Preparing Your Cold Glue Adhesives for the Winter Months
As winter approaches, it’s important to prepare your cold glue adhesive systems for the colder temperatures. Part of winterizing your systems means ensuring that your adhesives perform consistently, despite the temperature drops. It’s important to manage the viscosity of water-based adhesives, which can be dramatically impacted by fluctuating temperatures.
How Colder Temperatures Affect Adhesives
Temperature plays a significant role in the behavior and performance of water-based adhesives. In colder conditions, these adhesives become thicker as their viscosity increases, which can hinder their performance on your production line. Here’s why:
- Increased Viscosity: As temperatures drop, water-based adhesives become thicker, then thin out again as temperatures rise during the day. These fluctuations in viscosity, caused by dramatic temperature shifts between day and night, can lead to inconsistent bonding results.
- Production Line Challenges: Thicker adhesives can lead to poor application performance, causing stringing and an uneven application. This often results in production slowdowns and maintenance issues.
- Maintenance and Downtime: Adhesives that don’t bond effectively lead to costly maintenance. Every minute of downtime during the winter months can pile up and impact overall production efficiency and profits.
Managing Adhesive Viscosity with Warming Hoses
Luckily, Valco Melton adhesive solutions offer a way to tackle these cold-weather challenges. One of the most effective tools is cold glue warming hoses. This eliminates the need for manual adjustments to adhesive temperature as the ambient temperature in your facility fluctuates throughout the day.
Key Benefits of Valco Melton’s Cold Glue Warming Hoses:
- Consistent Viscosity: As glue travels through the hose, the adhesive viscosity remains consistent. This allows Cold glue warming hoses to pre-warm the adhesive for a smoother application and better bonding on the production line.
- Improved Adhesion: With a steady adhesive temperature, you’ll experience better tack and overall adhesion, ensuring your products remain durable and properly sealed.
- Reduced Downtime: When adhesive viscosity is stable, the chances of poor performance, clumping, or stringing diminish. This means fewer production stoppages and less maintenance time, crucial for keeping winterized corrugated facilities running efficiently.
- Energy Efficiency: The warming hoses are designed with foam insulation and an outer braided layer, maximizing thermal efficiency. This helps maintain the adhesive temperature without excessive energy use.
Winterization Tips for Adhesive Success
While Valco Melton’s cold glue warming hoses are an excellent way to combat the challenges of winter, you can take additional steps to optimize your adhesive performance during this time:
- Plan Ahead: Schedule adhesive deliveries earlier in the week to avoid transit delays over the weekend. Adhesives left in transit during colder periods are more likely to freeze.
- Inspect Upon Arrival: If adhesive freezes during transport, it may appear clumpy or coagulated. Always inspect shipments for these signs before use.
- Store at Proper Temperatures: Keep your adhesives and corrugated board stored at 55°F or above, away from cold drafts, open doors, and unheated areas. Pre-warmed corrugated board can also help keep the glue at an ideal temperature during application.
By combining these proactive steps with Valco Melton adhesive solutions, such as cold glue warming hoses, you can guarantee that your adhesives maintain peak performance, even as the temperature drops. A little preparation in winterizing your cold glue systems goes a long way in preventing downtime, improving product quality, and keeping your production line running smoothly through the winter months.
For more information on Valco Melton’s Cold Glue Warming Hoses, click here to visit the product page.
