Heidelberg Printmaster (2 Color) Ink Ductor keeps skiing.. gradually getting worse.

Any idea of a quick fix for my ink ductor (or Ink Vibrator as the manual puts it) ..anyways the one that transfers the ink from the fountain to the rest of the rollers that roller is skiing during printing & seems to be even starting to happen during inking up. Basically if you were in my position what would be the first thing you'd check/do? Thanks for any quick help!

 

Also a quick note that everything I've been printing has looked great, no tint marks any of that. Just the skiing of the ductor roller. Wondering if I should try adjusting the rollers if that would do anything for me or if I'll have to order a new ductor. Thanks again!

 

What do you mean by skiing?

 

i am guessing that it looks like the vibrator roller is not touching the fountain ball on one side or the other or not evenly hitting the rest of the rollers? i run a pm 52 and have the same problem. have never been able to figure it out, not even the heidelberg techs. as soon as the vibrator roller shrinks just a little it wont touch. usualy on the drive side. only in unit 1. there should be 2 adjustment for this roller. first one is under the vibrator roller guard. one is a hex bolt with a lock nut, this controls the throw back and forth. the other is an allen bolt at the very top straight down. this is the adjustment to move the roller closer to the other rollers. there is a notch in the guard to easily get to this one. just tighten these until it touches evenly. the one with the lock nut are kind of hard to adjust and even harder to explain how. i think i got that right. or you could replace the ductor roller, but the problem will be back in about a year or so as soon as the roller starts to shrink again depending on your usage. hope this helps.

 

check the roll pins that hold the journals on they might be gone

 

I had similar problem on SM102 in unit 3 and 5. Got rid of it with replacing the roller and adjusting the back and forth movement.

 

did you get your ink ductor issue fixed? Not sure what skiing means! If you mean the ink ductor is turning at press speed & not ducting, first swap it out with the other unit. This is usually caused by a roller that is too small dia or somthing is worn at the mounting (bushing, bent/worn lever) If you still have the issue give me a call and I can give you some more suggestions!
Stan, Intermountain Press Service 720-285-9485 ipsqm46.com

 

had this issue before and wound up having to purchase rollers with a custom grind 1mm larger than spec. They started out a bit tight but didn't take long to settle in to a point were you could count on them to be adjustable right up to the point where they needed replacement for other issues. Oh and BTW the 1mm larger I refer to is diameter not circumference.