I have been studying the directions in various posts and articles regarding adjusting the cylinder carriage bearings and was hoping for clarification on a couple points. First, on a Universal III, which bearing set are the impression bearings (x-12216) and which are the trip bearings (x-2688)? It seems that the lower set which ride on [...]

We have a Uni III and have recently noticed a few metal particles on the Kimwipe after wiping down the bearers. Not a a significant amount, but a few very small flakes. We print fairly regularly with the press, and do not seem to have any issues. How concerned should we be? Also, is there [...]

Okay, so it a simple 2 color business cards. A newbie could do this is an hour. But Nooooo. Using polymer plates, we ran the black, then matched up the red plate PERFECTLY on the Boxcar Press base. And guess what? Nothing lines up. So we adjust the plate on the base and run another [...]

Hello all – In the middle of a big job this weekend, my Universal 1 Power started making a persistent new noise –something between a chatter and a squeak. The noise occurs as the carriage is moving, a little more on the return. The noise occurs whether the motor is driving the carriage or whether [...]

I will be bringing a Universal I from its long exile in Florida back to its land of origin, Illinois. Any suggestions on prepping it for the move other than securing the cylinder so it doesn’t roll? Thanks, Rob

The motor/chain on my Uni I recently started getting louder. I applied some serious grease and it seemed to quiet a bit, but not much. I also noticed the rollers aren’t distributing ink thoroughly on one end (closest to the chain). I experimented with raising and lowering the roller height and it doesn’t make much [...]

Hi – I am missing the friction fingers (X-21714), and I want to understand the function. Also, the UNI I parts list has a friction spring (X-21715) listed.  I am guessing that this was dropped on the UNI III as it does not appear in my UNI III manual.  or is the Vandercook technical writing team again doing [...]

Three colors down on a four color job. My latest Vandercook, a Universal I with all the whistles and bells, including power cylinder, is chuggin’ right along. During the washup the oscillator locks up. Well @#$%^! a broken crescent in the worm gear. It’s been a long time since I removed one from a Universal [...]

First, I’m looking for someone in the general vicinity of Delaware that can troubleshoot and possibly repair an automatic Vandercook Universal III. Know anyone? If not, is there some kind of electrician I might try contacting. Obviously, I need more than someone to hook up a 3-phase here. We were running our III the other [...]

We are cleaning up a newly acquired UNI IIIP, and have noticed something which is disturbing. Under the register rack (X-2831), is a shim that looks approximately 2pts  thick and resides nearest the feed table. A smaller shim is at the end nearest the floating rack. We are assuming that these have been put in place to solve a [...]

I was running some small posters yesterday on my Uni I AB.  Things were going smoothly until the powered carriage was moving towards the end of the bed and got stuck midway.  It just stopped.  I run it pretty slowly so it wasn’t a very sudden stop it just was rolling along and then wasn’t. [...]