Thoughts on Plockmatic?

[anothertech]

The current production machines from Ricoh, 7200, 9200, 8300, run really well but the weak spot seems to be the Plockmatic. When they are used heavily the Plocks don't seem to hold up too well, I get a lot of calls for them. Any thought or tips are welcome.

[rthonpm]

Those things are still around? I used to have an LD090 with one of those things. Once it worked, I never looked at, never touched it, and never thought about it because if I did a call would come through on it. It's a third-party piece of equipment so there's no native integration into the controller and will likely always be a hassle of some kind.

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[slimslob]

A couple of items to think about on the Plockmatic.

1. When installing always properly adjust the leveling on the corners. If the entrance to the Plockmatic is not aligned to the exit of the finisher you will get jams there and SC codes related to the finisher exit and/or the Plockmatic entrance. If the upper frame of the Plockmatic not level you will have random problems. If relocated, recheck leveling.
2. The grease used in the factory on the crimping bar WILL be become more like glue than grease causing the individual crimp blades to hang in the up position and cause staple jams and staples being bent outward instead of in. Clean with de-greaser and lube with either non fluid oil or 90 weight gear box oil. Be sure to reset the lubrication counter on the Plockmatic.
3. When doing small half letter, letter center stapled and folded, pamphlets of 10 sheets or less a 60ppm Martini may actually do the job faster. I don't know about the newer production models but the older one would wait until one set was exiting the finisher to the Plockmatic before starting to feed the next set. And while it is waiting, the development unit and the drum are still turning which can lead to early failure.

[Polarbear]

I don't now about these days, but all the years Plockmatic units were built like tanks!

Chains, metal gears and metal covers! These things ran forever!

[anothertech]

I don't now about these days, but all the years Plockmatic units were built like tanks!

Chains, metal gears and metal covers! These things ran forever!

They are still built with steel, but the motors and sensors seem to be less reliable. They are a different animal, it's hard to get real proficient on them when I only have a few out in the field. Parts are very expensive and in many cases we can only get assemblies, not individual parts.