Sterling Digibinder Super Nipper trouble.

[lantz_xvx]

Hey folks,

We just bought a Sterling Digibinder to replace our Horizon BQ-140 perfect binder, as it was not doing well with coated stock. We looked into getting a PUR glue system, but obviously with the space and ventilation requirements, that was not going to work. We temporarily sent all of our binding out to another vendor and their machine uses EVA glue and always come out great. They do a great job but it was getting expensive with delivery/shipping costs, and high unit costs on small runs (100-500).

The machine fell backwards while being delivered and the fan that cools the motor got messed up. The company sent us a fan that doesn't match what was on there and their parts department claims that there's no other fan that exists, so our service technician will probably have to retrofit the protective cover that's on there to fit the new fan. All in all, not a huge deal.

What we are dealing with right now in getting it set up and learning to use it is that when we insert a book block and send it to a cover, the nipper is not engaging to adhere the cover to the block. It will sit there for the length of time it's supposed to be clamping and then "E-Button Pressed" appears on the screen. So we have to open the clamp, rip the book block out, close the clamp again, send it back to starting position, and open the clamp to clear the error. This happens in all three modes (manual, semi-auto, and auto). The table raises but the nipper will not clamp. If I press the button without a book block there, the nipper does close. Anyone have any tips on what could be going wrong?

It's a cool machine, love the side gluing feature and I know this will help our books with coated stock bind a lot stronger. The cover feeder is a bit complicated and is missing a few parts, but I'm hoping that once we get the nipper thing figured out we can get it going pretty quickly.

Thanks,
- Lantz

 

[AP90]

we have a digibinder as well. I’m wondering if an air hose has maybe became disconnected? I believe the machine is driven by air and the nipper is as well. So maybe the hose is disconnected and that’s why it is not engaging? Just the first thought that came to mind since everything else is running.

 

[lantz_xvx]

we have a digibinder as well. I’m wondering if an air hose has maybe became disconnected? I believe the machine is driven by air and the nipper is as well. So maybe the hose is disconnected and that’s why it is not engaging? Just the first thought that came to mind since everything else is running.

Yeah actually I wondered if it had something to do with the air. I wonder if there’s a leak somewhere. Seems like the air powers a lot on this machine. I’ll check it out tomorrow!

Lantz

 

[lantz_xvx]

Checked the air and it all seems fine, I think. I'm not totally convinced it's not a bit too leaky but really all it means is that the compressor turns on very often and then turns off because it is not holding the air it should be. But I figure if the book clamp is working then the nipper should be too. What I saw on the screen today that I didn't see yesterday was "No push sensor" after the nipper fails to go in. I took off the blue covers and looked around for some sort of sensor that looked unusual. I did see that a black wire had popped out of its place, and the wires it's connected to are labeled "SEN2" and "SEN4" so maybe that's it. I tried popping it in as best I could just to test it but no dice. I'll have my service tech take care of it next week when he comes to install whatever replacement fan Spiel has decided to send us. In the meantime, if anyone else knows what that could be or thinks I'm way off in my assumption, let me know!

Thanks everybody.

- Lantz

 

[lantz_xvx]

Quick update: Spiel did end up sending the correct fan so that's installed and works. I am still having the same nipper trouble. If I press the buttons on the keypad, the nipper will go in and out, so enough air is getting to it. But when we send a book through, it stops on the cover, the table goes up but doesn't nip. Then we get an error message "no push sensor" sometimes, and other times not. We got one book to work when we first turned the machine on after getting it wired and ever since then, nothing. We've blown all the sensors we can see with the air gun, but I wonder if there's another sensor somewhere that we need to look at. Unfortunately if I Google the machine, all I can find is the sales copy Spiel has written, which is posted pretty much everywhere on the internet. I emailed the service folks to see if I can get a technical manual or at least a page showing where all the sensors are. We'll see what happens with that. I know it's unlikely but if anyone else has any ideas, let me know..

- Lantz

 

[narseman]

the table goes up but doesn't nip. Then we get an error message "no push sensor" sometimes, and other times not. We got one book to work when we first turned the machine on after getting it wired and ever since then, nothing.

I would first check to see if the machine is set for padding.
Second, there is a STOP bolt, (metal plunger thing) that engages the back of the block carrier/clamp, at the nip station, this needs to be accurately aligned. There are 2 sensors on the bolt thing. (for in/out)Shouldn't need to touch those. It holds the book block position accurately & firmly. There are positional sensors on the upper rail that should control stopping position of the block clamp. In the top row of keypad buttons.. One called BRAKE on/of. Manually controls the "bolt lock". Play with that for a while. Let us know if this helps.

 

[narseman]

One more little thing about this machine.

It is so easy to accidently interrupt the safety beams, you may not even know you did it. I took steps to help prevent this. But you should be aware. Might be responsible for the random errors stops.

- Lantz

 

[lantz_xvx]

I would first check to see if the machine is set for padding.
Second, there is a STOP bolt, (metal plunger thing) that engages the back of the block carrier/clamp, at the nip station, this needs to be accurately aligned. There are 2 sensors on the bolt thing. (for in/out)Shouldn't need to touch those. It holds the book block position accurately & firmly. There are positional sensors on the upper rail that should control stopping position of the block clamp. In the top row of keypad buttons.. One called BRAKE on/of. Manually controls the "bolt lock". Play with that for a while. Let us know if this helps.

Thanks. The service guy from Spiel emailed the same thing. I saw those sensors and blew them off but didn’t check to see the position. I think I remember seeing a red light on one of them which is usually a bad sign, but not sure if it was in or out. I’ll look again tomorrow.

Lantz

 

[lantz_xvx]

Thanks. The service guy from Spiel emailed the same thing. I saw those sensors and blew them off but didn’t check to see the position. I think I remember seeing a red light on one of them which is usually a bad sign, but not sure if it was in or out. I’ll look again tomorrow.

Lantz

I would first check to see if the machine is set for padding.
Second, there is a STOP bolt, (metal plunger thing) that engages the back of the block carrier/clamp, at the nip station, this needs to be accurately aligned. There are 2 sensors on the bolt thing. (for in/out)Shouldn't need to touch those. It holds the book block position accurately & firmly. There are positional sensors on the upper rail that should control stopping position of the block clamp. In the top row of keypad buttons.. One called BRAKE on/of. Manually controls the "bolt lock". Play with that for a while. Let us know if this helps.

Also, I’m not sure padding is a function on the Super. Seems crazy that it wouldn’t be but there’s no option for that in the menu. I can turn off the inverter which makes the blade not activate but it won’t feed without a cover.

Lantz

 

[lantz_xvx]

FIXED! The brake assembly was loose, so the brake couldn't enter the hole in the back of the carriage. I tightened the allen keys but it still didn't work, so I just aligned it the other way and re-tightened and now it's all good. I knew it was something silly but the lack of documentation on this machine is mindboggling. Fortunately the guy in the Service Department at Spiel is an expert on this machine and knew exactly what the problem was. Looking forward to getting this machine up and running.

 

[narseman]

FIXED! The brake assembly was loose, so the brake couldn't enter the hole in the back of the carriage. I tightened the allen keys but it still didn't work, so I just aligned it the other way and re-tightened and now it's all good. I knew it was something silly but the lack of documentation on this machine is mindboggling. Fortunately the guy in the Service Department at Spiel is an expert on this machine and knew exactly what the problem was. Looking forward to getting this machine up and running.

Learning curve for sure.. One bit of advice, the roughing saw adjustment is sensitive. A small adjustment goes a long way, so to speak. You want it barely skimming the block.

 

[lantz_xvx]

Learning curve for sure.. One bit of advice, the roughing saw adjustment is sensitive. A small adjustment goes a long way, so to speak. You want it barely skimming the block.

Is that the unlabeled wheel underneath the book clamp? There's no scale or label whatsoever but I can see that it moves the book block up or down so it's just about trying to figure out how those numbers correspond to the size of the spine. I'm also emailing with Rob to find out about padding. He says hitting the Auto/Manual button should give me a padding option but it doesn't.

 

[narseman]

Is that the unlabeled wheel underneath the book clamp? There's no scale or label whatsoever but I can see that it moves the book block up or down so it's just about trying to figure out how those numbers correspond to the size of the spine. I'm also emailing with Rob to find out about padding. He says hitting the Auto/Manual button should give me a padding option but it doesn't.

Yes for the wheel thing. I put a few pieces of chipboard in the clamp and manually pushed it over to the saw, NOT running. Moved the saw blade by finger, and adjust wheel so blade just kisses the paper. A very small further adjust when you run a book block. If the saw "note" drops as it goes, it's too deep. The Auto/manual cycles through (I think) 4 options. It may not specify padding, but check the user book. That took me 4-5 reads to grasp.. :/

 

[lantz_xvx]

Yes for the wheel thing. I put a few pieces of chipboard in the clamp and manually pushed it over to the saw, NOT running. Moved the saw blade by finger, and adjust wheel so blade just kisses the paper. A very small further adjust when you run a book block. If the saw "note" drops as it goes, it's too deep. The Auto/manual cycles through (I think) 4 options. It may not specify padding, but check the user book. That took me 4-5 reads to grasp.. :/

I'll try it again. It only cycles through 3 options, Manual, Semi-Auto, and Auto. We also have multiple manuals. The one we got was for the TC-7500 which seems like the original Japanese machine that was just rebranded as the Sterling Digibinder, and that manual is absolute trash. Not helpful in the slightest. I downloaded another one for the Sterling Digibinder and the Plus, which both note the padding option but those are older machines. Finally we got the manual for the Super C from Spiel, but this machine is just a Super, not a Super C. So I can't even get a user guide for this particular model. Really wild stuff. I'll wait to hear what Rob says.

 

[lantz_xvx]

While I'm waiting to hear back about the padding, another question about the nipper: when the book block goes over the cover, it's going down and to the right, which means that the book block is hanging outside the cover on the foot. The block and the cover are both 5.25" x 7.5", so it should be aligning. I thought maybe the nipper was squeezing too hard and moving the book, so I backed off the pressure but then the spine gets a little more round. Looking at it again, it looks like the book block is moving to the right just before it hits the cover and gets nipped. I didn't see any specs for minimum cover width, but maybe the cover is moving when the table goes up? The thing about these small covers is that there's no guide on the left side of the sheet, just the right guides plus a janky back guide (the real one got lost in transit, a friend is going to make us a new one). Not sure what's there to stop the cover from moving around. There's the little orange wheels, the manual says to put it as close to the cover without touching, but that doesn't seem to do anything with regard to feeding or registering the sheet.

Getting closer. The difference between yesterday and today is significant, but still need to figure out how to make sure every book is registered. Making small notebooks doesn't matter but it will matter when it's a client's book, so just want to get it dialed in.

 

[lantz_xvx]

Ok, figured out the other problem too, and again it was related to the brake. Turns out that the brake wasn't just mis-aligned or skewed, the whole thing moves side to side on that bar it sits on. So what was happening is that when the carriage went over the nipping table, the brake was hitting the back of the carriage before going into the hole, which meant that it got sort of moved. I re-aligned it so that it goes directly in without hitting at all, and it works really well now. Once you get over these little humps, I have to say it's a very cool machine and makes perfect binding way easier.

Still waiting to hear back about the padding, though I think it might be a lost cause. The other thing I'm wondering about is what sort of side guide you're supposed to use for small books where those round concentric pieces won't reach. But I think it's at the point where we can run a job on this machine, so I'm happy about that!

Thanks to everyone for their help.

- Lantz