QM46-2 problems

[CSimpson]

I have had my QM46-2 for about two years and I have a few questions to see if other owners are having the same issues as me.

I have seen people on youtube run envelopes with no trouble; however, they are a royal pain for me. I am lucky if I can get a few hundred between jams. Am I doing something wrong or is what I am experience the normal way this machine runs envelopes? And yes I know it is not an envelope press.

I run poly 8mil plates and I get random registration problems in the first 500 sheets. The registration from side to side is fine, it is the registration from front to back that is the problem and it is not consistent. Is this the poly plates or do I have an issue somewhere?

I notice when I see the press on demo videos they creates stripes with the ink keys to show how precise you can control ink flow. Mine doesn't do this anymore. In fact in some areas it is impossible to cut off ink flow. Is there a setting that needs adjusting? If so is this something an operator can do or is it something for the mechanic?

[rbailleu]

ink strips, do you have the lever style or the knob style. lever style has a slit blad that creates the stipes. there is an adjustment for on these. but you could have dried ink under the blade on either system. if you take the blade off be carefull there is a caulk strip between the slitts.

registration could be many things Is the image moving color to color or just on the envelope.

feeding: pile height is critical. also take off your 3/2 way valve and clean it.

[RGPW17100]

Most people running envelopes have the pile too high. Start with pile height as low as it will go then back off two full turns. Run vacuum around 8 and air low. Are you using the envelope attachments? The only one that truly works is the one that you can tilt the envelopes. As mentioned if the 3/2 valve has not been cleaned it could be turning the vacuum off at the wrong time. I like to run the forwarding rollers on the outer edges of the envelope. On a # 10 I run the wheels outside the inner three sucker tubes. Your gripper to tail registration could be the feeding issue. I believe Special features 19 will set back the long and short sheet shut offs by like 5 mm. It would be a good idea to shut this off as well.

[inky]

Can I ask, Where is the 3/2 valve ?

[RGPW17100]

You have to pull the main cover on the gear side(non op). You disconnect the cable going to the double sheet detector and use a phillips screw driver and remove four screws. 3/2 valve is just behind the double sheet detector with two air hoses going to it. Hold the cover tight it is spring loaded when removing the final screw. Use a needle nose pliers and pull the plunger assembly out. Make sure you insert it the way you removed it. If it has not been cleaned recently there will be black gunk all over. Wipe it down good and run a rag through the hole the plunger came out of. You will need to use a non hardening grease to lube then reassemble.

[CSimpson]

The ink keys are the lever style. Is this adjusted by the allen screws under the ink fountain?

To be more specific about the registration issues I am having it is unit two's image that drift from lead to tail. You can chase registration when this happens; however, if you get a jam it moves back towards the lead edge, though not a whole lot. When you start again it will eventually drift again so you end up chasing through most of the run on small jobs. The most aggrivating part of this is it doesn't happen all the time.

[rbailleu]

lever style ink keys are adjusted by an allen screw under the lever.


the registration is probably overpacking. try removing .005 packing and see what happens.

[Albert Noel]

also take off your 3/2 way valve and clean it.

depends on the year. our '97 has it but our '99 doesnt.
i think in either 98 or 99 they removed it in favor of a different system. (the same year they removed the extra solvent tank for the blanket washer)

[Albert Noel]

The ink keys are the lever style. Is this adjusted by the allen screws under the ink fountain?

To be more specific about the registration issues I am having it is unit two's image that drift from lead to tail. You can chase registration when this happens; however, if you get a jam it moves back towards the lead edge, though not a whole lot. When you start again it will eventually drift again so you end up chasing through most of the run on small jobs. The most aggrivating part of this is it doesn't happen all the time.

sounds like either the craptastic poly plates are stretching on you or they aren't clamped in tight enough

[RGPW17100]

It has nothing to do with the envelopes or the poly plates. We had this issue with our QM 46/2. Earlier designs had this as a design flaw. Also as part of this unit 1 probably prints longer then unit 2. We had heidelberg come in and fix this and the cost was about 4K dollars. It requires the removal of the Plate cylinders and a different type of gear installed. While running you have to keep doing vertical adjustments with unit two to get back into registration. One way to get around this is to make the image slightly lower or higher on the second unit. The registration drift is a wear spot near zero. Try trimming about 1/16 inch off the top of the plate and then repunch and see if this helps. To get fit from unit one to unit two might require about a 3 thousands pack behind the first plate.