Off Contact on the Gauntlet

[rmonks]

Being new to the M&R world, and coming up on the sweatshirt season, I have a question about off contact and my press. According to the Tech. that came by the only off contact on my gauntlet is at each head, you have to adjust the four threaded bolts holding the screen holders to change the off contact. Do printers that have these machines actually adjust these bolts every time they go from t-shirts to hoodies, or is there some mid point they settle with.

[244]

Being new to the M&R world, and coming up on the sweatshirt season, I have a question about off contact and my press. According to the Tech. that came by the only off contact on my gauntlet is at each head, you have to adjust the four threaded bolts holding the screen holders to change the off contact. Do printers that have these machines actually adjust these bolts every time they go from t-shirts to hoodies, or is there some mid point they settle with.

Just curious. Who was the tech that told you that?

[mk162]

If your gauntlet is the same as mine, then yes, that is the case.  The best thing to do is set it for tees and then use paint paddles as shims under the frames to increase off contact

[Homer]

what? i have a central off contact 3 position lever on my '94 model -  there is no way I would screw with those threaded knobs. only when I level the head out.

[mk162]

Well, you have a feature I don't have.

I try and avoid those knobs.

[alan802]

You need to set the off contact per head for sweatshirts then use some type of mark for a guide for when you have to go back to sweats and you can simply crank the nuts/bolts to where you had them set perfectly before.  I did that on our centurian.  I used a fine tip sharpie to mark where I had the screen holders moved up to and it was just a matter of bringing them back to that mark whenever we printed sweats.  I know that doesn't make much sense, I might take a picture of how I would do it on our RPM if it didn't have COC if you need me to.

[JBLUE]

1/4 in blue tape works to and its easy to see.

[ebscreen]

244 alluded to this not being the case? Is off contact on older Gauntlets
only adjustable via the screen hangers?

[tonypep]

It can be. It was introduced as an option at the beginning but I believe is standard feature now. I would not adjust those theaded rods as you eventually cause the press to become unlevel and off plane. Old school shims are a better option IMO

[rmonks]

Shims it is. Or just print the sweats on the Javelin. It being as simple a machine as it it has some advantages.

[ebscreen]

Shims requiring re-registration unless I'm missing something?

Sorry for all the questions, I've just been thinking of getting a Gauntlet
as a second press, so I'd like to know what's involved.

I remember Homer having an issue with his flood bar always being pressurized into
the screen or something?

[tonypep]

Yes re-register in most cases. It sucks but it's not impossible to find a sweet spot off contact depending on the graph and screen tension among other things.

[Homer]

 It's the squeegie putting constant force on the screen. BUT Rich told me of a retro system I can buy that runs on flags that trips the air valve or something? I would rather have the flood bar down all the time since there is less pressure on it. That way we can still use the micros. . .I would buy another gauntlet IF -big IF-  the squeegie AND the flood bar both went into the up position at the end of the stroke AND the micros where a little easier to use. When you loosen the two knobs to adjust the micro, and then tighten them up -the screens sometimes moves. Also, to remove a screen, you have to take out the squeegie, which means loosen all the pressure off of it and then readjust the pressure when you put a new screen in. . takes a ton of time to set up new designs. I don't know if I described the issue right. .

Rich -if you are following me -do you happen to know of a part number -or the name of this thing? I need these pretty badly.

[rmonks]

I see M&R sells shims called    RASTA BARS made just for making off contact possible by placing them under the screens.

[jsheridan]

I see M&R sells shims called    RASTA BARS made just for making off contact possible by placing them under the screens.

they work but are priced stupid high for what they are.. metal bar stock in 3 different sizes painted red,yellow, and green.

You can goto Home Depot, the metal bar section and buy flat bar in varied thicknesses and width. Cut to size and put one at each end of the screen holder. YES you will need to adjust your flood -squeegee height.