Heidelberg platen siezed up
Hi all,
We just hooked up a heidelberg at our new warehouse. The press is a redball 10x15, serial T167 451 E, with foil and lockouts. I believe the electrical looks to be correct and upon first rotation in our shop the platen froze halfway closed while the rollers are locked into position at the top of the press. The machine was fully worked over at Hicks Brothers in San Francisco so I would think the machine is ready to roll.
Now when you turn it on the flywheel moves like you’d expect but if you engage the clutch the motor almost stops because something isn’t allowing the press to move. I tried moving the flywheel by hand with machine off also and it doesn’t budge. What would be jamming the motion like this?
Is there a foil or lock-out related component that I’m not aware of that has jammed?
Should I try rolling the flywheel back? It hasn’t printed and impression was not on.
Is electrical at fault?
The motor seems standard, 1.5 hp like I’ve seen on other machines. Our warehouse has industrial electric so we’ve had some issues hooking up another machine but this seems mechanical.
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Here is where it jammed up.
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nico, where are you located? also, is the clutch engaged when it locks up?
@senspire Located in Los Angeles (Alhambra specifically). I wasn’t here when it locked up like this, but from what I was told, the electrical was just hooked up, and my cohort pulled the clutch arm out and the platen raised about halfway and stopped. Now if you engage the clutch, the flywheel goes from fully spinning to full stop, laboring to move at all and straining the motor. Mechanic is coming out today. We’ve only got one guy in the city that I know of who can do repairs on windmills these days.
The machine has been refurbished, but may have sat for a year or two or more. Looks fantastic but has some surface rust.
Too bad Hicks Brothers is no more. The immediate thing that comes to mind is that the press runs in only one direction by design and will turn slightly in the wrong direction and then seize up.
@nico a buddy of mine from SD said that this guy (if he’s still around) services windmills:
Bill Berkuta
818-216-2583