The Human Factor and Peristaltic Pumps

Picture the dying murmurs of Friday night as presses shut down and clean-up begins. The sharp smell of solvent permeates the air or the thick scent of water based ink, UV and cleaning agents drift past gleaming multicolor frames and silver anilox rolls. Fork Lifts roar through yellow defined pathways and men shout their comments as all look forward to the weekend ahead. In other printing factories the incessant roar of the presses continue 24-7 as the public’s demand for packaged goods appears, thankfully to never be satisfied!

Whatever your work situation, clean up is a necessary evil of the printing world.  Mixed right in the middle of this unpleasant task lies the forlorn ink pumps.  These small but vital parts of the printing process have had seen little change in many years.  But what does not change is the printer’s quest for the easiest cleaning pump on the market.  In their search for this elusive animal; in an industry that imbues everything with a stain of some kind of color, the peristaltic pump has been pushed as a potential savior for the press operator.

Picture the brand new peristaltic tube pump being pulled with joy out of its box as the excited press operators and the skeptical maintenance men and women crowd around and open doors, stretch hoses, click buttons on and off!  “It’ll never work!” cries one who has seen it all before! But the foreman says “It’s easy, look, you slip a new hose in here, and close the door, like this, and see you’re ready for the next job!”  It is that simple too!

Peristaltic pumps have a lot of positives attached to them it is true. Having been around for many years in the medical industry, over the past ten years or more they have gradually squeezed their way into many printing companies throughout the global printing market.  Besides the ease of color changes, you take one piece of hose out and fit another one in!  They are a positive displacement pump and can handle a wide range of viscosities.  They are also a Godsend for water based ink users who have often complained about the sheer sensitivity of some inks. Look down at the ink pail of a peristaltic unit and see there is little movement! (Many printers have to add a small air mixer that can gently mix the ink as the pump does its job.)

Thus the press is set up, humming and glittering; the men proud of their achievement and their financing!  The last thing they want to see is a streak of magenta ink sprayed across those enameled cabinets! So friends, be warned, before you invest in peristaltic pumps take note of the human factor.

The human factor looks at the controls of these pumps and thinks the faster they go the more flow they’ll get! Unfortunately this is one of the pitfalls of the peristaltic tube pumps!  Faster is not better in tube pumps! Therefore it is not so much the design but the way they are used and maintained that makes them successful!

First of all the tubing has to be the right size; it has to be the compatible for the ink you are using; you have to be able to control the speed and not run them too fast; another feature that should never be ignored is tube lubrication, this will extend the life of your tube by reducing friction. You have to make sure that the operators realize that this is a new learning discipline and peristaltic pumps act differently than centrifugal or diaphragm models.

But once the level of familiarity with the features is reached the pump can be a very attractive addition to your printing operation. The bigger the flow rates required the larger the pump head needed. They can also come with a hefty price tag!   Be aware that the bigger pumps need enough room to be placed press side and carts or stands are a necessary addition to the crowded press room equipment.

In having said all these things, they are enjoying a successful run as the pump of choice for many printers. The added feature of AC inverters for the electric models means that finger tip control panels allow the press operator to control the speed, and direction. This feature can fit right into the increasing computerized controlled printing presses.  We would suggest that a printer tries a peristaltic model out first to make sure they are going to fit into the operation of your press room.

By Bill Mason, Sales Manager for Powerwise Ink Pumps
bill@powerwise.com