Thermolator verification being on.

[Monomer]

Hi all,

We have recently been running into issues with our thermolators being off, during production runs and it causeing our mold to be too hot which leads to blistering/bubbles ex...

I was wondering if there is anyway to have the IMM not be able to run until the thermolator was turned on? or if there is a way to set off the press alarm everytime the thermolator is not turned on?

[Airwinghma]

Greetings;

What type of machine are you running, type of controller?
Most machines do not have a function to verify whether or not a thermolator is running, that being said there are ways of wiring to do so.

BUT the issue sounds like a training and accountability issue vs the need for an engineering control to be devised.

What if the unit is on but not at the correct temp? Now you need to wire a T/C to interrupt the cycle.

People can get carried away with "Murphy proofing" everything when all that"s needed is some tough love tied to training.

I ran a production floor that had the same problem with 128 cavity tampon tools that would drool into the cavities if the H2O was not on and then had to be disassembled to clean. Many hours lost for a simple problem. When I am getting ready to start a machine I perform a "preflight" inspection of the machine, Thermolators running at correct temp with the H2O valves on, correct material, valve gates turned on, hot runner up to temp, scrap bins in place.

That being said I purchased some easy ways to verify the mold temp, Thermochromatic strips worked well, had some that said HOT until the mold had chilled H2O on then it was blank.

Scott

[rickbatey]

Scott I have seen the units shut off due plant water temp or pumps down, poor supply psi after a by-pass was too open, not to mention a pump overload or a heater shorting out. I prefer to know the units on especially with safety critical parts.
If the press is new enough, have the software changed to all interface like the SPI. If not you could use a single input on the press that is interrupted when the unit(s) are off, have an alarm, or outside the operating range. We added a steel temp thermocouple that is tied into the press as a temp zone and if too hot or cold, we shut down without touching the press. This is again possible with enough heat zones built into the press. You could have someone program a PLC with temp inputs and no alarms (alarm on unit switches a relay inside unit, just piggy back off that signal). Now if you could code the mold to call the temp monitoring program from the PLC, then you just have to know all of the valves are open?!
Rick.

[Airwinghma]

Rickbatey, I agree with everything you posted and anything can be done wiring wise to tie the thermolator into the machine. I wanted Monomer to make sure that this was not a simple training issue that was going to be resolved by not addressing the root cause.

The SPI interface allows one to tie right into the machine to allow aux equipment to be part of the whole unit. The JSW's have a mold temp control to control H2O temp that can also be used to monitor and alarm out if the specified range is out. I've used them to run Cartridge heaters in the H2O channels to run Ultem guitar picks.

Great dialog

Scott

[Josue]

I saw some MTC, with and Alarm like the Police Car,, if there are some abnormality, the red light come on, or some ones has an audit beep also,,, Im not sure if this come from a fabric or custime by a customers,,,


Best regards

[Airwinghma]

Either OEM or add-on the Andon style of lights is not a bad idea, there are signals from the motor contactor and the PSI switch that can be used to signal the light stack.