I’ve just finished adjusting the top bearings on my SP15, and I’m seeing something unexpected. The roller height is now identical in print and trip, but only while the carriage is outbound, i.e., moving away from the feedboard. Once it hits the trip mechanism and I roll it back, the rollers are a touch lower on the geared side. This is true even when it’s in trip the whole time — when I wouldn’t expect the trip mechanism to do anything.
Any idea what would cause this?
The alignment of the trip arms sounds like something I can test for — I can take measurements of the carriage height again while verifying the trip arms are where they ought to be — or at least consistent with each other.
It may be that grime under and around the cylinder eccentric on the operator side that makes it reliable. It could be that the carriage bearings were adjusted when the trip arms that contact the trip rollers were not aligned.
No further progress since the above post.
One factor may be worth mentioning: a broken trip spring on the operator side. I noticed it more than a year ago, but since the press reliably switches between the modes as it should, I have never replaced it. I’m guessing that’s not the culprit; the height shift is happening on the gear side, where the spring is still intact.
This is perplexing. Have you made any progress since we spoke on the phone?