[greenmonster71]

why has our M&R Sportsman's initial speed slowed down so much??

the machine is old, as it has been in the shop for many years before i ever started their. We had an airleak coming from what appeared (audibly) to be head six, but could have been coming from the pipe that the air pressure runs through, as it appears to go into the machine right at the base of head six, and there is a yellow handle we open and close every day right there on it.

if your truly intimate with the sportsman, you'll know of a small strange alien invention type looking thing that resides on the side and attached to the base of the machine, near the floor. If your manning the machine, in the further most right operator's position, it is located straight ahead of your feet and off set to the right directly attached to the base of the machine's wall facing you. Located near the heart of the machine, adjacent to the mechanism/arm that actually pushes the tables, around. If you don't know by now, the thing i'm referring to is of a color starkly contrasting to all the black around it. copper/khaki and houses to vials, one on each side, one containing green liquid, the other orange.


I don't know what it is, but we got it replaced by our local maintenance man who doesn't know anything about m&r sportsmans (because of the air leak, which it did fix the airleak.) and we can't get a rep out here, but since he replaced it, our machine has come to a crawl. we have contacted a service rep and they have told us to turn the little black knob thing on the bottom, to pull it down turn it, adjust it, i think its like the hydraulic fluids in there, anyway we tried that, didn't work. we were told to oil the machine, which we did and it was a temporary fix, but when we would hit emergency stop or cut the machine off(the airpressure), white clouds of smoething shot out of the strange alienesque looking contraption that has perplexed us for many a day now.

WE NEED OUR PRODUCTION SPEED BACK, fall is our busiest time of the year.

Has anybody ever heard of this?? What can i do or try??

The speed of the heads actually printing is not affected, only the actual turning of the tables has slowed significantly. But we don't hear our airleak anymore, like we did for so long when it ran wide open. man that baby used to could move for me!

also, is there a way to increase speed from the control/operators menu?

 

[alan802]

Your machine doesn't have enough air pressure built up to run it at full speed. There should be a pressure regulator on the base of the machine that you can turn to increase the pressure going into the press. That is what I would check first. There will be a dial indicating PSI that will look similar to a speedometer next to the pressure regulator that will tell you how much air pressure the press is set at. I can't tell you what to set it to because each press is different, I think our press is set to 40 PSI but it's a servo drive indexer so you may need to be higher with an air indexer.

If that doesn't work, check for a restriction in the air components (hoses, connectors, etc) leading into the press and inside the press. A kinked air hose or improper connector can keep your press starved for the PSI it needs to run the press at full speed.

 

[Trutech69]

Right , the unit with vials on is the air regulator, moisture trap and oiler. The first vial is moisture trap and should be clean and empty of moisture the secon should have oil inside for adding oil into the air.

Secondly there will be another regulator for the indexing air pressure, this will determine the air pressure for the indexer air cylinder only.

Your problem could be a mixture of low air presure, bad air condition(ie no oil) or a a very deteriated indexing cylinder, air valve etc.

Also there are flow control valve and cushion adjustments on the cylinder itself.

Where are you located, im in the UK if this helps.....

 

[greenmonster71]

thank you guys for your time reading and answering my question. i am located in mississippi, usa. i saw the psi gauge and haven't checked it yet, you say yours runs at about 40 psi? i will see what ours is, i will also check to see if there are any kinks in the hoses or anything, though i don't think thats the problem, you say it could possibly be a bad valve? i'll tell my supervisor. i will also oil it up again. you referred to a pressure regulator, i believe thats the black knob on the bottom we have turned, we have turned it all the way to the left and all the way to the right but have not payed attention to the psi gauge which i really just noticed today. so that is how you set the actual psi, is with that adjuster? or is there another way? i'm thinking maybe we need to try to adjust it with the little black knob/pressure regulator until we reach the highest psi level and leave it there, maybe in our hurry we set it one way (all the way to the max) and didn't see a noticeable difference because we didn't actually let the air pressure build up, and set it back to low pressure. we'll play with that more and oil it, and check for any obstructions in the hoses. thanks alot for your time guys, i was afraid noone could speak with any knowledge on the subject. but you guys know, thanks.
also, can i blow myself up by turning up this thing to high? and you say different machines/indexers need different levels of pressure? what do i need to know about our set up to be able to locate a specific airpressure value thats necessary for our set up?

 

[dogprinter]

To me it sounds like he replaced the part with a valve that is not the correct interior diameter. When you go from a 3/4 pipe to 1/2 inch that's a big difference in amount of air passing through. That's what it sounds like to me. Have you called the 24 hour M&R hotline?

 

[cheeseburger]

we got it replaced by our local maintenance man who doesn't know anything about m&r sportsmans

Here's half your problem right here.

Is your indexer pneumatic or servo? If it is pneumatic, then you need to be at 110psi.

When you hit E-stop, the press drains all the air out of the press as a safety precaution, the white fluid cloud you see shooting out is water left in the water trap. That is a sign that your compressor/chiller is not pulling all the moisture out of the air before it hits the press. That excess water is caught in the trap and only goes out one way. If it is enough water to cause it to jet out, that means its full and you have a serious problem on your hands. That moist air has probably been going on for a while now and has slowly but surely damaged your press hardcore.

Refer to your manual, learn the part names to help tech support identify your problem beforehand, and get an M&R tech out there asap before you do more damage to your machine.

 

[blackout]

hi i have an issue with my sportman 6/8 servo indexer airprint head. the problem is when i on the machine i get an alarm indication tyell me servo amplifier in the servo amplifier indicate AL 17. but when i off the machine and on it again the machine is ok no alarm apear on the display control panel and also no in the servo amplifier. and the machine work fine. any help pls. in the amplier have a RED ligth call charge the red turn off when i off the is it normal that?

 

[244]

hi i have an issue with my sportman 6/8 servo indexer airprint head. the problem is when i on the machine i get an alarm indication tyell me servo amplifier in the servo amplifier indicate AL 17. but when i off the machine and on it again the machine is ok no alarm apear on the display control panel and also no in the servo amplifier. and the machine work fine. any help pls. in the amplier have a RED ligth call charge the red turn off when i off the is it normal that?

Alarm 17 is board error. The board is internal to the servo amplifyer. I would turn the unit off and disconnect all the plug in cables on the servo and then reconnect them. May be a loose cable connection. If that does not clear it you may want to call our service department for further advice before you have a failure you can't clear.

 

[blackout]

hi i have an issue with my sportman 6/8 servo indexer airprint head. the problem is when i on the machine i get an alarm indication tyell me servo amplifier in the servo amplifier indicate AL 17. but when i off the machine and on it again the machine is ok no alarm apear on the display control panel and also no in the servo amplifier. and the machine work fine. any help pls. in the amplier have a RED ligth call charge the red turn off when i off the is it normal that?

Thx for you reply.

i think the problem are comming from the contactor in the electic box. do u think it could be the contactor? and why it only the first time i on the machine it do it after the first on/off it dont do the problem. one thing i also notice it does it when the red led charge ligth not on.