Heidelberg windmill winterizing?
Hi there,
I purchased a Heidelberg windmill press this past summer. It is currently situated in my (unheated, but attached) garage. I haven’t used it yet (it was a deal that I couldn’t pass up, although I originally wanted to wait a few years) and it will not be used until at least next summer.
Anyway, how can I best prepare the press for sitting unused over the winter? I live in southwestern Ontario, so the winters can get moderately chilly. I would expect the temperature in the garage to reach -10 or -15C (5 F).
This thread touched on the topic: http://briarpress.org/14575
I intend on blanketing the press, but was unsure if I should do anything else. It isn’t feasible for me to heat the garage at this time, unfortunately.
Should I drain the oil or top it up? I don’t know what kind the previous owner used, so I’m not sure of its characteristics.
Thanks for the suggestions,
Matthew
only thing I can think of off hand is you’ll want to take the rollers out of the garage and store them where it’s heated.
Oil should be fine as the temp won’t effect it much. The bigger concern would be condensation forming.
I agree with lammy on this: condensation could be the problem.
Personally I would coat all steel surfaces with oil or thin grease to prevent rust forming; this includes the ink duct blade, duct roller, all the steel distributing rollers, ink drum, forme bed and the unpacked platen.
All the above are vital parts and without protection could soon become useless.
Matthew,
I’m going through a similar scenario this winter, I’ve got a cylinder press I couldn’t fit into my workspace that I had to store in less than optimal conditions (unheated outbuilding).
I second Bern’s comment on coating the metal surfaces - it will be more work to clean up when you’re ready to use the press - but a small price to pay for the extra reassurance.
Recently I bought some “evapo-rust” to take care surface rust already on this press - knowing I might be “winterizing” it I also got a product the same company sells for corrosion protection called “CP-90”. I cant say for sure if its really any better than oil yet, but it sure seems to have extra benefit as a good penetrant if you have any existing sticking/corrosion - and its safe for a multitude of materials (http://www.orisonmarketing.com/corrosion/cp90/cp90.html).
To add to the above, if you cover (I’ve had to), you might take the extra step of putting a desiccant under the cover to attract any trapped moisture. For now I’m using a “dri-z-air” (which you can find at most hardware stores) just be sure to put it in an accessible spot where you can change/empty it regularly. Also be sure to keep the collected water off any metal surface - the calcium chloride used to suck up the moisture, wont evaporate out of the collected water - but can be corrosive if spilled.
-Jason
Thanks so much for all of the comments!
I’ll check locally to see what I can find in the way of products to help out and then get to work this weekend. Hopefully a few hours of preventative maintenance will save me lots of work next year.
Thanks again,
Matthew
Matt
get yourself a gal. can of wd-40 and spray all metal part real good should make it thru the winter it protects the metal and will displace any moisture.