Itek 3985 NOPS side guide has tons of play.

[lantz_xvx]

Hey folks,

I've wasted a number of days trying to figure out why our 70# text weight sheets are feeding crooked, and it led me to realize that the stationary side guide on the non-operator side has tons of play. I mean, I can grab it on the edge and wiggle it around until the cow's come home. I can't see any place that's missing a bolt or a screw or a pin that tightens it up. But when the sheets feed, I can see them going haphazard as they're being pushed up against the flat springs. Some sheets print straight, others are very crooked. I don't think the issue is in the grippers, and the plate is printed straight. The feed is straight. I really think the issue is this NOPS guide but can't figure out a way to make it tight. I held it down while sheets were feeding and that yielded better results.

Does anyone know how I tighten this sucker down? Or maybe it's just busted? In that's the case and I want to replace it, is it the "non operator guide assembly" listed in the parts manual? It's a bit hard for me to tell from the diagram.

Thanks,
- Lantz

 

[old guy]

correct me if i am mistaken but isnt this press just a renamed ryobi 3302? if so there is a push guide on the feed board that should jog the sheet to the springs to register it before being sent to the infeed roller. if that guide is just loose there could be several problems.
can you post a pic?

 

[lantz_xvx]

Yes, Old Guy, you're right. It's more or less an older version of the 3302. The push guide jobs the sheet to what is meant to be a stationary side guide, where the flat springs are. That whole side guide is not solid. What sort of picture are you looking for, exactly? I can see about getting whatever you need. I'm interested to hear what the several problems might be to tightening up that guide too, because I'll be darned if I can find anything super obvious. Thanks in advance!

 

[smalloffsetpressexperts]

Lantzz, what type of side guides do you have? The first 3985/3302 that came over had short guides with 2 springs, ABDick and Ryobi than issued a kit where the side guides could be extended for 11x17 adding a 3rd spring. The next ones have a push from both sides feature that is still used today. There a few things to check but knowing what version you have would help. Ryobi did not use the best metal and the blocks where the T handle screws into cracks. Regardless of the problem it is fixable and really not that difficult with proper help.

 

[lantz_xvx]

Hey there. It's an Itek 3985 in that gross 80s brown. The side guide is the longer one but I've just got two flat springs. It doesn't really push the way the side lay push guide on the operator side does, you can tell it's meant to be stationary but moves slightly when the press is running.

The situation now is actually a little improved. I saw a suggestion on another thread to clean the grippers, and I figured I would give that a shot. When I really got in there, I noticed that the infeed grippers were not all at the same height. I loosened the set screws and adjusted all the ones that I could adjust and got them more or less even. The first two on the operator side have set screws that are kind of rounded out so I couldn't mess with those. But I seem to have more consistency now. However, I'm still getting the skew, and while I think that it's within a margin that will probably be undetectable to the average person, I would still like to get it figured out. Thanks for your help.

 

[old guy]

the bar that moves the side lay runs thru both blocks you may need to clean and oil where the bar that moves goes thru the block that isnt supposed to

 

[smalloffsetpressexperts]

So you have the extended guides. Do you see the micro-adjustment knob with a clicker you turn to fine tune? There is a what is called a waver washer there. That will break or get weak causing the side guide to move when the other bar moves within it. I would always replace the washer using 2 new ones for a solid fit.
As for the grippers they are 2 parts, the gripper and stop which must be in perfect condition and set with a gauge and replaced if bent from a jam. If you see the paper skew while gripping you have some issues.

 

[lantz_xvx]

So you have the extended guides. Do you see the micro-adjustment knob with a clicker you turn to fine tune? There is a what is called a waver washer there. That will break or get weak causing the side guide to move when the other bar moves within it. I would always replace the washer using 2 new ones for a solid fit.
As for the grippers they are 2 parts, the gripper and stop which must be in perfect condition and set with a gauge and replaced if bent from a jam. If you see the paper skew while gripping you have some issues.

When you say "clicker" do you mean the little knob to adjust the pressure of the lower feed roller? Or are you talking about the little dial to adjust the angle of that side guide? I think it's the former (because that actually clicks) but figured I'd ask. Where is the waver washer, exactly? That could be a likely culprit and I'll check it out because there's nothing obvious that I can see to make that side guide be solid. There's no obvious skewing when the sheet gets gripped. But when looking at the grippers and seeing them not all at the same height, I figured it couldn't hurt to adjust them to be closer. I had a technician come to look at the press a couple of times several years ago, though I'm still finding things on the press that are in bad shape. We got the press from a pretty crappy dealer and honestly there's nothing about it that's in perfect condition and I'm not going to spend more than what I paid for the press to get it there. That said, if I'm still getting having issues after I add those washers, I'll see about replacing some grippers.

Alibryan, the press does have a inching option but I've inched the damn thing so many times, it doesn't give me any useful information. The feed looks fine, which is the bewildering thing about it. The sheet is straight and the push guide isn't hitting the sheet too soon, etc. It's actually been more helpful to run it at 3,000iph, the lowest speed besides the 1,000 testing mode. That at least sort of mimics how it will run and lets me look at it from all angles to see how it's feeding. I'll look into the things above first before I start investigating the timing, but thanks for the suggestion and I will put it on my list.

 

[smalloffsetpressexperts]

Lantzz it would make life easy if you send me a video of the side guide. PM me

 

[lantz_xvx]

Hey all, sorry that I sometimes don't get notifications about these threads and didn't see the message above. Here's an update: I found the waver washer. It seems like to remove it or to add another one, I'd need to remove the bar that it's on. I wasn't up for figuring that out, so I cleaned the area and then started looking around it. I noticed that the allen screws that hold that metal plate up against that dial were a little loose, so I tightened them. That resolved the issue of the assembly moving from side to side, I think. But it's still weird that I can move the side guide with my hand at all and it seems like the skewing issue is still present, though less frequent.

I'm having a new issue now though, and I bring it up because I wonder if it's somehow related. I'm running Mohawk Via Vellum, 70# text and the sheet size is 11.5" x 17.5". I ran a couple hundred sheets earlier but a problem that's been popping up is that the tail end of the sheet kind of floats up even when the lead edge is dropped, and that causes the next incoming delivery gripper to slam into it and pull the sheet upward and it gets all jammed up. It was doing it just sometimes but now it's doing it with every sheet. I've tried adjusting the delivery blowers, all of the collars are open (they should be for a sheet size that long, I'm assuming). I've tried flipping the stackI checked the delivery grippers on all three bars and they're all tight and everything. I was previously running some French paper, at the same size and weight, and was not having this issue. So my first thought was that it's paper-specific. Maybe static electricity or something like that, because it seems like the tail edge is kind of sticking to the anti-skid blanket. Picking the sheet off the stack is fine, and it goes down the table file. All the grippers on the impression cylinder grip it well. But when it gets close to the delivery end, somewhere around the IR unit, it''s just not being released properly. And I don't know what would have changed from earlier today at a couple hundred sheets and now. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[old guy]

there is a tube with small holes down the middle of the delivery that should blow a little air on the sheet. the knob to control this is on the nonop side of the delivery. experiment with covering holes at different places to see what gets your curl to lay down

 

[Tomtech]

Service manual help?

https://www.scribd.com/doc/237197478/Ryobi-3302-Service-Manual

 

[lantz_xvx]

Hey folks. I've messed with the delivery blowers and no position gives it any sort of consistency. What I found is that with the impression set too heavy, it was affecting the delivery of the sheet. So when I backed off the impression, it printed better. However, I only ran one plate (this is a book, so there are 44 total plates) and today the issue has returned. Right now I'm just trying to run makeready to get the image looking good before I print the fresh sheets. But it seems like the other day, I was able to find the sweet spot using fresh sheets, where the impression was heavy enough that the image looked good, but not so heavy that it was smashing the sheet. I'm wondering if part of the issue is warped paper, but I obviously have to use makeready to set the press up, and even if I run all the fronts, the backs will have to be done too, so I need to figure out a way around the problem. Any thoughts?

I do have the service manual, but don't usually find it helpful if I can't diagnose the issue to something mechanical.

Thanks everyone,
- Lantz