Humidity is an enemy in the coating of screens. The idea is to remove water from the process/environment and not to introduce more. This is another reason why using a proper screen drying cabinet is essential and advised. If it has never been explained before then let me tell you, most de-humidifiers don't work as advertised, in fact, most introduce more humidity than they remove. Let me explain.
The small de-humidifiers you buy at the local appliance store have small fan motors that are over worked causing them to heat up. That heat causes the coil on the back of the unit to sweat and fill the pan that you empty every day. Seriously, do you think there is that much water in the air?
Even worse, as the water sits, that water evaporates back into the room creating a never ending cycle of moisture in the atmosphere. In nature it's called evapotranspiration and it's essential to life on Earth. In screen printing it's called wrong.
Put your hand to the de-humidifier were the air is blowing out the back of the unit, if you feel warm air that's bad. If the air is cool, that is good.
Costing only a few hundred dollars more, large capable industrial disaster recovery style de-humidifiers work well. Use the right tool for the right job. These are the units a disaster recovery team uses to dry out a room after a flood. Rather than the alternative units, this is a good way to not only spend your money wisely but to get a proper job done. These units run cool to the touch meaning that the water they collect is from the air. Many have their own internal pumps as well.
I personally use an Oasis brand de-humidifier (or anything comparable) capable of pulling 6 gallons of atmospheric moisture in a 24-hour period of time, it is ideal for keeping any screen making room dry!
(c) Freehand Library Article / AccuRIP / Separation Studio NXT / Spot Process / Dmax / Amaze-Ink / DarkStar
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