MO preventative maintenance

Discussion in 'Heidelberg Printing Presses' started by printingco, Sep 17, 2009.

  1. printingco

    printingco Member

    Joined:
    Dec 2008
    Messages:
    9
    Location:
    Sydney Australia
    Hi,

    just installed an MOvp high pile 4 col with CPC1.02 alcolor

    any suggestions on a preventative maintenance program (daily, weekly, monthly etc)
    although an old press, I want to make sure press is kept in top condition and produces optimum results.

    I would really like to avoid calling in heidelberg to help (costs a fortune & money is tight) - based in sydney aus so if there is anyone local who can help out this will be much appreciated

    also, i am after a cpc1.02 operators manual - did not come with it, previous owner couldnt find it - anyone?
     
  2. exheidmech

    exheidmech Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 2009
    Messages:
    674
    Location:
    USA
    There are a couple areas to be aware of on an MO. I dont know the exact age of your press but the MO was notoriously weak in the gripper system especially with early version MOs. Gripper bars were actually GTO gripper bars that were lengthened a bit. because of the small diameter gripper bars you had a problem with the bars having a torsion effect and this resulted in poor print quality especially with heavy ink coverage. For this reason you need to give the gripper bars the best possible oportunity to do their job with frequent greasing of cam followers, bearings on gripper bar, and grippers. If you find a bad cam follower which was pretty common on the MO replace it as soon as possible or it will burn up the cam. These areas should be greased at least monthly depending on work load with high temp grease. Another area of concern is the perfector. When buying used you never know what your buying when it comes to the perfector. Again make sure your cam followers are good or you will get movment at the perfector. The MO perfector is actually pretty robust but was prone to water in the perfector expecially with conventional dampning but can also happen with Alcolor. Make sure the water pans never overflow onto the perfector. Alcohol and water into the reversing drum will cost you thousands down the road. Grease points on the perfector should be greased at least every other week and dont forget to grease the gear racks. Another weak point on the MO is the ink form hangers. Form roller bearings are held in the hanger with three pins. I would check these hangers by getting a new bearing and just putting the bearing into the hanger and see if the bearing is loose or sloppy. You should be able to spin the bearing within the hanger with heavy resistance. This is adjustable. If you see flat spots on any of the three pins it will give you a loose bearing and a bouncing roller. If you look closely you will see one of the three pins takes a 4mm allen. This pin is actually an eccentric and if you turn it with a 4mm allen you can either make the roller bearing looser or tighter within the hanger. You will need to loosen a set screw to be able to adjust this eccentric. If you turn this eccentric and are not able to make the roller bearing tight in the hanger you can replace the 3 pins on each hanger. You dont need new hangers. Once you adjust all hangers you will need to reset roller stripes of course. Doing this will definitly improve your print quality. Hope this helps
     
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