Universal 3 carriage not coming back
Hello,
I’m having some troubles with an automatic Uni 3. The carriage won’t come all the way back to the feedboard—it stops about an inch or so before it’s supposed to. I think it’s an electronic problem (there isn’t anything blocking its return). My current theory is that it is something wrong with the braking control, as moving that doesn’t seem to make a difference in how the press operates (and it used to). Any thoughts? Maybe there’s a way to tell for sure what the problem is? Thanks!
I may well be that the clutch needs to be adjusted, particularly if the braking control has no effect. Does the carriage willingly travel away from the feedboard, or does it stall a little bit?
The clutch can be easily adjusted to provide a secure travel. There should be an instructional label directly adjacent to the gearbox and motor on the covers. If you are lacking the label, let me know and I may be able to send the instructions to you.
John Henry
See this link showing the clutch on a Uni I http://vandercookpress.info/vanderblog/2009/02/universal-1-powered-carri...
and here is a photo of the directions label:
uni-clutch.JPG
Are the microswitches on the back of the press behaving properly? There are four of them- two at each end. The innermost ones slow the carriage and the end ones stop it. It could be that they are bad or the levers are out of position and are telling the carriage to stop early.
The part is Honeywell BZE6-2RN2 if I remember correctly. I’ve found them brand new on eBay from time to time.
Daniel Morris
The Arm Letterpress
Brooklyn, NY
Thanks Paul. That was the label I was trying to describe. I think a simple clutch adjustment will get you in business again.
JHenry
Thank you all for the advice! The automatic press is a new thing for me, so I really had no idea about the mechanics of the clutch and the rest of the powered carriage assembly. And my clutch adjustment label is missing. The Vanderblog was incredibly helpful as well—reading through all of the posts gave me a much better sense of how the whole thing works and can be adjusted. And the fix was successful, after some clutch adjustments, some oiling, some cleaning, and some tightening of various things. I did a long run on it last night and it worked perfectly. Thanks!!!