- Take the Kompac off the machine and separate the rollers. Place the Kompac on a sheet of white bond paper on a light table. Bring the rollers slowly together until they just touch.- make a complete revolution of the rollers. No light should show through. Light would show only through depressed spots in the rollers (Low spots.) Operators putting excess pressure between rollers to compensate for low spots often cause ink burst marks (tracks) in the printed copy, sometimes confused with gear streaks or toning at the outer edges of the plate.
- Calibrate the unit: Separate the rollers with the numbered calibrating knobs, disregarding the numbers. Use two strips of paper to set a slight drag equally on each side of the roller. It is important to the operation of the Kompac that the rollers are as parallel as possible.
- Remove the small outer slotted screw from the calibration knobs and use a 3/32 hex wrench to loosen and reset the knobs to corresponding numbers.
- Replace and retighten screws with both knobs set at the number “1”. “0” should separate the rollers, “2-2’/2” should be the operating position.
- The numbers on the calibrating knob should always correspond when the rollers are exactly parallel. Never operate the unit with the knobs out of calibration after they have been set correctly.
- With a plate on the machine, set the Kompac in the brackets on the machine without the spring. Let the Kompac fall down on the plate cylinder to assume a parallel position on the plate cylinder. Tighten the Kompac to a slight drag in the slotted brackets to hold the unit in place.
- Hand operate the machine to ink up the Kompac and take an ink stripe. There should be an exact parallel stripe across the plate. (Do not Operate the machine under power without the springs attached.)
- If the stripe is not parallel tap the slightly tightened Kompac up or down in the slot until it makes a perfectly parallel stripe.
- Tighten the Kompac in the brackets and attach the springs.
- With the plate still attached, operate the Press in the water position and adjust the unit to a very slight bounce evenly on both sides. Do not operate the machine with excessive bounce.
- Add ink to the press and ink up the plate to a dense black. Stripe the Kompac form to be certain the roll is parallel. If not, make a slight adjustment.
- Allow the form and fountain rolls to make contact for 10-15 seconds, place the single lever in the water position, use the hand wheel to make a rapid 1/4 inch turn opposite the nip. The ink burst strip should be approximately 1/8 and parallel. This will show the rollers are correctly calibrated.
- Check the PH of the fountain solution. Use the manufactures minimum recommendation usually 4.0 – 4.5 acid and 5.5 – 6.0 alkaline.
- Add fountain solution to the Kompac and with the press operating at a slow speed drop the form on the inked plate.
- After dropping the Kompac rollers on the inked plate, the rollers should begin removing the ink evenly across the plate within 4-5 revolutions and clean the plate completely and evenly across in 20-25 revolutions.
- With the press off and the Kompac lifted off the plate, the plate should immediately begin drying evenly. Patches of water or excess water at the bottom of leading edges indicate more pressure is needed between rollers.
- Excessive revolutions or inability of Kompac to remove ink from the plate indicate more water – or less pressure between the roller nip.
- An area left inked in the middle of the plate can mean a slight low spot in the rollers of the unit.
- An uneven cleanup across the plate means the rollers are not parallel.
- Water droplets or a complete instant removal of ink along the edge of the plate indicate leaking seals, or a weak pressure – plate ‘against the seal.
- If rollers leave a residue or spots of balled-up ink segments, check chemicals or PH.
- Kompac should remove all ink leaving a shiny, clean plate.
- If the plate is clean at the front edge, but tones at the trailing edge, more pressure is needed form to plate. 24. Ink piling at lead edge bend of plate indicate too much roller pressure, glazed rollers, or chemicals causing excessive need of pressure.
- A small amount of buildup in the plate edge over long runs is common. Stop the press and clean leading edge when needed.
- Kompac will not operate properly with:
- Low spots in the rollers
- Glazed rollers
- Long or excessively soft ink or ink mixed with certain dryers
- Unbalanced PH in water fountain solution
- Rollers not parallel across plate
- Kompac tilted or binding in mounting frames
- Certain fountain solutions and inks are not compatible with the Kompac
- Paper plates made by certain manufacturers without their recommended
NOTE: Kompac has discontinued manufacturing the 92260 seal. If you are still using these old style seals, you will need to buy the 92280 upgrade kit to use new style seals.