How To Clean The Extruder Screws Safely
Most OEM ( Original Equipment Manufacturer) recommend that you pull and clean your screw at least once a year to check for signs of wear on both the screw and barrel. Excessive wear will reduce the output and efficiency.
Safety Tips
Do not use open flame near Bamberko 9016 or Ultimax 9100 Purging Compound or barrel opening. The fumes will ignite. Use exhaust to ventilate the odor.
Follow area safety rules
Remove die, adapters, clamp rings, breaker plate and screen pack before starting to purge the equipment.
Opening must be free of restrictions.
Clean out previous resin from the hopper.
Raise the extruder temperatures to 450 degrees F. Use temp. 450 - 550 F when purging ABS, Nylon, Polycarbonate, PET or other high temperature resins. Barrel temperatures should be kept within a 350-550 F(176-287 Celcius) range.
Back out the pressure transducer and the rupture disc, 2 to 3 turns to protect the surfaces.
After the extruder temperatures are reached, start the screw rotating at 80 to 100 rpms.
Feed Bamberko 9016 or Ultimax 9100 Purging Compound into the extruder, a small quantity at a time.
Observe the motor load (amps) to insure it can handle the load.
Estimated amount of purge compound to use is 2 pounds per inch of screw diameter. The Purging Compound should come out unmelted to produce the scrubbing effect. One or two volumes of the extruder capacity are all that is needed.
Minimize possible smoke and odor by purging into water.
Clean out the hopper, run until the barrel and screw are empty.
Immediately push screw out of the barrel and finish cleaning it with a wire cloth or a wire brush. This will prevent any of the purge compound, that is left on the screw, from melting to the screw.
Clean the inside of the barrel with a flue brush on a copper pipe. Follow up with a cotton cloth draped over the flue brush to wipe the barrel clean.
Make sure that all purge residue (dust) is removed from the hopper, feed throat, and barrel.
Clean pressure transducer and rupture disc holes. Reapply anti-seez to the threads.
Re-assemble the extruder.