Windmill guide bar
I am having problems with an older windmill. I believe the bottom guides were hardly ever used. I read a post or two saying that when they havent been used for a while, sometimes they get stuck because of build-up. I have oiled anything and everything I can oil, and I am able to move the guide bar into place, by pushing on the knob that engages/disengages the guides.
When running the press the guide bar will move up and down slightly, but will not move side to side.
I have noticed that there is a gear, located directly next to the flywheel. (It is a circular piece, has a dip in it, and there is piece that rides it around—- I do not know the proper terms for these parts in this area, but I will be talking about this in the next two points)
—When running with no guides, the parts above function correctly.
—When running with guides, the part that rides around the circular gear, only rides on it for half the time, and then pulls off.
I believe that this is the problem, but i have no idea how it is to be fixed, or why this would even happen in the first place.
(I do have pictures of the part, but it is hard to see what is going on)
** If anyone understands what I am talking about, I salute you. I have no idea how to be more clear about this, but it seems confusing.
From memory, and I am going back some 17years since I last operated an Heidelberg, the part you are referring to is No T0450 a double lever.
The most common cause for this to malfunction is lack of lubrication.
What you need to do is drain the oil from your oilgun and refill with kerosene, then force this kerosene into the oil nipple until you can see it coming out around the bearing; then drain the kerosene from the oilgun, refill with oil and repeat forcing the oil through the nipple until you can see it around the bearing.
This should fix your problem.
First off: The circular piece, that has a dip in it, with a piece that rides around it, this is a cam. The piece that rides around it is the cam rider.
I am currently dealing with the exact same problem, funny
enough. Mine isn’t up and running again yet, but so far as I can tell the cam rider will pull off the cam and not ride at the smallest spot on the cam, you might want someone else to confirm this but I think it’s normal.
I doubt yours has the same cause as mine, as you probably would have noticed, but I figured I’d post anyway.
My problem was that the shaft controlling the action of the bottom and side guides was moving, but not far enough. The cam and rider that control the side-guide seemed to not move at all, and no matter how well I lubricated it, it wouldn’t move any better.
It could move freely if I raised them to position by hand, but 5 or 10 impressions later it would be back to not really moving. I couldn’t tell because it was a very small crack, but the support bracket (part T2001) at the lower driveside of the platen was cracked, and the shaft that is connected to the bottom guide bar and side guide cam wasn’t held firmly to the platen. Because of this give (I could pull it out a few millimetres) it wasn’t engaging correctly.
The new part is in the mail. Attached is a picture of it. We’ll see how it goes once replaced….
Paul
T2001.jpg
Scott, i had the same problem with my windmill a couple of years ago, i use the gauges a lot, all of a sudden the gauges weren’t moving up enough, i must have never oiled the part you were talking about, it took a while to get it freed up so it worked again, been fine ever since. Dick G.
Thanks for the responses, and the proper term for the parts… I will double check to see if there are any cracks. I do not think there are though, but it is always worth another look. When the cam rider comes off the cam, there is about an inch gap, but only happens when using guides.
I will just keep lubricating everything, and see what happens. It is so frustrating!
@ Paul- hope the new support bracket fixes your issue.
Alright, the new part has gotten me 95% the way there.
First off: The cam rider inside the flywheel should always be contacting the cam, it doesn’t at any point float above the cam on mine now.
I am having a similar situation to you, though. It will register 90% of prints fine, but my bar is inconsistent in how far it goes up to the platen. It’s only a matter of a few points in mine, but it’s still a problem. As Scott, I’ve oiled everything I can, but whatever is pushing the bar up or pulling it across to the pump side of the press is not doing it’s job and for the life of me I cannot figure out where that is. I can push the bar up just a little but once it reaches impression and I stop the press.
Edit: I’ve talked to a tech at Whittenburg who advised me that this entire mechanism is jig-drilled and fitted during assembly. My problem was that the part I had ordered had been drilled differently than the one I had previously had, so I have to remove the taper pin from the toggle and rely on the set-screw to keep it in place. I should be gravy. Hope you get yours fixed, scott.
Paul
Good to know. Thanks Paul. Good luck, and let us know how it goes.