Mold Maintenance Checkist?

[MoldCrasher]

Hello,

I have a handful of low volume production molds made out of aluminum. These molds were only supposed to support a particular project for so long, you know how that goes, still running the snot out of them past their expected age. The problem is, now we are experiencing various quality issues when we run them costing us in scrap/lost time/press time.


Our company does not have a document for any type of mold maintenance request from the tool shop. We are mostly prototype but moving slowly into production. Does anyone have a document they can share that would be a very thorough checklist of maintenance items that should be required of a mold showing age?


Discussion on the issue would also help me, I'm not opposed of making one up myself, but would love the input since I'm not in tune with the production world.

[rickbatey]

Are the ejector pins running in steel sleeves or in the aluminum mold base? If so that is a huge mistake and should be corrected ASAP. I think the biggest issue is you probably need to do 2-3 times more inspections for tools of this type versus all steel. Also setting mold protection is critical so that the parting lines don't get rolled over when clamping up on a part.
Rick.

[Josue]

a daily cleaning rutine for vents, sliders, mold surfaces etc..is a good idea

and a major maintenance could be control by a shot number,, its a good idea to install a shot counter and tracking working shots,, and based on your type of resin you should decide how many shots will be necesary to make a full maintenance,, remember some resins produce more gas than others


B.R.

[nemanja]

Hi,

first I think you should disassemble all molds, clean, oil, repair/replace parts, if you put some steal parts, rost protection is mandatory.
Second what i think is very important for later saveing money, is maintenance book or sheet for each of tools. Depends from production and materials you can chose timely or shot number maintenance.
Also there are on market some quality cleaners, protectors and lubricants especialy made for molds and mold machines. They worth evry cent spend on them.
Regardless do you chose timely or shot number maintenance, i think minimum 6 month detail cleaning in necessary.
In books you shoud leave space for signature of responcible persons, so you have track who and what doing with tools.
Only like that i was able to maintain quality production on poorly made Chinese tools.

P.S. Sorry if i misspelled something, english is not my native.

B. R.