Inconsistent Folding

[arossetti]

I have a Baum Flexifold and recently my folds have been very inconsistent. The skew moves 1mm on both plates during a run. It is intermittent when it wants to skew.

I have cleaned the rollers, the guides are tight - not sure what I'm missing. Any ideas?

[lfelton]

Probably not what you want to hear, but we had exactly the same problem with one of our folders. It was overdue a service so I got the manufacturer out and 4 hours later it was working as good as new again. FWIW I think they replaced a couple of minor belts that were worn as well as the service.

[Craig]

There may be a rebuild kit available from Baum, not sure on the Flexifold though.

[rbailleu]

what kind of paper. thin enamel vs 70 offset. grain direction. if there is a way to adjust the roller pressure I would bet that you need to increase the pressure a little.

[Alex@Challenge]

FLEXIFOLDS (I'm pretty sure) are a constant-pressure design.

I agree on paper, but I also agree on maintenance being a likely culprit (loose hardware on the fold plates). Have you removed the fold plates lately to clear a jam? Maybe the fold plates are not completely locked in place.

Might be a good time to get an authorized service agent in to have a look around.

[mpellman]

Their are multiple things to check on the Flexifold to solve inconsistent folding.
1.Make sure the sideguides on the feed table are perdendicular with the folding rollers. THis can be achieved by using a sheet of 11 x 17 paper and manually sliding it against one of the side guides first until it stops in the nip of the first set of folding rollers. Look to see if the sheet touches the guide all along the length of the guide. IF the guide is out of square, adjust the guide using the rack and pinion guide knob on the back end.
2. Make sure the paper stop in the fold plates is square with the sheet of paper. Manually run a sheet into the folder with the sideguides tight against the sheet on the feed table. Watch the sheet as it enters the fold plate and see if it hits the paperstop evenly across each finger. If it does not, adjust the skew on the paperstop to have the sheet hit evenly.
3. Make sure the folding rollers are not worn and are appplying even pressure to the sheet when driving it. Take a strip of paper appoximately 1 inch wide x 11 inches long and roll it in the machine manually, with the machine power off and unplugged. Feel the tension from roller to roller at each end and in the middle. If the pressure is off, contact your local BAUM service dealer to help with calibrating the machine.