press wash ups

what's a good way to wash your press up fast when changing from a dark color to a light one. I am currently using a step 1 then slow wash but after running for awhile the ink from the corners of the ink tray start to appear dirty and i have to wash the press again. I also think that the ink from one blanket to the other is tracking and contamenting my ink. I normally put my light color on the first unit. About how much time should it take a person to wash up? The press that I'm operating is the Ryobi 3302 HA can the corner parts of this ink well be removed and clean without damaging anything ?

 

That typically means that your train isn't completely washed up before you start running, and is picking up whats left of the previous color on the rollers. Keep doing your slow wash first, then try tapping in the color your going to run. Let that mill in for a few minutes and wash that up and then see where that takes you. Depending on what color your starting at and where you end up dictates if you need to wash and tap again. Do you use Feebo clean? that stuff works great for a fast wash up. Depending on the colors that i run, it takes me anywhere between 10 to 15 mins to do a full wash up, cylinders, blanket and rollers, but i run a QM 46.

 

You could try using roller paste cleaner after youve done your initial washup. Let that run for ten minutes before washing again. If that fails and so the old method mentioned previously of using the next colour ink, check the settings/condition/wear/size of your rollers throughout

 

I working on a Ryobi 524GX, 784E, 754 something about 7 year and I recommend roller paste cleaner Michael Huber Company.is great, checked many times .

 

You Need to invest in some van son easy street. I can go from black to opaque white with out a problem after using this stuff for a week on every clean up. For a real deep clean I use Putz Pomade and that really pulls the ink out of the rollers.
Most good pressmen don't need to do a color wash before switching colors but its by far the easiest way to do it if you don't have anything like roller paste cleaner.

 

eh?

 

putting light color on first unit dosent practically do anything. cleaning a dark color you would have to take off the blade assy and clean the blade underneath. and ziggy33 you are completley f***ed for what you said 'Most good pressmen don't need to do a color wash before switching colors'.

 

Yeah if your a good pressman you should be able to wash up good enough everytime you use your press that you can go from black to yellow with just one wash up also scarface watch your language in front of the ladys

 

I have no need

Now, if we're talking of washing up a small offest (duplicator) were you take out the rollers to clean by hand then i agree. But seeings i haven't done that for over 20 years and depend on auto washers, i know that if you are not going to a heavy coverage of lighter colour after black i think its always better to paste and wash twice. If you dont i guess its how long the black has been ran and what standard of colour you call good.

 

well any color i run has to match my swatch book and i have 6 different swatches to match up too. and no i don't pull the rollers out when i switch colors. I have only been printing for 3 years and i will say that any run longer than 10,000 then yes pulling the rollers is the only way to keep your color clean the entire run

 

I'd watch it if you mean six swatches of the same kind. Ive never seen two books perfectly a like.

Anyway whatever works for you.

 

rookie if your ink fountain is getting contaminated on the ends like you desrcibe even after doing a good washup you might want to look to make sure you have an adequate ink feed from the fountain feeding into the ends of the roller train. Ive seen many guys think that just because there is no ink coverage on the ends of the press that that can cut the fountain down to zero ink feed. i suggest that you always allow a light ink feed to enter the rollers (especially if your running a light color) from the fountains even if the form doesnt require it. Besides preventing the dirtying of the ink like you described it will also act as a lubricant to you fountain blade and extend it service life.
as far as ziggys comment about no need for color washing if the first washup is done properly, id like to invite him to come work with me as my press assistant and teach us all how your able to accomplish this amazing feat. Hell with all the washups we do youd achieve superstar status in no time at all!!!

 

What are your thoughts on using the "cleaner sheets sheets" from presstek, instead of using the wash up tray?

 

ryobirookie, washing up a print unit is important to the life of the rollers, if you have old rubber then your wash up will take longer. Now if the rollers have show bad signs of wear you will never be able to print without ink bleeding form the previous colour, you have to change the rollers. If your wash up blade is worn out change it, ryobi eat wash up blades, so we have modifed a Heidelberg 40" blade to fit, 3 minutes rollers clean edge to edge. What type of chemistry are you using , is it water missable, and do you finish your wash up with H2O. If you need to clean under the ink founatin blade when you put the checks back on put some silicone under the blade where it touches the checks it helps seal it like the factory.

 

I always use clean up sheets from presstek after I use a washup blade if I really need a good clean up. I also use Revital. I think that's how you spell it. You run it in the rollers and clean-up like normal. It gets kinda sticky feeling so it pulls what you missed out.

 

Well, I don't know about you Ziggy33, but in my experience (30 years) going from black to white aint that easy. You must be using some nasty solvent to do that. Anyway, I digress. Make sure the wash you use is compatible with your rollers as using a fast evaporating, fast cleaning product will not clean the pores of the rubber. They swell the rubber that then releases old ink, contaminating the rollers again. Like the other users say, use a good paste...."Putz Pomade" has abrasives in it, DONT USE that S**t. Anyway, then use a gentle cleaning wash. Rinse off with water to remove the residues from the wash. See how you go.

 

I totally agree with you about it.
You have to wash up man.
Just charge for the time.
You can't rush it.
I would even say that washing up is not enough. You also have to take your rollers out and do maintanence on your press to get a clean color.

 

One thing on ink fountain contamination on light colors. If I'm going from black or darker PMS color to something much lighter or different color family. I'll dab a little ink on the ink fountain blade and ink fountain roller and clean it with a rag with wash and water on it. Get down underneath the front of the blade and corners. This helps reduce ink contamination in the fountain. I also tap in the ink color on the rollers run it in, then add some easy street. Wash up with VWM and water. If you have to say go to a yellow from say reflex blue I'll tap in some orange ink wash it then the yellow and wash again. This helps get away from the "green" tinge from the blue to yellow washup. Sometimes it takes a few color washes to get it nice. The only time I would sometimes need to get in and scrub the rollers by hand was for varnish. Or to wipe excess ink off the ends of the rollers. The 3302 also has some structure cross bars inside the ink train. These bars can collect ink and leave deposits that'll drip back onto the rollers. Good idea every few months or so to remove the rollers to clean them, oil bearings, grease form shafts. Also you can smear a very THIN coat of grease on those cross bars. This will help prevent ink from sticking on them. A good ink squeege blade is a must and will wash a 3302 within a few minutes.

 

Jus a word of advise if you are going to put Easy Street on your rollers,,,put a small amount of it on an old blanket then leave for a few mins,, you will see how harsh it is on rubber...I would not put it near any rollers.

 

Interesting. Being somewhat curious I put a dab on a old blanket and removed it 5 mins later. No damage to the blanket. I then did it again and left it on there for several hours again with no damage. Blanket was a old Dayco brand. It did clean the area nicely but no noticeable damage and looked at the area with a lupe as well. Also left a dab on a couple of old rollers for several hours and again no damage when removed. Rollers were a old litho roll and a syn tac. I have used Easy Street for many years and have never seen it damage anything. Are you sure this is the product your thinking of? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.