Noticed my old screens are stretching out after 8 years of use

I pulled out some screens from 2016 to print a quick job last week and the mesh felt way looser than when I first taped them up. I guess the constant tension and cleaning chemicals wore them down over time, so now my registration is all over the place. Anyone else deal with their old screens losing tension or am I just being too cheap to replace em?

2 comments

2 Comments

davis.mia19h ago

Funny you mention that because I had a screen from 2015 that I swore was fine until I held it up to the light and saw it was basically sagging like an old hammock. Mesh tension can drop off real slow then all at once, especially if you're rough with the pressure washer. I finally bit the bullet and ordered a fresh set last month and my registration errors vanished overnight.

jamie_price1h ago

Dude YES, EXACTLY this. I had a set from 2016 that I was CONVINCED was still tight. Looked fine at a glance. Then one day I was cleaning it and held it up to the sun like you said and I could see these tiny waves running through the mesh like a wrinkled bedsheet. I cranked the tension screws all the way down and it still looked like a lazy curtain. I ordered a new pair and it was like night and day, the image actually snapped into place and my sensors stopped throwing random ghost errors. It's one of those things where you don't realize how BAD it got until you see a proper one right next to it.