Thread: Cold printing conditions!?

I went trhough the same thing with my current employer. I finally told him,"look , All I'm asking you to do is to keep the room temp between 65 and 85 degrees. That is a huge window. If you can not provide me with this , then I can not guarantee the quality of the job or the time it takes me to do it". Over head heating within 3 weeks.

Even then it is tough on a cold winter morning.I can get my room temp. up to 72 degrees in about an hour , but it takes much longer than that to get the cold steel of your fountain and fountain ball warmed up. Order "Winter set series "ink (which is more loose) for the winter time, and "summer set series" (which is bodied up") for the hot summer temps..

In the mean time your screwed! You are probably experiencing difficulty getting enough ink on the shhet to achive color in the winter right? This is because your ink is so still that it will not transfer (flow) on your rollers. After you run a few thousand ,your color starts to come up quick,right. Pretty soon you have too much ink,right? Thats because your rollers are getting warmed up and your inks are beginning to transfer (flow) properly within the ink train. I used to spead ink on the rollers and then set the press to about 10,000 per hour and let her hum for about 10 min. This will help ti warm up the rollers , but it is still nearly impossible to print under the conditions you decribed.

I suggest that you print out this tread and show it to your boss before next winter gets here. If he won't listen to you , maybe he will listen to us?

good luck

Rod (30 yrs exp.)

I work in simular conditions during the winter try start up spray on inks and blankets this works for me 75% of the time. Good luck

The best way for this to get resolved is for the owner to keep the shop warm. If they can't afford to pay for heat then you should be cautious of weather or not they can afford to pay for you. Sad to see that these people who decided to go into the printing business have know idea what it takes to be a pressman. I would start looking for a new job if I were in your shoes. If there is nothing else out there, then think about going back to school.

Finally got back to this thread.I did end up setting tents up around press and heating it up that way.Then they began bouncing my paycheck. Only press opening is 45 miles away which I have applied for, so I am praying gas prices stay under 3.00 a gallon. Yeah...after 20 years, I get to start all over!

show your boss this post and let him read from the experts that its too damn cold. good luck!!!