Kompac issues

[Darton]

I have a Kompac on an AB Dick 9995 that is toning up on the lead edge within 100 sheets or less. Nip roller is set at 2 and the fountain solution is AB Dick 300 (pink) mixed at 14 oz per gallon. Roller stripes are at 1/8 inch on both water and ink rollers. I tried adding 2 oz. per gallon of etch with no difference.

Any ideas what could be my problem??

[Darton]

Someone has too have an idea.

[wld85022]

I have a Kompac on an AB Dick 9995 that is toning up on the lead edge within 100 sheets or less. Nip roller is set at 2 and the fountain solution is AB Dick 300 (pink) mixed at 14 oz per gallon. Roller stripes are at 1/8 inch on both water and ink rollers. I tried adding 2 oz. per gallon of etch with no difference.

Any ideas what could be my problem??

I am curious about the AB Dick FS. Pink? 14 oz per gallon? That's a LOT. I have a Kompac (two, actually) on my perfector and only use maybe 3-4 oz of either the AB Dick Mega or the Allied Universal #1 which I prefer to the Mega.

What type of plates?

How old are the Kompac rollers? They last a long time; mine are three years plus (compared to my Crestlines on my AB Dick 9995 - they usually only last about 9 months).

Would need more info b4 I could offer any advice

[4StatePrinting]

I have a Kompac on my old Chief 217 and an AB Dick 360, have you tested your PH levels? I use Van Son 2020 and mix it 7 to 1 with distilled water, works fine. I have tried Mega and it didn't mix well for me.

I agree we need more information, like the type and age of the plates, age of rollers, check your pressures, is the Kompac bouncing or does it ride smooth (I know that sounds stupid but it makes a difference).

Had this same kind of issue and it ended up being the batch of plates I was using, new plates came in and it went away.

If you can't solve it ask the plate vendor they may have a different plate they can supply you to try the theory.

[4StatePrinting]

*Probably should say that is 7 parts water to 1 part solution. D

[wld85022]

I used to be a big Mega booster until I ran into problems with what looks like tiny little hairs that would appear on the plates (DPM 34SC 7 mil paper). Presstek told me they were caused by paper dust from the cutter in the DPM falling onto the plate during imaging.

Tried a lot of fixes but nothing worked until I hit the Allied F.C. It got rid of the hairs and also got rid of any "picture framing" on really long runs.

When I heard the words "pink f.c." alarms go off. If the poster is using poly plates the pink is a no-no. However I may be way off base because the poster also said he/she was adding etch to the fountain? Now I am totally confused.

The Kompac rollers may have hardened or swollen. My old Hamada service tech told me he set Kompac water rollers at 4mm, which is a bit wider than 1/8".

[Darton]

We use poly plates and the only reason I added the etch was a desperation move. I opened the nip up to about 2 1/4 this morning and that seamed to help once I am up and running. The hard part now is getting up and running. I wipe the plate with water and hurry up and drop the water rollers before it has a chance to dry out the slitest bit. I think I might try and mix the fountain solution with 5 oz per gallon and see if it make a difference.

The unit does ride smoothly on the cylinder. It is a new Kompac, I might have 40,000 impressions off with it.

[UnlimitedBT]

#1 - try different water, lets say get e few gallons of distilled from local supermarket and give it a shot.
#2 - If your unit is new something could change as pats settle in.
I run my Kompak @3 and it's fine, as advised by tech - #0 rollers should kiss, just enought to block the light of the flashlight. If plate starving #2 check your pressure setting, problem could be later - if decrease the pressure to "0" say for a long weekend or vacation - rollers would be pressured anyway creating a flat spot. If problem only at the beginning of the page, you should look close to the point where Kompac meets leading edge of the plate. If it sits to low it might bounce too much but you have said that it does not, check the eccentric bolts, make sure they are tight-up. Was anything else changed? Ink for example? I just went from Xante Myriad plates to HURST plates and learned that HURST need a little more water...

[Darton]

Ink has not changed and already using distilled water. Ink forms are striping 1/8" as well as the water forms.
So what you are saying is to open the nip more just until you cannot see light between the rollers?

We have another press with a Kompac that is set up pretty much the same way and he has no problems what so ever on start up and while running.

[wld85022]

I would also say try a larger form stripe. Like I posted before, 1/8 is a bit smallish. Also I thought about what was posted re: the Kompac being too close to the plate cylinder. I can't speak for the Kompac on the AB Dick but when I set the Kompac up on the perfector (you have to remove the lower Kompac to change the seals), I set it up so with the form off there is at least twice the thickness of the plate you are running. And dump the pink FC for sure!