The significant reduction in downtime achieved by French daily regional newspaper L’Est Républicain since it fitted 17 Baldwin Constant  C systems to the LithoSpray spray dampening systems on its two Goss newsliner presses, has led to the company deciding to invest in additional Constant C technology.

Developed to further enhance the capabilities of LithoSpray dampening systems, the unique Constant C technology creates a consistent air curtain across the opening of the nozzles, keeping them free from blockage by ink, dirt or dust and maintaining uniform dampening spray of the plate. The blocking of nozzles can arise with any make of spray dampening system, but Baldwin is the only manufacturer able to eliminate this problem.

Baldwin's Constant C technology is fitted to all new LithoSpray Maxima dampening systems and can be retrofitted easily to existing Baldwin Optima and World spray bars. Eliminating nozzle clogging and ensuring even fountain solution distribution of the plate helps to achieve consistently high print quality and significantly reduces maintenance of the spray dampening system.

“The nature of printing at high speeds on a newspaper press, with significant levels of ink, dust and dirt in the atmosphere, means that blockage of the spray dampening nozzles is not uncommon,” says production manager at L'Est Républicain , Philippe Vermande. “Constant C prevents dust or other foreign bodies entering into contact with the nozzles and this has resulted in less time required on maintenance or cleaning. Furthermore, if blocked nozzles aren't attended to quickly then an inadequate and uneven level of fount solution is applied to the plate, resulting in dry areas that can affect the print quality.”

So impressed has L'Est Républicain been with Baldwin's Constant C system, that further investment is now planned to equip the newspaper's older Swedish Nohab presses with the same technology. “This is a terrific system that has made an immense difference to productivity by cutting blockages to a fraction of what they were. Baldwin's Constant C technology gives us peace of mind and allows us to feel confident of an on-going high-performance from the LithoSpray system. As a result of its success, we now intend to also install Constant C technology on LithoSpray systems fitted to our Nohab towers.”

Founded in 1889, L'Est Républicain is based in Nancy and serves the Lorraine and Franche Comté areas in North East France. Produced 359 days a year and with a daily print run of over 200,000, the newspaper is one of France's oldest dailies and belongs to the group France Est Medias.