[robstercraw]

Hey all. New to screenprinting. Just got a Riley Hopkins 6/2. First of all i loosen up the knobs for the micro and get everything in place, but when i tighten the knobs back up, it comes out of registration. Im wondering if my off contact is too high. I got it pretty close to 1/16th. What i noticed is when i loosen the micro knobs, the screen falls to the platen, so when i tighten them up it raises again and is obviously off. I have found that if i slowly tighten them up back and forth between knobs, while moving the micros, i can get it. But what a pain!! Is this normal? Or is it an off contact issue? some other adjustments im not aware of? Or a crappy press?

Secondly, and even more frustrating.... I have a 5 color job im lining up. I start with the black screen. Get it all lined up and move on to the other screens. Well when i get back to the black and double check it, its fallen out of registration. I make my way around again checking all the screens a 2nd time. Most of them are still on, but some do require some adjustments. But when i get back to that first screen, its way off again! (hope this all make sense!) Any ideas what might be causing this?

Thanks for the tips.

 

[Industryps]

These things are pretty common with these type of presses. I have found that it helps when you set up your screens across from each other- Once you have your print order in mind, set up your black, then set up whichever color would be placed in the head directly across. Setting up all your heads this way will balance the load and help keep things in place. We would also place small chips of cardboard were the clamps hold the screens so they had a nice, snug fit without any wiggle room. Try and do most of your micro adjusting when you are placing the screen into the clamps, using the micro adjustments as a last resort. Once you play around with the press more, you'll get a feel for how your micros move the screen and you'll learn how to compensate for it and get it to hit the right spot. It's also very important to make sure the nylon knobs (that hold your arm in place above the platen) allow the screen arm to fall into place easily, but don't allow any side-to-side movement.

 

[robstercraw]

So, this definitely seemed to help. BUT..... no matter what screen i line up first, it is always off by the same amount in the same direction when i get back to it. And not by much, but enough to notice. It looks like everything else is staying in place except for the first one. I made new screens, i put them in different arms, i feel like ive tried everything. Any ideas what the deal could be? Is it me? Or something weird with the press?

 

[Industryps]

check all the nuts and bolts for the arm that is causing problems. There is a good chance that something is loose or something is off for that head. If there is no obvious problems, carefully examine how it lays down compared to the other heads and see if something needs adjusting. Sometime if it's mounted slightly crooked of too high, it throws off the alignment and off contact for that head.

 

[robstercraw]

Got it figured out. First, and probably biggest problem, I was setting my off-contact wrong. Also, and this may be the same for all presses, there is a very fine line between too tight and not tight enough on the screen clamps. Once i found that spot and got the off contact right everything went awesome! There were a couple in the middle of the run, not back to back, that were a hair off. But everything else was great!!

Thanks for the advice and info!!!!

 

[Industryps]

Awesome! Glad to hear it. Those presses have their issues, but once you learn how to accommodate for them, they print great