M1000A Unit Audit

 July 29 and 30, 2000

 Equipment Information

 1978 M1000A             Unit No. 7        Color:  Red        Dampening System:  Dahlgren

Cutoff:  22 3/4”            Width:  38”       Color Control:  Telecolor         

 Upper Plate Cylinder:  Overall condition of the cylinder is represented in fair condition. The cylinder does not appear to have been rebuilt, but has the normal wear (indication of a cylinder that is twenty plus years in age).

1)      Plating:  The factory cadmium plating has become thin from years of use.  Some oxidation has formed on the body substrate.

 2)      Gap (0.184):  The gap has chips and dings, but should not cause any operational problem. 

3)      Bearers:  Bearers are in surprisingly good shape for a press of this age.  Visually the surface quality indicates signs of pitting and galling, but should not affect overall operating functionality.  Bearer run-out readings measured 0.0005 on both the work and gear side, which falls within an acceptable tolerance. 

4)      End Play:  End-play readings were taken in excess of 0.020.  O.E.M tolerances are documented at 0.005 or less.  We may be able to reduce the amount of end-play by making some adjustments; however, excessive end-play can also be attributed to worn cylinder bearings. 

5)      Lock-up:  Plate lockups show excessive wear and damage; immediate replacement is recommended.  Please note that these lockups are Harris’ older design and require the bearers to be removed.  ERSA recommends installing Harris’ three-piece or E. R. Smith’s quick lockup for ease of change and operation. (Note:  This repair will require the bearers and bearings, elevating items 1 through 4.)

Upper Blanket Cylinder:  Cylinder is considered to be in fair condition and does not appear to have been reconditioned. 

1)      Plating:  The factory cadmium plating has become thin from years of use.  Some oxidation has formed on the body substrate. 

2)      Gap (0.255):  The gap has chips and dings, but should not cause any operational problem. 

3)      Bearers:  Bearers are in surprisingly good shape for a press of this age.  Visually the surface quality indicates signs of pitting and galling, but should not affect overall operating functionality.  Bearer run-out readings measured 0.0005 on the work and 0.002 on the gear side.  Acceptable tolerance is considered to be 0.001. 

4)      End Play:  End-play readings were taken at 0.002.  O.E.M tolerances are documented at 0.005 or less.  Fall within acceptable tolerance allowances. 

6)      Lock-up:  Blanket lockups shows excessive wear and damage; immediate replacement is recommended.  

7)      Body Run-out:  Cylinder body run-out was measured at 0.0005 and falls within acceptable tolerance.

Lower Blanket Cylinder:  Cylinder appears to have been extensively repaired at some point.  Some type of plating has been applied two inches wide on either side of the gap. 

1)              Plating:  The factory cadmium plating has become thin from years of use. Some oxidation has formed on the body substrate.  As mentioned above, some type of plating is present approximately two inches wide on either side of the gap. 

2)              Gap (0.255):  The gap indicates signs of heavy damage to the cylinder.  Visual inspection shows the cylinder gap has been repaired.  Gap does not measure 0.255 across; middle section is reported collapsed. 

3)              Bearers:  Bearers are in surprisingly good shape for a press of this age.  Visually the surface quality indicates sign of pitting and galling, but should not affect overall operating functionality.  Bearer run-out readings measured 0.0005 on both work side and gear side.  Fall within acceptable tolerance. 

4)              End Play:  End-play readings were taken at 0.001.  O.E.M tolerances are documented at 0.005 or less.  Fall within acceptable tolerance allowances. 

5)              Lock-up:  Plate lockups show excessive wear and damage; immediate replacement is recommended.  

6)              Body Run-out:  Cylinder body run-out was measured at 0.0005 and falls within acceptable tolerance.  

Lower Plate Cylinder:  Overall condition of the cylinder is represented in fair condition.

1)      Plating:  The factory cadmium plating has become thin from years of use.  Some oxidation has formed on the body substrate. 

2)      Gap (0.184):  The gap has chips and dings, but should not cause any operational problem. 

3)      Bearers:  Bearers are in surprisingly good shape for a press of this age.  Visually the surface quality indicates signs of pitting and galling, but should not affect overall operating functionality.  Bearer run-out readings measured 0.0005 on the work and 0.0002 on gear side, which fall within an acceptable tolerance.  

4)      End-Play:  End-play readings were taken in excess of 0.020.  O.E.M tolerances are documented at 0.005 or less.  We may be able to reduce the amount of end-play by adjusting the backlash nut, however, excessive end-play is normally the result of worn cylinder bearings. 

5)      Lock-up:  Plate lockups show excessive wear and damage; immediate replacement is recommended.  Please note that these lockups are Harris’ older design and require the bearers to be removed.  ERSA recommends installing Harris’ three-piece or E. R. Smith’s quick lockup for ease of change and operation. 

Summary:  Overall the cylinders are in fair condition with the exception of lockups. Unfortunately, the cylinder will need to be removed to accomplish this task, and as a result of the work content to replace the lockups, we recommend you process the cylinder for remanufacturing. 

It should also be noted that the bearer settings were found both too light and too heavy.  It is recommended that they be reset to O.E.M specifications.  (See attached bearer foils.) 

Cylinder Function: 

1)      Circumferential Register:  Circumferential register was checked for operation.  Found the drive pin from motor to input to be extremely worn and loose. 

2)      Sidelay:  Sidelay was checked for operation and functioned properly.  Excessive end-play in the cylinder does not allow this function to perform properly. 

3)      Plate Cocking:  Plate cocking was the older Harris brass ring design.  The system was checked for operation and no problems were reported. 

Ink Train:  Ink train mechanism and vibrator rollers are considered to be in poor condition.   

1)      Upper Vibrator #1:  No run-out readings were obtainable.  Nylon covering was blistering and separating from the roller core.  Replacement is recommended. 

2)      Upper Vibrator #2:  Run-out readings were taken at 0.005 on both the work and gear side.  O.E.M. tolerance is recommended at 0.003. 

3)      Upper Vibrator #3:  Run-out readings were excessive; work side measured at 0.008 and gear side at 0.020.  Roll has excessive run-out. 

4)      Upper Vibrator #4:  Run-out reading measured 0.005 on both work side and gear side.  Roll was considered to be in poor condition due to bad coating. 

5)      Lower Vibrator #1:  Run-out reading measured 0.010 on work side and 0.008 on gear side.  Roll has excessive run-out. 

6)      Lower Vibrator #2:  Run-out readings measured 0.004 on work side and 0.005 on gear side.  Roll is considered to be in fair condition. 

7)      Lower Vibrator #3:  Run-out readings measured 0.005 on work side and 0.002 on gear side.  Roll is considered to be in fair condition. 

8)      Lower Vibrator #4:  Run-out readings measured 0.006 on work side and 0.007 on gear side.  Roll has excessive run-out. 

9)      Roll Hangers:  Roller socket hangers were determined to be in poor condition.  Bent pins and frozen plungers were typical.  Extensive reconditioning is required to restore these mechanisms back to good working order. 

10)  Work Side Vibrator Bushings:  Using both visual and mechanical inspection processes, it was determined that excessive clearance existed between the vibrator gudgeon and frame bushing.  During our inspection process our dial indicators did not have enough movement to accurately measure the clearances.  (O.E.M tolerance recommended no more than 0.003 of clearance.)  

11)  Gear Side Vibrator Bushings:  It is much harder to determine clearance on the gear side.  The chain tension will torque the gudgeon to one side giving a false reading.  It has been our experience that the work side usually represents the gear side condition.  Replacement is recommended. 

12)  It should be noted that both “nylon” and “Ebonite” covered rollers were found in Unit 7.  This does not necessarily cause any operational issues; except for the fact the two materials have different operating characteristics.

Ink Fountains:  Ink fountains displayed both good and bad aspects. 

1)      Upper Ink Ball:  Run-out measured 0.001 on work side and 0.0005 on gear side.  (O.E.M. tolerance suggests 0.001 for acceptable tolerance.)  Body condition appeared to be in good to excellent shape.  Excessive end-play was noted greater than 0.025. 

2)       Lower Ink Ball:  Run-out measured 0.001 on work side and 0.005 on gear side.  Body condition was reported to be in good to excellent condition.  Excessive end-play was reported greater than 0.025. 

3)      Ink Ratchets:  Ink ratchets were reported to be in poor condition.  Lower ink ratchet gear was reported as having 90% of the gear tooth profile worn off. Replacement is recommended. 

4)      Motorized Ink Stroke:  Press was reported to have a motorized ink stroke feature.  Mechanism was not wired or working for inspection purposes. 

5)      Fountain Controls:  Ink fountain controls were Telecolor system and were reported to be in good operating condition.  (Note: Lower gear side key #1 does not appear to be functioning.) 

6)      Fountain Blades:  Upper and lower blades reported to be in good condition.  

Dampening System:  Dampening system was Dahlgren.  All rollers were removed for unit inspection. 

1)      Both upper and lower roll hangers were reported to have excessive play.  Mechanisms need extensive rebuild to restore back to reliable operating condition. 

2)      It was reported that the lower Dahlgren dampening system had an adjusting mechanism that was “homemade”.  Appears to function properly. 

Press Pneumatic System:  All solenoids and air cylinders were fired and verified for operation.  Unit was reported to be in fair condition both visually and mechanically.  We cannot determine life expectancy.  It is going to be a function of maintenance to keep this area functioning. 

Press Electrical System:  All functions were cycled and all were reported to be in operation.  Visually unit wiring looks to be in fair condition.  We cannot determine life expectancy.  It is going to be a function of maintenance to keep this area functioning. 

Unit Gearing:  Overall unit gearing was reported to be in poor condition.  Backlash readings were taken and were reported to be good, however, visual inspection reveals that the tooth profiles show heavy wear.  This would indicate the bearers are worn and the gears are hooking. 

1)      Line Shaft:  Spline reading reported 0.003 of backlash.  (O.E.M specification calls for 0.0005.)  Line shaft end-play was reported to be in excess of 0.025; recommended tolerance is 0.001.  Replacement recommended. 

2)      Line Shaft to Drive Bracket:  Backlash readings reported at 0.012.  (O.E.M tolerance was reported to be 0.003 to 0.007.)  Profile of gear appears to be fair. 

3)      Bevel Gear:  Backlash readings measured 0.003. 

4)      Bevel Gear Input Drive to Upper Blanket:  Measured 0.007. 

5)      Upper Blanket to Upper Plate:  Backlash readings taken at 0.003.  Plate gears exhibit sharp edges and burrs on tooth profiles. 

6)      Upper Blanket to Lower Blanket:  Measured 0.007 backlash. 

7)      Lower Blanket to Lower Plate:  Measured 0.004.  Again, plate gear displays sharp edges and burrs on tooth profile. 

8)      Lower Blanket to Lower Inker:  Backlash measured at 0.010.  No visual problems reported with gear. 

9)      Upper Blanket to Upper Inker:  Backlash measured in excess of 0.025.  Gear needs to be replaced.  This is an indication the bearers are worn. 

10)  Chain Condition:  Chain was found to be extremely loose.  So loose the chain was hitting the top of the lower plate cylinder box cutting a grove in the top.  Recommend replacement. 

11)  Chain Sprockets:  Sprockets all appear to be intact.  Some wear does show on sprocket teeth, but does not call for immediate concern.

Print Sample Analysis: 

After analyzing the print sample, we determined the dot quality was good.  We did detect some minor registration problems, but other than that, the sample looked good.  We would like to inspect a sample run at 35,000 I.P.H to see what if any thing changes. 

General Press Observation: 

1)      Press was reported running at slow speeds (16,000 IPH).   

2)      Unit 8 showed extreme web snap at the exit side.  Normally a sign of a tension problem, resulting in wrap up and web breaks. 

3)      Reported that the inker drives in Units 1 and 2 are unable to disengage.  Probable cause is chain tension or sprocket problem. 

4)      Press was reported to have problem with ink sockets.  Pins were described as loose and bent. 

5)      Chill roll did not have its tension control device hooked up. 

6)      Dryer length was 11ft. 

7)      Three- cylinder combination folder appeared to need some work.