Troubleshooting part weight problems

In most cases, excessive part weight is an undesirable molding characteristic.

It increases production cost due to the long cycle time required for cooling the excess material and the additional cost of the material.

Causes

• Overpacking.

• Unnecessarily thick wall section.

Remedies

• Avoid overpacking.

• Use thinner wall sections with ribs. Thicken only those wall sections that require extra material for structural stability and that cannot be strengthened using another method.

• Design a part to be made by gas injection molding.

Note: When attempting to balance flows by altering the thickness along particular flow paths, try to use flow deflectors rather than flow leaders to keep part weight down.

Solving one problem can often introduce other problems to the injection molding process. Each option hence requires consideration of all relevant aspects of the mold design specification.