When maintaining Plastic Injection Mold, how to clean in place?

Plastic Injection Mold cleaning is a key process in the maintenance of Plastic Injection Mold, and it is also the bottleneck that restricts the maintenance of Plastic Injection Mold. Because the speed of mold manufacturing and development is much faster than the speed of mold cleaning, and the mold after rapid cleaning immediately to prepare for the next production, so that the time for mold cleaning is quite limited. Through the investigation of the factory, it was found that the molds arranged in the corridors and workshops almost occupied the limited operating space of the workshop, just waiting to be cleaned.

Some companies at the end of a production, without any cleaning treatment directly reset the mold, and continue to use for reproduction. If the plastic parts produced are clean, then the mold is operating without any problems. Over time, the company will form a "temporary fire" cultural concept, only in the mold accumulation of residues affect the quality of parts or mold is worn, it is necessary to clean the mold, cleaning process is only a passing.

In the cleaning and maintenance of the mold, some factories will employ some junior technicians or mold shop apprentices to do some of the chores of cleaning the mold and template, and then the maintenance technician will split the mold and template. But the fact that track marks are washed away while cleaning molds and templates makes it difficult for maintenance technicians to find and correct defects in molds and parts.

It is true that cleaning Plastic Injection Mold does not require the same talent as an advanced Plastic Injection Mold technician, However, it is an ill-considered decision to have a novice responsible for the cleaning of Plastic Injection Mold who is not familiar with the special functions and defects of Plastic Injection Mold, or who is not aware of the characteristics of the critical sealing area of Plastic Injection Mold. Because the unreasonable distribution of Plastic Injection Mold cleaning work will lead to the continuous production of Plastic Injection Mold with performance defects, In addition, the budget of Plastic Injection Mold will be greatly increased due to the addition of joints, moulds, corners, premature electroplating or steel displacement, and the mixing of Plastic Injection Mold. Such problems often stem from a culture of "improvisant"   maintenance that never monitors or accounts for defects and gets to the root of the problem.

Standardized cleaning procedures

The systematic maintenance of Plastic Injection Mold is based on the maintenance needs and the continuity of the repair operation. In order to achieve the goal of "cost effectiveness", the cleaning of Plastic Injection Mold must pay attention to: Develop a detailed cleaning plan for Plastic Injection Mold. When cleaning different parts of Plastic Injection Mold, such as internal cleaning of the press, wiping along the edge, conventional cleaning and main part cleaning, the cleaning operation method is also different.

After the Plastic Injection Mold runs for a certain period of time and after the appearance test of plating wear, track marking, and residue content of the Plastic Injection Mold in the vent and non-vent areas, technicians can determine the Plastic through appearance inspectionInjection Mold cleaning procedure and frequency. Therefore, it is important to know the cycle of safe operation of Plastic Injection Mold and to document the observed reports of residue accumulation and wear in the Plastic Injection Mold.

Since Plastic Injection Mold has a certain operating cycle, all Plastic Injection molds should be accompanied by relevant maintenance procedures and documented maintenance cycles. In general, control of internal grease levels and the running condition of gear broaching, sliding blocks, internal shaft pins and bushings, and other moving parts is the key to ensure stable production. Other factors affecting production include contamination or blockage of waterlines and sprinkler outlets, leakage of manifolds, rust and corrosion due to water leakage or condensation.

How much cleanliness is enough?

Usually, when the molding process is completed, dirt or residue (with certain chemical composition and physical characteristics) will be left on the Plastic Injection Mold. For different kinds of residue, cleaning requirements are not the same. Resins such as polyvinyl chloride produce hydrogen chloride gas, which corrodes many types of Plastic Injection Mold steel.

Other residues, which are separated from flame retardants and antioxidants, can corrode steel. There are also pigment colorants that rust the steel, and the rust is difficult to remove. Even ordinary sealed water, if placed on the surface of untreated Plastic Injection Mold for too long, will also cause damage to Plastic Injection Mold.

Therefore, the necessary cleaning of Plastic Injection Mold should be performed according to the established production cycle. After each Plastic Injection Mold is removed from the press, the pores of the Plastic Injection Mold need to be opened first to remove all oxidizing dirt and rust in the non-critical areas of the Plastic Injection Mold and template. To prevent it from slowly corroding the surface and edges of the steel. In many cases, even after cleaning, some uncoated or rust-prone Plastic Injection Mold surface will quickly reappear rusty. Therefore, even if it takes a long time to scrub the unprotected Plastic Injection Mold, surface rust can not be completely avoided.

Many Plastic Injection molds now come with "self-cleaning" vent lines that have a high gloss. Prevent the residue from adhering to the surface of the roughing mill stand by cleaning and polishing the vent hole to a finish of Spio #A3 or by milling or grinding the residue into the garbage area of the vent line. But if the operator uses a coarse scrub washer, emery cloth, sandpaper, grinding stone or a brush with nylon bristle, brass or steel to artificially grind Plastic Injection Mold, it will cause excessive "cleaning" of Plastic Injection Mold.

Generally, when hard Plastic, glass beads, walnut shell and aluminum particles are used as abrasive agents for high pressure crushing and cleaning on the surface of Plastic Injection Mold, if these abrasive agents are used too frequently or improperly, this grinding method will also make the surface of the mold produce pores and easy to adhere to the residue. It will lead to more residue, wear, or lead to premature fracture or burring of the mold, which is not conducive to the cleaning of the mold.

Therefore, more than 50% maintenance time can be saved and mold wear can be effectively reduced by looking for cleaning equipment suitable for the mold and processing process, and at the same time referring to the cleaning method and cleaning cycle recorded in the archive documents.