Appendix C
Setup Procedures
WARNING
Setup procedures are to be performed only by
qualified setup personnel, and only under
direction and supervision of the user’s safety
department. It is the responsibility of the user
organization to establish safety regulations that
prevent danger of injury to personnel during
setup operations in the user’s particular shop
environment.
The following information is
provided only as a general guideline and is
NOT to be considered as specific or qualified
recommendations.
Clamp Setup:
 Assure that the three (3) Emergency Stop pushbuttons are pulled out and
that the Power On light is illuminated.
 Check to see that the hydraulic oil reservoir is full, the oil is cool and that
the ball valve that supplies oil to the pump is open.
 Start the main hydraulic pump by turning the selector to “Run” and
releasing.
 Place the operating mode switch in “Setup”.
 Place the Screen Display Mode switch in “Edit”.
 Turn off all heater zone switches.
 Be extremely careful working around hot molds and platens.
 From the Main Menu select the Clamp Setup screen.
o Press the function key to edit the mold open position, and with the
Inch Open pushbutton lower the clamp enough to accept the new
mold.
o Press the function key to edit the mold open position again to save
the current position.
o Carefully place the mold on the clamp bolster as centrally as
possible to line up with the t-slots in the platen.
 If the clamp bolster drifts downward after the mold is in
place, adjust the counterbalance valve located under the
clamp solenoid valve. Turn the adjusting screws counter
clockwise to until the drifting stops. If this control is turned
too far, the clamp bolster will chatter or jerk when in normal
motion.
o Unlock the top platen either by pulling the manual lock out or
turning the Top Platen Lock switch to Unlock.
 If the platen is hard to unlock, try using the selector switch to
raise the top platen and take the load off the locks.
o Lower the Top Platen.
o Install a nozzle that matches the bushing diameter and depth in the
mold to be installed.
o Raise and lock the Top Platen
o If necessary edit the clamp operating speeds to assure safe,
controllable lifting of the mold while positioning the mold to clear the
nozzle.
o Use the Cycle Start pushbuttons to raise the mold until it nearly
touches the nozzle.
o Adjust the position of the mold to assure that the nozzle will enter
the mold bushing smoothly when the mold is fully closed.
o Using T-Nuts in the T-Slots, secure the top and bottom halves of
the mold to the platens.
o Carefully move the clamp bolster up and down to assure the mold
halves are seated together without binding.
o Move the Mold to the closed position, and back off about 1/8”.
o Edit the Mold Closed position using the function key.
o Open the mold until the alignment pins are about 2” from contacting
the top half of the mold. Edit the Obstruction position.
o If necessary set the Intermediate positions of the mold using the
same procedure. If you do not require intermediate positions, set
these positions equal to the Mold Open position.
o Open the mold until the mold is at a convenient height for unloading
set the Mold Open Position (and the Intermediate positions if they
are not used).
o Raise the clamp about 6” and set the Slow Down position.
o Set the clamp operating speeds, typically 70% high speed and 35%
low speed.
o Set the Clamp Pressure to the lowest value, which will provide
acceptable operation of the clamp, excessive pressure could
damage the mold in the event that a tool or other foreign object
were accidentally left in the mold.
o With the Hydralock selector switch off, open and close the mold
several time to verify the setup and adjust as needed.
o Set the hydralock pressure to the highest pressure that will not
deform the mold.
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Pressure Column Setup:
 With the mold fully closed, disconnect the Pressure Column In Safe
proximity switch connector.
o Turn Hydralock selector switch on.
o Using the Cycle Start pushbuttons move the pressure column
toward the clamp bolster making sure there is no interference.
o Measure the distance between the top of the pressure column and
the bottom of the pad attached to the clamp bolster.
o Subtract about ½” from this dimension.
o Depending on the type of press you have you may need to add
spacers to the pressure column or adjust the jackscrew under the
clamp bolster.
 Method 1:
o Move the Pressure Column to the out position.
o Remove the centering rod and top plate from
the pressure column.
o From the set of spacers shipped with the
press, select a subset of spacers that equal the
height calculated above, arrange the spacer
plates on the column.
o Be sure the spacer plates sit flat on the
pressure column and are properly nested.
o Replace the top plate and centering rod being
sure the top of the rod is flush with the top
plate.
o Carefully move the pressure column under the
clamp bolster.
WARNING
Never allow anyone to place fingers, other body
parts or tools between the Pressure Column and
the Clamp Bolster at any time.

o Check the spacing to be sure there is 1/4” to
½” clearance between the pressure column
and clamp bolster.
Method 2:
o If the press has a jackscrew located under the
clamp bolster, loosen the jam screws on the
back of the jackscrew nut, and adjust this
screw to the dimension calculated above,
(spacer plates may be added if necessary).
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WARNING
Never allow anyone to place fingers, other body
parts or tools between the Pressure Column and
the Clamp Bolster at any time.
o Carefully move the pressure column under the
clamp bolster.
o Check the spacing to be sure there is 1/4” to
½” clearance between the pressure column
and clamp bolster.
o Re-tighten the jam screws.
o Connect the Pressure Column In Safe proximity switch connector.
 Move the Pressure Column under the Clamp Bolster and
allow it to Hydralock, observe the Hydralock Safety proximity
switch to be sure it will not overtravel.
o Return to Main Menu.
Injection Setup:
 This section assumes a new mold is being installed for the first time.
o Using data from the mold maker, estimate the volume of rubber that
will be required to fill the mold.
 The volume is entered in cubic Inches of rubber, calibrated
to a specific gravity of 1.25.
 16-ounces (1-pound) of rubber equals 22.2 cubic inches per
pound, or 1.39 ounces per cubic inch.
 If the weight of each part is given, then multiply this by the
number of parts in the mold and then multiply by the
equivalent cubic inches.
o On the Main Setup Screen:
 Enter 75% of this volume into the “Volume” variable location.
 Set the temperatures and cure time as recommended by the
rubber compounder.
 Set the dwell time and screw delay to zero.
 Set the screw RPM to 30.
o On the Auxiliary Options screen:
 Verify the setting of the Screw Starts after Injection or
Screw Starts After Clamp Opens option.
 Temporarily, set the Inject Transfer Mode to Off.
 Temporarily, set the Vacuum Delay time to zero.
o Turn on the heat switches and wait for the temperatures to stabilize
at the setpoints.
 Typical Platen temperatures are 340° to 390° F.
 Typical TCU zone temperatures are 120°-160° F.
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o Once the temperatures have stabilized, inset the end of a rubber
feed strip through the feed rollers and into the feed port.
WARNING
Never place fingers, tools or anything except the
rubber feed strip into the Feed Port.
Serious injury and/or machine damage may occur.
o Press the Jog Screw pushbutton until rubber begins to be drawn
into the feed screw.
o Set the Mode switch to Semi-Auto and the Screw Reload switch to
On.
 This should cause the screw to start and run until the inject
volume reaches the setpoint.
o Be sure the mold is fully open.
o Using the Cycle Start pushbuttons, close and hydralock the press.
 The press will then inject, cure and open using the variables
you have set previously.
o If the cavity is not filled out increase the volume setpoint and repeat
the cycle until the parts are filled.
 It may be necessary to “Purge” some rubber from the
Injection Barrel to get it to refill to the new settings.
Injection Setup Troubleshooting:
o If there is excessive flash, decrease the Inject Volume Setpoint.
o If the cavity is not filled out and there is no excessive flash,
increase the volume setpoint and/or the dwell time.
o If the cavity is not filled out and there is excessive flash elsewhere,
use the Auxiliary Options screen to set bumps or vacuum times.
o If the parts are too soft, increase the cure time or platen
temperatures.
o If the parts have “knots” of hard rubber (“burned”), try decreasing
the screw speed and/or the inject speed, lowering the TCU
temperatures and/or decreasing the idle time the rubber spends in
the barrel by increasing the screw delay time to cause the refill to
finish just before the next cycle.
Setup Considerations:
It is very important to achieve good quality parts by
varying only one parameter at a time, and working
patiently with a long cycle time before attempting to
increase the cycle rate. Only after obtaining consistently
good quality parts may the temperatures and speeds be
inched up, one at a time, to improve the production cycle
rate. Never attempt to decrease the cure time and the
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inject time or other speed component during the same
cycle. Such attempts often lead to unacceptable parts
and confusion over which change caused the defects.
After the basic fill and cycle times are established, use the Auxiliary Options
screen Screw Start… and the Main Setup, Screw Delay variable to cause the
screw to fill the inject barrel just before the next cycle begins or reaches the inject
point.
Verify that the Feed Port Alarm is enabled for safety.
On the Clamp Setup screen, the clamp open and close speeds can be
increased to improve the overall cycle time, but caution should be exercised to
avoid excessive which could damage components or endanger personnel.
On the Inject Setup screen, the injection speed can be increased as long as it
does not cause “burning” of the rubber. If increasing the inject speed does not
decrease the injection time, it may be necessary to increase the injection
pressure to achieve the desired speed. Also, increased barrel and nozzle
temperatures can soften the rubber to allow for faster injection, as long as it does
not cause “burning” or premature curing.
After all the parameters are set satisfactorily, the Mold Directory screen can be
used to save the entire setup so that it can be restored whenever the particular
mold is used again.
Before turning the machine over to production operators, turn the Screen
Display Mode key switch to Run, remove the key and place it in a secure
location to prevent unauthorized changes to the setup parameters.
Whenever there will be a pause of more than a few minutes in the operation of
the press, steps must be taken to prevent the curing of rubber in the nozzle,
injection barrel and screw.
Compounds with long cure times and high cure temperatures may be prevented
from curing by switching the TCU unit to “Crash Cool”. Faster curing compounds
must be flushed from the screw and injection unit with non-curing rubber. If
rubber does cure in the injection unit it may be necessary to unlock and lower the
top platen, remove the nozzle, and force the cured rubber out using the Manual
Inject pushbutton. If rubber cures in the screw an cannot be run out with the Jog
Screw pushbutton, the screw unit will have to lifted to clear it.
To clear the screw unit of cured rubber:
1. Unbolt the base of the screw unit from the injection barrel.
2. Place the Mode switch in Setup, and use the Inject (Screw Lift) selector
or Manual Inject pushbutton to lower the inject plunger to its lowest point.
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3. Raise the screw-lifting arm until its free end engages the injection plunger
plate, and fasten it there using the dowel rod provided.
4. Use the Inject (Screw Lift) selector switch to raise the inject plunger and
thus lift the screw unit clear of the inject barrel.
5. Use the Jog Screw pushbutton to run the screw and feed non-curing
rubber or clean-out compound through the screw until the cured rubber is
purged out.
6. It may also be necessary to unbolt and remove the ball check assembly
located between the base of the screw unit and the injection barrel. The
ball check valve can then be disassembled for manual removal of cured
rubber.
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