Pre-Maintenance Purging Instructions | How to Use Asaclean®


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Asaclean® Purging Instructions for Pre-Maintenance Cleaning and Screw Pull - Extrusion

  1. Remove as much resin as possible from the barrel by extruding the material from the system.
  2. Purge following the standard “Asaclean® Mechanical Grade Purging Instructions for Extrusion”.
    1. For cleaning just the screw and barrel, use Asaclean® EX for maximum deposit removal. A glass-filled grade of Asaclean® (EX, PX2, and NF Grade) should not be run through polished dies. Contact Technical Service for procedures to run a filled grade of Asaclean® through dies with tight clearances.
    2. For cleaning extruders with a die attached, use an unfilled grade of Asaclean® to purge all of the resin from the screw, barrel and die. After removing the die, clean the barrel again, this time with Asaclean® EX. An unfilled grade of Asaclean® can be used to clean the screw and barrel but may not be as effective at removing stubborn deposits.
  3. For easiest screw removal and maximum cleaning effect, the screw and barrel should be purged with a melt temperature of 220-300ºC (430-570ºF). For low temperature resins, purge with Asaclean® E or SL, then increase the temperature to 240-260ºC (465-500ºF) and proceed per the following steps.
  4. After the Asaclean® purgings appear clean, extrude the remaining Asaclean® from the machine.
  5. Turn off the heaters. If pulling the screw with Asaclean® EX, it is important to first purge with production resin or an unfilled Asaclean® grade.
  6. Wait until the temperatures in the barrel drop to 220- 240ºC, (430-460ºF), then purge with Asaclean® EX. Empty the barrel of Asaclean® EX and pull the screw. Melt temperatures outside this range will result in more effort being required to pull the screw.
  7. For unfilled grades of Asaclean® the optimum temperature to pull the screw is 195-205ºC (380- 400ºF).
  8. Continue following approved breakdown procedure

Exercise proper safety precautions and use appropriate PPE.

Technical Questions?

To request detailed technical bulletins or technical support, contact us at Asahi Kasei Plastics North America Inc.

Phone: (800) 787-4348 / (973)257-1999
Fax: (973) 257-1011
Website: www.asaclean.com
E-mail: sales@asaclean.com

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