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In my experience, the plastics industry is relatively slow to adopt the latest technology. Four of the biggest factors in adopting a new technology are:

1) Significant Increase in Performance

2) Demonstrated Reliability

3) Ease of Use

4) Lower Cost

As you may know, the earliest all-electric molding machines were very delicate, and did not provide significant value. As the years have progressed, and technology has improved… these machines have begun to outperform hydraulic machines in virtually all these four areas. It is only a matter of time before all-electric molding machines have dominance in all demographics of the injection molding industry… especially as the costs of all-electric molding machines decrease far below the cost of hydraulic machines.

That being said, there will always be injection molders who will prefer to mold with hydraulic molding machines… or have older machines which are still functioning properly. I recently spoke with one molder who said ‘I hate electric machines, they are so quiet it just doesn’t sound busy around here’.

I have watched the slow adoption of closed-loop process controls over the past few decades. At first, the controls were confusing, complicated, unreliable, and very expensive. Now this technology dominates the market… yet, there are still manufacturers who will sell you a brand-new injection molding machine with an old-fashioned open-loop process controller ~ if you really want one.

-Andy

There are a couple general misconception regarding the benefits of all-electric molding machines…

Misconception #1 ~ All-electric molding machines will not save you money if you have a long cycle time. The truth is… The pump runs constantly on a hydraulic machine wasting energy, and causing component wear. Electric molding machine components do not run when they are not being used saving electricity and wear during idle moments.

Misconception #2 ~ For long cycle times… hybrid machines provide virtually the same energy savings as electric molding machines; since most of the energy is consumed during screw recovery. The truth is… As with #1, the cost and wear associated with running the pump during idle times will usually outweigh the initial savings during the purchase of the machine.

I recently visited a molder who purchased both a hybrid and an all-electric molding machine to compare their performance and energy savings side by side. Both machines ran the same mold and had processes with cycle times over two minutes. He claimed that he could throw away the hybrid machine, buy another electric molding machine, and still pay for both machines in less than four years just from the energy savings. This sounds extreme… buy it demonstrates the money you can save by thinking long term.

The costs savings for long cycle times is part of the reason machine manufacturers are being pressured to build larger and larger all-electric molding machines.

-Andy

The thin probe is the best method. You do not have to preheat it… and the reading is very fast. Wire probes tend to be too brittle for the production environment, while the newer thin probes are much hardier.

If you want to save a few bucks, you can usually skip the extension cable and plug the probe straight into the meter. Personally, I use the probe that way because I can take the reading with one hand.

Although there are a variety of styles, the probe adapters are pretty consistent… so you can usually plug a new probe into an older meter.

-Andy