The Problem

A large custom compounder makes a thermally conductive material designed to dissipate heat quickly and effectively. This product is highly filled with a proprietary material that causes their customers severe abrasive wear. This has actually limited the product’s acceptance even though the resin is less expensive than other materials and very effective.

This compounder was approached by their customer asking for a solution to rapid wear. They in turn asked Extreme Coatings to contact this processor to offer help.

This customer makes parts for the home appliance market, in this case, washing machines. This thermally conductive material was specified by the manufacturer for an inlet flume that incorporated temperature sensors to control and mix incoming hot and cold water.

Standard molding equipment was used to process the first batch of parts. The Maintenance Manager commented that “the feed screw looked like a broom stick in one week running that stuff!” CPM-9V feed screws lasted 20,000 shots with .030” total OD wear in 1-1/2 months. These parts are batch produced in a campaign every four months throughout the year.

The Solution:

Extreme Coatings worked with this customer’s feed screw supplier to encapsulate a 45 mm GP screw with .010” of XC1000.

Benefits:

This screw was installed and produced 80,000 shots over the next six months on a 24/5 schedule. When removed the coated screw had characteristic wear in the compression section and discharge end of the screw. Total OD wear was the same .030” as previous feed screws.

This was a four-fold improvement in wear life processing an extremely aggressive product. The product line was discontinued in the fall of 2006 and only service parts continue to be made. The customer believes that an encapsulated feed screw directly affected profitability making this part.