How To Avoid Equipment Failure from Hot Melt Charring

Overtime, if char in your hot melt tank is left unattended, it can harm your equipment, negatively impacting your plant’s productivity and causing unneeded downtime. Follow these simple tips to reduce hot melt charring and boost operational efficiencies.

Maintain Proper Tank Levels

Ensure your tank is kept at a 70% or more adhesive capacity level at all times to avoid hot melt charring. This is because oxygen can cause char to form. The lower the adhesive level, the more oxygen is in the tank. That, combined with the adhesive residue on the side of the tank, makes it the likely that char will form.

Keep Tank Materials Fresh

Ideally, you want your adhesive to turn over at least once a day rather than remain stagnant in the tank. To do this, ensure the tank is sized properly for the line throughput. This will allow for fresh material to be added at regular intervals. If unsure of the proper tank size, consider this:

• For most applications, use a smaller melt tank. This will reduce the length of time an adhesive is sitting in it unused and decrease hot melt charring.

Set Proper Tank Temperature

If the hot melt tank’s temperature is set too high, it increases the likelihood that the adhesive will get overheated. This causes the product to get “cooked” and form char within the tank.

Keep Tank Protected

Another way hot melt charring can form is if the tank lid is left open for too long. Contaminants may fall into it and cause unsanitary conditions. Ensure the hot melt tank is properly protected to reduce char formation.

Consider a Line Assessment

In addition to helping you reduce char formation, a production line assessment:

• Checks temperature and pressure settings
• Assess line and adhesive performance
• Address issues proactively to improve bottom line

Review the following content to understand the value in conducting a line assessment:

• How Line Assessments Can Reduce Your Overall Cost
• How to Know if a Packaging Line Assessment is Right for You

Contact a Bostik expert today to learn more about reducing hot melt charring and how to improve production lines overall.