degrade over time, meaning you’ll have the same quality exposure from the first stencil you create to the last. 

This is why a UV exposure unit is such a revolutionary piece of technology. It has truly changed the industry and given many screen printers the chance to create many crisp stencils to use on every one of their designs for efficiency and profitability. 

 

Exposure Units at Art2Silkscreen

Convinced a Pro UV Exposure Unit is what you need to improve your screen printing process? Take a look at our range of exposure units here at Art2Silkscreen. 

Alternatively, why not check out our tutorial series to see for yourself an exposure unit in action?

Have you watched our silkscreen tutorial series? View the first stage in our step-by-step guide to silkscreen printing!

Watch Full Video Below

Find out the proper process of degreasing your screen in our first video tutorial.