The Top 5 Ways to Stop Boxes Popping Open During Hot Summer Months

There may be nothing we can do about the weather warming up. But in this blog post, we will show the top 5 ways that you can stop your boxes popping open when those temperatures rise. Watch the video below for a quick overview and read on for more detail!

If you want to know the reasons why your boxes son't stay sealed when the temperature is higher, click here to head to one of our other blog posts where we detail the reasons for this.

Here we are then, the top 5 ways to keep your boxes sealed after leaving the factory production line during hot summer months when your factory hits peak temperatures.

Solution 1

Use a faster setting adhesive. There is a huge diversity of setting speeds across different hot melts and no single solution exists for this as the application of the glue for each factory varies. Alphabond have a range of super-fast setting grades designed for fixing this exact problem, with our Ultimate Cool 98 being one option we could test in our lab for your factory's application. This glue runs at just 98 degrees as can be seen on the Nordson tank below:

 

Solution 2

Increase the time that the bond is in compression, either by slowing the line down or if possible, lengthening the compression bars so that the carton or case is not released for a few more seconds, giving the glue more time to set. This is a great way to keep your boxes sealed, but can be an issue for some factories where the speed of production is vital or space is tight.

Solution 3

Reduce the ambient temperature in the immediate area by more efficient heat extraction and/or by using air conditioning. This method is the obvious solution to the problem, but can be very expensive especially if you're needing to control the air temperature of large open areas that don't have a system set up already.

 

Solution 4

Use less glue! It really could be that simple. If you're able to reduce the amount of glue you're using on each of your boxes, then you should see that the set speed will increase due to there being less residual heat and your boxes won't pop open. This may not work for all applications due to a variety of factors but it's the most simple method to try.

Solution 5

Experiment with dropping the application temperature of the adhesive by 5-10°C to give the adhesive a head start in cooling/setting. Be wary of overdoing this because if the adhesive is too cool it can lead to stringing or not wetting out.

 

 

Hopefully one of these solutions works for you. If you're still experiencing problems or want to discuss switching to a faster setting adhesive, book in for a short pre-discovery meeting with us below so we can figure out how we can help.