Gauntlet having issues clearing?

[mk162]

i think I would run 1" in mine.  You should be fine with that, and put small ones on the flood, there isn't a need for a ton of flood pressure.

[ZooCity]

It looked like the 1 1/16" would fit but I wasn't sure.  Have to order a couple and see.

Are any of these rebuildable?  I see SMC and Bimba make ones that will work in both sizes.  Or maybe it's not worth it to rebuild?

[mk162]

nope, not rebuildable.

[ZooCity]

nope, not rebuildable.

That seems silly.  What is that makes them go?  Prolly a $0.75 o ring.

[Homer]

uhh are you sure they can't be rebuilt? we are rebuilding the air switches at the moment.  super small o rings inside, they leak a bit and make the air locks really weak. I need to upgrade our bimbas too, mainly in head 1 and 6 for whites. I think 1" is the way to go zoo...

[ZooCity]

I think 1" is the way to go zoo...

Damn right it is...if they fit.  I'll post up if they do or not.

I wouldn't mess with trying a rebuild on 'em unless they were made specifically to be rebuildable. 

We're 2x stroking color 1 on a 2co DC run right now b/c only one of our heads has full pressure, all the other cylinders are weak so I'm seeing the importance of this.  DC takes a little muscle even on an auto press.  No complaints though, beats knocking all this out on the manny, which is tied up anyways...

[ebscreen]

Like Homer said it's usually the first and last head with this issue. You can put a drop of pneumatic oil
in the air inlet to see if it helps, and verifies this is the problem. On other machines I've seen sticky
air valves create similar issues (typically not getting full pressure until the end of the stroke).

Rebuildable air cylinders are $$. It's a sealed vessel with some pretty hefty forces going on....

[JBLUE]

1" will fit fine. I run 1" on the squeegees and 3/4" on the floods. 3/4 just cannot handle the pressure. It was the first thing I changed within days of getting the press.

[mk162]

Yup, not rebuildable.  like eb said, the ones that are get pricey.

I preferred the Clippard brand, but they were 7/8th inch bore.

I am going to check around Aero's site for a single action cylinder for the RPM.

[ScreenFoo]

Like Homer said it's usually the first and last head with this issue. You can put a drop of pneumatic oil
in the air inlet to see if it helps, and verifies this is the problem. On other machines I've seen sticky
air valves create similar issues (typically not getting full pressure until the end of the stroke).

Rebuildable air cylinders are $$. It's a sealed vessel with some pretty hefty forces going on....

The shop I started at has the same model same year press, when we moved it (nearly ten years ago now,) I went through the whole mac bank and pulled the top hose, put a drop of oil in, replaced it.  That machine went over two million impressions a couple years ago, and they still haven't replaced any of the cylinders or valves.  Don't get me wrong, most of them could sure use it, but the thing is still banging out prints.
Of course, you've already checked your oiler, right? 


Homer: Never thought about pulling apart an air switch--I have a few that are getting hissy, might have to check that out.  Thanks for the hint.

[californiadreamin]

1 1/16" will fit on these presses. It increases pressure twice as much as a 3/4'' cylinder.

Force = Power Factor x Pressure
 To keep it simple ex. 100psi
   3/4" -Power Factor  .44
   1 1/16"  "      "        .88

So a 3/4 at 100psi=  44psi, 11/16" at 100psi = 88psi

Quite a difference!

[ZooCity]

Of course, you've already checked your oiler, right?

1 drop every 7/8 cycles with everything on... I think I read that right in the ol' manual?  I'm new to using metric crap tons of air in machines.  Air supply appears to be bone dry so far, nothing to drain from the FLR.   

That's cool Winston, makes a lot of sense to think about it that way.  Glad to hear the big ones fit, I had ordered just a pair to check.

Now I wonder if you can upgrade the stroke/flood cylinders too?  They appear to struggle with getting the stroke going and up to speed and staying smooth and consistent across that whopping 15-16" of travel.

[ericheartsu]

Of course, you've already checked your oiler, right?

1 drop every 7/8 cycles with everything on... I think I read that right in the ol' manual?  I'm new to using metric crap tons of air in machines.  Air supply appears to be bone dry so far, nothing to drain from the FLR.   

That's cool Winston, makes a lot of sense to think about it that way.  Glad to hear the big ones fit, I had ordered just a pair to check.

Now I wonder if you can upgrade the stroke/flood cylinders too?  They appear to struggle with getting the stroke going and up to speed and staying smooth and consistent across that whopping 15-16" of travel.

we are in this boat too. they seem to struggle as soon as it starts printing, causing weird lines in alot of our prints

[ZooCity]

Of course, you've already checked your oiler, right?

1 drop every 7/8 cycles with everything on... I think I read that right in the ol' manual?  I'm new to using metric crap tons of air in machines.  Air supply appears to be bone dry so far, nothing to drain from the FLR.   

That's cool Winston, makes a lot of sense to think about it that way.  Glad to hear the big ones fit, I had ordered just a pair to check.

Now I wonder if you can upgrade the stroke/flood cylinders too?  They appear to struggle with getting the stroke going and up to speed and staying smooth and consistent across that whopping 15-16" of travel.

we are in this boat too. they seem to struggle as soon as it starts printing, causing weird lines in alot of our prints

Yeah the chatter at print start is kinda silly, you could place the top of the image lower but at some point you have what, a 12x15" print area? So far all we're running is DC on it and it's just fine (freaking great actually and saving our butts in here right now) but we haven't ran anything bigger than 6x9 or so and won't have to until next week I don't think.   

[Homer]

we were getting that in our new machine, the lines are the flood bar stuttering along the stroke. for us -it was insufficiant air volume. Maybe check your air lines for a kink /leak? Check the valves too, maybe it's a little dirty or possibly sticking. If it does it on every head then you may need more air....The old gauntlets sip air, they don't need much at all. What type of set up do you guys have? We had to run a 3/4" line to a 30 gallon captive air tank along with a 56 cfm chiller from our 80 gal tank. but this is to run both gauntlets, the gauntlet 2 gulps air, I can watch the tank drain about 5 PSI with every index. the 6 color gauntlet can run on a bike pump compared to that thing....I need to find a rotory screw asap.