5
To begin binding, press the power button
!
, which will trigger the warm-up phase. In
approximately 3 minutes, you will see the ready light
%
go on. Then:
•
Place document in cover
with the title page face up under the transparent cover. Tap the
document spine firmly along on a hard surface so that all sheets are even and in contact
with the strip of glue on the inside of the spine. How well you do this will have a major
impact on the quality of the end product.
•
Select heat cycle (TB 450 only).
Depending on the color/number combination indicated in
the viewer, press
for yellow,
for orange or
for red. The machine is factory set at
y e l l o w, the shortest cycle, but afterwards it will remain at the cycle last used unless you
change it.
•
Push down document, spine first,
between the two clamps
"
as far as it will go. (You can
help separate the clamps with your hands, if you want - they’re not hot.) When the spine
has made contact with the heating plate below, the in-process light
#
will go on, signaling
the beginning of the binding process. You will hear an extended beep tone when the
process is complete.
•
Remove document immediately,
as soon as you hear the tone, in order to avoid over-
heating it. Taking out the document will cause the beep tone to stop and the in-process
light to go out. Gently tap the document on its spine once or twice to help evenly distribute
the glue.
•
Set document, spine down, on cooling rack
)
for approximately 10 minutes to allow the
glue to harden. To ensure a sturdy binding, never open a document or lay it down flat if it
is still warm. If there is not enough room on the cooling rack for all your work, you can
improvise by propping up the freshly bound documents between bookends or against a
wall. The point is to make sure they are lying undisturbed, all weight on the spine, until
they are cool.
If you have more documents to bind, you can begin immediately with the next one. The
machine will maintain its binding temperature until you press the power button to turn it
off, or after an hour of inactivity, at which point it will switch itself off automatically.
M a i n t e n a n c e
Strictly speaking, there is no maintenance required for your machine except occasionally
wiping it off with a soft cloth dampened with plain water.
Troubleshooting
If you are not getting good results, you should be able to get to the root of the problem
quickly:
•
Loose, unglued sheets
This can happen for several reasons: Not tapping the spine firmly
enough at the start to make contact between document edges and the glue strip, removing
the document too early, or opening the document or laying it flat while it is still warm. Tr y
repeating the process from the beginning. If you are using a TB 450, loose sheets may also
indicate too short a heat cycle. Again, try repeating the process, this time with a longer
cycle.
•
Loose, glued sheets and/or damaged binding
This can happen if you don’t take out the
document promptly at the end of the binding process. If you are working with a TB 450, it
may also be caused by too long a heat cycle. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to
salvage the document or documents in this case.
If you have questions or problems with your thermal binding machine that you cannot
solve, please contact us through one of the many channels listed under
Customer Service
.
SAFETY REMINDER :
Do not attempt to open or otherwise repair your machine.