Hydraulic flat bed heat press 8Ft x 4 Ft

[KAYMOUNTING]

Hello all ... Quite a while since we last posted!

We're looking for some help urgently ...

Do you know / have you ever used an Electro mechanical engineer to repair workshop machinery before?
Anybody you can recommend?


Our hydraulic flat bed heat press is out of action, we believe there is a problem with the heating elements rather than
the controller / thermostat.

It's over 40 - 50 years old Schubert, so the manufacturer is long gone and like nearly everybody else who owns one, it
was never subject to a regular maintenance contract.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[Not your average framer]

It is extremely unlikely that a flat bed press of that size will have just a single heating element, so I'm assuming that it will have a number of elements wiring in parallel, if this is so then there is unlikely to a single mode of failure caused by the heating element.

Therefore I guessing that since a heated press of the size will consume a very substantial power consumption something very heavy duty is going to be switching all that amount of current. Like you I'm not immediately thinking about the controller, but perhaps a very heavy duty relay, or a contactor.

If it's not the controller, then it might be worth getting a competent electrical engineer to have a poke around with his test meter to see whatis working and what's not. It does not sound like anything that is all that hard to fix.

[kuduframes]

I just want to endorse Mark's diagnosis, sounds perfectly logical to me.
Any competent electrician with a modicum of factory maintenance experience should be able to sort that out

[KAYMOUNTING]

Many thanks for your advice Mark & Kuduframes.
Your input is much appreciated.

Finding somebody willing to take a look at the press though, is proving very difficult.
So far we've had nothing but two refusals on the phone, one guy who came in and
said he couldn't fix it - then another who gave us a long lecture about thermostats &
heating elements, then failed to turn up.

There MUST be somebody out there who is willing and competent to undertake the
task ... fingers crossed

[JFeig]

Have you looked for "industrial equipment maintenance" companies?

[KAYMOUNTING]

No we haven't JFeig but certainly worth a try ... thanks for the suggestion.

[Not your average framer]

I don't know if it has already occurred to you, but an engineer who repairs washing machines, or electric cookers is probably the idea person to contact. Both washing machines and cookers have heating elements and thermostats, so the fault finding and repair knowledge is much the same.

[KAYMOUNTING]

Ahhh ... good thought ! That brings somebody to mind.