Roller Suggestions

[duct maestro]

Our shop uses this same set up in our two sm102 6color perfectors as well. One machine is new with vario; the other is an older cpc1.04 machine with alcolor only. We easily get 60-65 million out of inkers and 45-50 million out of the dampers. We tested the Bottcher “chameleon” and Westland water pan rollers extensively and found the Westland far superior to the Bottcher. The Bottcher would swell at the 15-20 million mark every time. We’ve used the Bottcher inkers for the last 10 years and they work well. However I have seen a slight drop in their quality lately; we’ve had problems with rollers coming in bowed and warped.

Roller lube is CRITICAL in getting life out of these rollers. The heat from running a unit dry will kill a roller train fast. A roller maintainance program is also important. Febo clean over the weekend, calcium fix wash regularly and use roller lube on dry units. We do a quick check of the roller stripes weekly, the Bottcher inker’s will work well with the stripe on the lighter side. Every 3 months the units are pulled down, side frames cleaned and rollers reset as part of our maintenance program. Following these standards we see 60-65 million out of our inker’s and 45-50 million out of the dampening system.

Mike

Whats that calcium fix like?

 

[pthielen]

Rollers

Rollers

The biggest issue with roller life is heat, which breaks down the rubber compounds. With presses running at such high speeds, the friction between the rollers causes damage. Therefore, a lube is necessary, just as your car needs a lubricant. Check with your suppliers for a roller lube that has a high temperature threshold.

 

[RMV]

That's an excellent video. But it does not explain that the center damage caused by the bearing puller is generally due to the puller's cone tip being too small for the center hole on the journal, so that the flat end of the puller's screw end presses unevenly on the journal end, and my "walk" in the process of removing a tight bearing, causing damage to the tapered hole on the journal end.

Solution: have a good machine shop fabricate some "pads" to place between the journal and the puller screw end. The pads should have a small cone shaped hole on one side to accommodate the end of the puller screw and an oversized cone tip to fit the journal (the tapper angle is standard). This will eliminate that source of trouble. Keep these safely protected with the puller and/or with the "special press tools" for reuse every time you need to pull roller bearings.

Al

But you have to keep in mind, with Pacesetter Graphic (who made the video) you are getting a New Core, New Cover & Bearings, so you don't have to pull bearings. They make them "Ready to Run" take them out of the box and put em in the press. As far as I know they are the only company in the US who provide new cores. I think they have the right idea with that, you don't have to mess with bearings, pay a machine shop to pull them or "fix up" your puller plus your getting a True to Round core everytime and you don't have to pay for journal repairs. They've been in business over 30 years so they got to be doing something right.

 

[Al Ferrari]

Please read my post again. The point of it was to prevent journal damage in the first place by having the correct tool to remove the bearings. It's a one time expense. With the correct tool and skill, you don't need to keep paying the machine shop to fix the damage to the journals caused by pulling the bearings with an improper tool. Damage to the bearing can also be prevented by using a steel plate behind the bearing so that the pull stress is not on the outer race of the bearing. But the roller core is the expensive part which can easily be kept in good condition with the method I outlined.

All roller companies will be glad to sell you new cores and bearings with every roller if that's what you want. But none of them just give them away. Now, which is more cost effective, needs to be determined by obtaining quotes both ways, including the freight costs of shipping the old cores to the roller company. Your milage may vary.

Al

 

[nhprinter]

Imho

Imho

We have an older (1986) Komori Lithrone 426. What I've found over the last 20 years that I've been running it is that Bottcher's work great for about a year. The nice thing is that they have little, if any, "break-in" period. They also don't have to be readjusted very often. The drawback to that is they are very hard and perform terrible after that year.

We're a small shop and can't afford to replace 4 units every year so I started using Diamond. They do have a "break-in" period which can be a little bit of a pain, but since we are mostly a short-run, single shift shop, they last over two years with no problem. (with proper maintenance)

Unfortunately last year we gave Bottcher another shot since it had been a while since we tried them and the same thing is happening. Not only are they hard as a rock, but now they have slight diimples all over them. I called our sales rep and he said he'd be right in to check it out.....LOL

Let's see......Where's that phone number for Diamond?

 

[Al Ferrari]

Dimples are no big deal, just put on a glob of ink, let dry, and sand down.

Make them do them over!

Al

 

[glmontgo]

Sorry, read too many of the posts, Pacesetter will offer rollers fro Ryobi, but they don't make for themselves. I thought you were asking for a diff. press.

Pacesetter does indeed make their own Ryobi rollers..

 

[gossboss5501]

Rubber

Rubber

When you think about its all just rubber, the pressman is what makes that all work with proper settings and maintenance. I feel that the pressman is the key factor in how long and how well the rollers will perform, If you baby the rollers by constantly checking pressures, using dead unit compound where needed keeping them clean and calcium free. by doing this you will get the most out of any Brand of rollers." I don't all ways print but when I do I use Saphira Stay printing my friend" LOL

 

[duct maestro]

When you think about its all just rubber, the pressman is what makes that all work with proper settings and maintenance. I feel that the pressman is the key factor in how long and how well the rollers will perform, If you baby the rollers by constantly checking pressures, using dead unit compound where needed keeping them clean and calcium free. by doing this you will get the most out of any Brand of rollers." I don't all ways print but when I do I use Saphira Stay printing my friend" LOL

Dream on sunshine! All that is absolute rubbish! If it was right I'd buy the cheapest tyres on my car. All these companies have their own compounds, some good some not so.

Heidelberg have now switched purely to Westland due to poor results from bottcher

 

[Al Ferrari]

Your point about quality is well taken. But how do you know that the change at Heidelberg was based on quality concerns and was not just a cost cutting effort?

Al

 

[duct maestro]

Your point about quality is well taken. But how do you know that the change at Heidelberg was based on quality concerns and was not just a cost cutting effort?

Al

Because westlands cost a lot more.

 

[Al Ferrari]

It would have been useful to have mentioned that in your post. There is no reason for us to know that.

Al

 

[duct maestro]

It would have been useful to have mentioned that in your post. There is no reason for us to know that.

Al

Sorry friend