Several regular -- and costly, and troublesome -- problems are daily taken for granted at many caulking manufacturing plants. These range from tubes not quite fitting the line correctly, causing periodic downtime; to extra measures taken to prevent air from being packed with the product, causing extra manufacturing time and effort; to product shipping with air in the tubes despite efforts to keep it out, causing customer complaints. Fortunately, a new type of caulking tube that does not allow air to be packed with product has come to the rescue.
Research Plastic had been manufacturing regular plastic caulking tubes for some years when, in the 1990s, several caulking manufacturers came to them with problems.
"We had a number of our customers come to us and start talking about their problems with trying to keep air out of the tubes, and we decided to address the problem with research," says sales manager Wayne Pulman. "We developed the self-burping tube, and it has been a great solution for them."
Fire-Retardant Caulking Manufacturer
Such problems were a way of life for Flame Tech, Inc, a manufacturer of fire-retardant caulking products in Winston-Salem, NC.
"The regular tubes caused a lot of problems," says Flame Tech president Jason Lynch. "We had to use a bleed wire with every tube, which made the machines not run as consistently. The machine part that pushes the plunger into the tube has to fit precisely. If you have a bleed wire on there, when the plunger drops down and goes up against that wire and it doesn''t fit precisely, it puts it off track. It can jam up the machine, and you have downtime."
Tubes not quite fitting the machinery also created a major problem. "The old tubes were more rigid, and it made it more difficult for them to fit the machinery," adds Lynch.
And the problems didn''t stop once the tubes left the factory floor.
"After the tubes were filled, we''d hear this ''pop, pop, pop, pop'' coming from them. Even though the tubes were shippable, there was air escaping from them," says Lynch. "We got complaints from customers about how the caulk escaped from the old tubes when they opened them, and how it would continue to expel after they let their finger off the trigger."
The majority of the problems encountered by Flame Tech and other caulking manufacturers are related to trying to eliminate air from the tubes during manufacturing, or dealing with customer complaints about air in the tubes afterward. The self-burping tube solves these problems. The tube''s key innovation is a ribbing system on the inside of the bottom end of the tube that allows air to escape when the plunger is inserted during the caulking manufacturing process. Four vertical ribs, equally spaced and approximately 1.25 in. long, protrude outward approximately 10 thousands-of-an-inch, creating just enough of a gap between the side wall of the tube and the plunger to allow any trapped air to escape. Once the plunger has been inserted and the air has escaped, a tight seal is created.
In addition, the tube includes a lead-in angle at the bottom that automatically lines up the plunger so it inserts easily into the tube, preventing the plunger from tilting and ensuring it is sitting correctly before it is pushed into the bottom of the tube. The plunger itself is also an improvement over older tubes -- a larger plunger creates a better friction fit, scraping the inside wall of the tube and ensuring that all caulking material is actually expelled.
The tube has solved Flame Tech''s problems.
"We don''t have to use the bleed wires any more, it''s a lot smoother. There''s way less downtime," says Lynch. "The tubes also fit our machinery much better." Customer complaints have stopped as well, and in fact the company is now getting compliments. "Customers really love them. When they let off the trigger, the caulk stops. And there''s no more problem with caulk shooting out when they open the tube."
Caulk for Log Homes
Permachink, a manufacturer of exterior and interior caulk and seal for the international log home industry, was also swamped with customer complaints when they packaged their products in traditional caulking tubes.
"We were getting complaints from everywhere," says company buyer Steve Gazikas. "We had very disgruntled customers who would let off the trigger and the product would continue to come out of the tube. There was an entering of air into the product -- the implementation of the plunger into the cartridge naturally locked a pocket in there. Therefore when the customer cut the tip and went to use the product that he was applying, the air pocket would continuously press product out even when he let go of the trigger."
This presented a real problem to Permachink''s customers.
"When you''re working on a log cabin, you''re on a ladder and you have a log wall underneath you, the last thing you want is an extra inch of sealant dripping out of the tube and down the wall," Gazikas said.
Complaints have vanished with introduction of the self-burping tube. "The distributors, the contractors and even the homeowners are very happy," says Gazikas. "Ours is not an inexpensive product, and when you pay premium dollar for it, you don''t want to waste it."