Heater replacement
Vol. 20 #3, December 1993
Even though cast aluminum barrel heaters have long been the standard of the extrusion industry, and have shown to have an exceptionally long life, occasionally, they do burn out. When removing a cast heater, take care to remove any aluminum residue from the steel barrel surface. This residue is quite common and can be fairly thick in some areas, an can be removed by belt sanding or careful disk grinding. Although care must be taken not to damage or remove too much steel from the barrel surface, it is extremely important. High spots on the surface will prevent the new heater from contacting the barrel properly, which can result in as much as a 200ºF differential. This can cause serious performance problems, including in ability to reach set point, control instability, and loss of process output and quality.
- Bill Kramer
See also
- Barrel heater maintenance and installation
- Heating modes for extruder barrels
- Optimization of cast aluminum barrel coolers
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