wd 40 in chopper cylinders?

[Doug S]

I have a 2010 M&R Sportsman E with 80,000 impresssions on it .  There are about 3 heads that the squeegee lowers at the same speed but raises slower on one side than the other.  One of them raises much slower on one side than the other.  I've checked the pivot bolts to make sure that one isn't tighter than the other.  I'm getting about 1 drop of oil per 6 indexes from the oiler.  I've never had water in the press "I check the condensation bowl about every 3 days and have 3 water traps between the the chiller and the press, so the chiller is working fine.  I have drained the air from the press and dropped a couple of drops of oil in each air hose connected to the chopper cylinders and that doesn't seem to help.  So I was wondering if anyone had tried squirting wd40 into the chopper cylinders or would that completely screw it up?  I wanted to ask before I tried it.

[JBLUE]

WD40 is not a good thing to put in the choppers. It can gum them up and also mess up the seals. WD is an ok lube but it is meant for displacing water.

[Doug S]

WD40 is not a good thing to put in the choppers. It can gum them up and also mess up the seals. WD is an ok lube but it is meant for displacing water.

Thanks for the reply.  Is it normal for the chopper cylinders to start going out at around 80,000 impressions on an M&R?  The manual states to make sure it's getting 1 drop of oil per 10 indexes.  Is it possible that by mine getting 1 drop per 5 indexes is messing the cylinders up?  It might be that I just need to replace some cylinders idk. 

I haven't had any problems until the other day when the squeegee didn't raise enough on one side and an ink trap so happily ripped a screen on one side.  Thank God I had burned a underbase and a highlight so I just removed the ripped screen and revolved to finish the order.  I think some winged floodbars are going to be my next purchase.

[StuJohnston]

I am interested in this as well, I have a press that the floodbar cylinders operate nice and fast, but the squeegee cylinders are slow as molasses. But when they do get to the end of their travel, the pressure is good, so I am pretty baffled. I am pretty sure I will just get some rebuild kits anyhow, but I am curious what could cause this and if there is a temporary solution.

[Homer]

sounds like a possible flow issue such as a leaking or pinched hose....sometimes if they aren't seated just right you get a bit of a leak. it also sounds you have the oiler set up and water doesn't seem to be an issue, 80k prints isn't even warmed up yet so valves or cylinders aren't shot.

just a shot in the dark, make sure your hoses are all set up correctly into your valves. I had a gauntlet 2 installed about 6 months ago and the tech had two hoses crossed going into the valves. what happened was the head would flood, print, then dump all the air in all cylinders/squeegies and flood bars.  my flood bars would drop with gravity, they wouldn't chop like they are supposed to and the flood speed settings didn't work....i spoke to Tony @ CGS and we discovered he hooked these hoses up wrong. problems solved...

[244]

I have a 2010 M&R Sportsman E with 80,000 impresssions on it .  There are about 3 heads that the squeegee lowers at the same speed but raises slower on one side than the other.  One of them raises much slower on one side than the other.  I've checked the pivot bolts to make sure that one isn't tighter than the other.  I'm getting about 1 drop of oil per 6 indexes from the oiler.  I've never had water in the press "I check the condensation bowl about every 3 days and have 3 water traps between the the chiller and the press, so the chiller is working fine.  I have drained the air from the press and dropped a couple of drops of oil in each air hose connected to the chopper cylinders and that doesn't seem to help.  So I was wondering if anyone had tried squirting wd40 into the chopper cylinders or would that completely screw it up?  I wanted to ask before I tried it.

do not use wd40 in the cylinders. 10 weight non detergent oil or air tools oil which is 5 weight is the proper lubricant. Using too much oil is just as bad as using too little oil. The oil can wash away the special lubricant inside the cylinder if there is too much. Call me on Monday to discuss. Your cylinders should not be going bad this soon and I would like to try and find out why.

[Doug S]

I have a 2010 M&R Sportsman E with 80,000 impresssions on it .  There are about 3 heads that the squeegee lowers at the same speed but raises slower on one side than the other.  One of them raises much slower on one side than the other.  I've checked the pivot bolts to make sure that one isn't tighter than the other.  I'm getting about 1 drop of oil per 6 indexes from the oiler.  I've never had water in the press "I check the condensation bowl about every 3 days and have 3 water traps between the the chiller and the press, so the chiller is working fine.  I have drained the air from the press and dropped a couple of drops of oil in each air hose connected to the chopper cylinders and that doesn't seem to help.  So I was wondering if anyone had tried squirting wd40 into the chopper cylinders or would that completely screw it up?  I wanted to ask before I tried it.

do not use wd40 in the cylinders. 10 weight non detergent oil or air tools oil which is 5 weight is the proper lubricant. Using too much oil is just as bad as using too little oil. The oil can wash away the special lubricant inside the cylinder if there is too much. Call me on Monday to discuss. Your cylinders should not be going bad this soon and I would like to try and find out why.

I will call.  Thanks,