Vastex V2000 reg gate/bar adjustments and tuning.

[TTSW]

First new thread for me!

Just upgraded my V2000 from a 4/2 (yep that is correct a 4/2) to a 4/4. I've been in business for a bit now. I do all my own "line" of garments that I sell through my own site and a couple retailers. While business is great, I print orders in queues and batches. The shop is tiny, 4 pallet arms is a tight squeeze! But it helps a lot. I mostly design and print one color prints and loosely reg'd two color. So that is the why so small of a press question out of the way. It works for me, while I would love a 10/10 - shop space is cramped and I just do things the way I can do them for now, until I move into a bigger space - which SHOULD be soon.

Ok here is my "issue". Probably easy for somebody here. But not so easy for me as it's the first I've messed with it. From the "factory" my 4/2 arrived and the rotor arms and registration gate/bars were pre-set at the factory with no adjustments needed. All good.

Got the two new rotor arms and platens, reg gates/bars were not installed - makes sense I suppose. Got the arms installed, got the platens on adjusted off contact with the #1 head, etc. All is good.

But the reg bars were way off on the two new platens.

Futzed around with it. There are 3 bolts per gate/bar. One lower center bolt. Assume that should be centered? Then you've got two fine tuner bolts that accept an allen key. Moves the screen/head left and right. I have gotten it really close, but can't get it dead on like the gates/reg bars installed at Vastex.

My problem seems to be that I can get the screen, with the head lowered on the platen, lined up dead on near the clamp end of the platen. When I go to use the "fine tuner" bolts, it seems to adjust the screen near the end/ collar end of the platen. When I get THAT dead on, it also pushed the clamp end of the screen in that direction as well.

Dunno if that makes any sense. But it's driving me crazy. Just wondering if anyone has any tips on making this an easier process. I'm fairly positive that I'm missing something stupidly simple here. But that would be my M.O.

[tpitman]

Call Vastex. On my press they distinctly say not to mess with the factory-set registration gate bolts, so I'm guessing there's a procedure to follow.

[TTSW]

Yes, it says the same thing on my press as well, on the two rotor arms that shipped with the press there's the little stickers on the registration bar housing. I've never messed with those. Nor needed to.

I would have thought that the two new rotor arms would have come with the gates installed, and they would at least be in some type of "starting position". I suppose it would be hard to set them perfectly at the facility to match up to my existing gates?

But, they did not come attached. And there was not a "starting position" or point set on the gates. The bolts and the gates were just flopping around in the housing barely tightened on. With absolutely no literature to explain the installation and/or adjustments necessary.

It doesn't seem to be something that would be that difficult to adjust to match the existing gates, platens are marked with a center line and my "4 finger line". But I guess I'm having an issue with the pitch and figuring out how to adjust the top of platen (collar end) and not the bottom (clamp end). Or how to work them together. Like I said, I've gotten it really close. But not close enough.

I guess I will have no choice but to call them. Which "sorta" bugs me.

[TTSW]

Ok..I figured it out. In case anyone ever has the issue if you buy/add new rotor arms ...The little "Smiley Face" - at least that's what I call it - the slots in the rotor arm that the registration gate/bar and it's housing sits in. There's a little bit of play in the slots to adjust back and forth. I had it too far back. I should have been clued in by the "CLACK" I was getting on platen two when raising and lowering the head with a screen in place. But I'm dumb and panic at times.

It was the print head catching the bar. Lower print head onto bar. From underneath looking up at where the bar sits in the head. I loosened bar housing slightly and nudged it foward (towards the platen) a tad, making sure it was even, and boom, dead on. Rotated all heads and platens just to double check that the stock bars that shipped with the press were indeed positioned the same way, and they were.

[TTSW]

Ok...I talked to Vastex. Dunno if this will ever help anyone out. But you don't really need to use the two side bolts to "fine tune" anything. Just loosen them up, then loosen the center bar, and get the screen as close to dead on as you can moving the center bar back and forth/side to side. Then you tighten everything back up - center bar then the two side bolts. I was told that you can then fine tune the platen if you can't get it dead on, to the old bars, via the registration bar. 

Adjusting the registration bars is something that you just have to do if you ever add more rotor arms onto your Vastex press. But you only need to adjust the bars on the new rotor arms. Anything set and tightened down previously should not need adjusting.