FS-608 booklet folding skew

[dragonman]

Got a bit of a strange fault on a FS-608 booklet folder. For some reason when folding a single sheet of A3 or A4 the fold line is either perfect, off to the left or off to the right. I have stripped the folder and cleaned all the folding rollers and checked for snags or places for the paper to catch but nothing has worked. The machine (551) has done 500K and mostly booklets at that. Has anyone else had the same issues? My next thought was to change the folding rollers.

Cheers

[Stirton.M]

What kind of paper are you having issues with? If it is coated stock, static would be a certainty. Of course, most paper stock can have static issues...what is the humidity of the environment? Ideal would be between 15-25% relative humidity.

[rocky246]

I've had the knife get bent by an operator that didn't program the job right. Tried to fold 25 cover stock at once instead of 25 sets. The knife was folded over in two places. This knife is pretty flimsy. It doesn't take much for it to bend.

[dragonman]

Knife is straight and paper is 80gsm. the office is a fairly new building with nice humidity and temp. I was just thinking would changing the pressure of the springs make a lot of difference?

[Stirton.M]

But what is the humidity that the machine is sensing? There is a humidity sensor display in service mode, state confirmation, temperature and humidity. If the machine records below 15% relative, then static is likely the issue, the paper is acclimatised to the environment. If it is coated stock, this makes matters worse with regard to static issues.

When any paper that goes into the stacker, there are 3 guides...one which the paper sits on, and the front and rear registration guides. There are a few mylars there too, but they should have little influence on the paper. How the paper enters the stacker is irrelevant provided it enters relatively straight on. But if there is any static on the page, as it falls into the stacker, it can become sticky to the guides and not sit square.

You can cheat the finisher door and peer into the stacker to see what the paper is doing when it enters the unit.

Other tests...try using a heavier stock paper...don't go overboard...a 40lb cover should be fine...something with enough weight that static will not be an issue and see what the machine does with that.

[dragonman]

The Temp is 29c, humidity is 37% and an absolute humidity of 10. I have adjusted the spring tension of the folding rollers and run through A3 upto 120gsm Mondi paper. The A4 is consistently folding perfectly but as soon as the A3 goes through the fold position starts to wonder from side to side. If it is static causing this how would you go about solving this one?

[Stirton.M]

Static issues are typically due to low humidity and/or paper types and weights. NCR paper can have static characteristics because of the coating. Gloss paper as well. Those two seem to be independent of local humidity, but become worse if the humidity is low.

Some things you could try is to ensure that the finisher is properly grounded to help ensure static has been eliminated. I have seen some techs install a static dissipation strip in machines where this was an issue....though not specifically this machine. It may already have something like this in place.

I wonder if perhaps the front and rear registration guides are out of adjustment...that is, they may not be tamping the paper enough when centering the paper as it sits just before the fold process. It could be something simple like that....a regional thing perhaps...looking at a cross reference chart for metric vs us, I cannot be certain, but it may be worth looking at that. The manuals indicate this should not be a problem. Firmware?

And as a point of note, the manual does indicate a deviance tolerance of 2mm.

I'll have to review my books on this.

[ChristianTheTechntian]

Re: FS-608 booklet folding skew

Got a bit of a strange fault on a FS-608 booklet folder. For some reason when folding a single sheet of A3 or A4 the fold line is either perfect, off to the left or off to the right. I have stripped the folder and cleaned all the folding rollers and checked for snags or places for the paper to catch but nothing has worked. The machine (551) has done 500K and mostly booklets at that. Has anyone else had the same issues? My next thought was to change the folding rollers.

Cheers

Hi there, i know its been awhile but, Im experiencing the exact same problem with a fs-608 booklet finisher, ive checked the guides but im unsure of how exactly this model works, i was wondering if maybe you had any suggestions? the front and rear registration guides are ones you can see from the top of the finisher? as you can see the paper dropping down and shuffling the stack, from there the paper drops onto a guide, ive made some adjustments to the guide but there is not inbetween, its either lined up perfect with a crinkle in the booklet, of its off center with no crinkle. very odd.
any help would be appreciated. (: