Press Condition And Correct Oils And Greases Vital

With the emphasis in the printing industry on just in time delivery the correct maintenance of printing machinery is more important than ever.

With the emphasis in the printing industry on just in time delivery the correct maintenance of printing machinery is more important than ever.

That is according to Sovereign Lubricants and Seals, which has launched a service that the company believes will be beneficial to any printer.

Sovereign is offering any printing or packaging maintenance engineer a free lubrication analysis, which can be conducted during a visit, or via e-mail and telephone.

"The new service is being introduced as a direct result of customer feed back.

Most of our most respected printing customers have used Omega products for over 10 years, some as long as 20 years and as a result of the correct choice of Omega lubricant their printing presses run for longer," said Steve Chesters owner of Sovereign.

He added that one customer had put off the purchase of a new press after eight years using the old one because the existing machine was still producing quality print.

That performance was partly attributed to using Omega greases and oils.

Another customer in Northampton was replacing cam followers (normal cost between GBP70 and GBP90on his press after two years.

The engineer working on the press spoke to a friend in the industry who ran the same model of press , who replaced his cam followers only every five years because of the use of Omega 77.

According to the company, the three main products that have proved their effectiveness are Omega 77 grease, Omega 636 release spray and Omega 690 gear oil.

Omega 77 contains additives called megalites, which are claimed to help the lubricant to adhere to the metal surface and conform to the surface finish to effectively provide a grease-to-grease film that reduces friction and wear to almost zero.

Omega 77 does not fling off whilst in use and penetrates deep in to the surface to stay in position, added the company.

The company's Omega 636 is said to dissolve rust and waterproofs in one go.

Its formulation is based on Jamaican pimento oil, which is the only oil in the world that is heavier than water.

As a result, the spray adheres to the metal surface and leaves a water proof barrier, particularly useful for gripper bars that can sometimes be left with a light film of moisture after the press self-cleaning process has taken place, claimed Sovereign.

The Omega 690 gear oil is said to have been used throughout the world since 1960.

The company believes the oil out-performs and outlasts almost all known gear oils and a life of 10 years is not unusual for this product.

David Brook, Sovereign's sales director, said: "The main areas where we have had considerable success is on the cam followers and gripper bars, which can be very expensive to repair or replace.

We have come across instances when a major printer has a press out of production and it can cost GBP70.00 for a cam follower but then a further GBP500.00 for an outside contractor to come on site to fit it.

That particular printer was using a pot of grease purchased from Halfords motoring accessory store to grease his press.".

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