Cost-Effective Hot Runner Leak Detection

Airtect plastic leak detection systems, distributed in the U.S. and Canada by Plastixs, is said to offer cost-effective solutions for detecting plastic leaks in hot runner molds early and preventing them from damaging the entire hot runner system. Often, the mold can be repaired and back into production in one day, the company notes, versus replacements and cleaning in the event of catastrophic damage which requires special ovens to burn off the plastic residue, a process that can take three to five weeks.

Airtect now has several low-cost solutions for protecting numerous molds operating in various machines in a molding plant. The company’s modular manifold system, for example, requires only one system controller and one modular manifold controller per machine. The system controller interfaces with the molding machine and the modular manifold controller features a quick-release system that attaches to a manifold base that is set up on individual molds. The manifold base provides protection from 4-24 zones. 

According to Airtect, the manifold base and installation in a mold, especially at the time of the hot runner integration, is efficient and cost effective — it enables a molder to incorporate plastic leak protection in a number of molds that can cycle through multiple machines that have the main controller and modular manifold controller already installed.

To make these systems even more cost effective, Airtect has also introduced Stand-Alone modular manifold controllers that interface with the machine and an alarm circuit directly, without the need of an additional controller.  These Stand-Alone systems are said to further lower the cost of the plastic leak detection systems, resulting in high return on investment (ROI) even if only one mold in a plant were to have an issue within the first year or two.