Gate Freeze
IMM 02/01

Has anyone performed a test on the consistency of a product molded with and without gate freeze?

I have long been a believer in at least knowing when gate freeze occurs on a given process profile for a mold. I became interested especially when decoupled molding methods became prevalent about 12 years ago. If you use traditional molding techniques you can be sure of four things. 1) Part weights are difficult to control. 2) You fight shorts and flash on a daily basis. 3) You don't know when freeze happens so the cycle is probably longer than it has to be. 4) If you need gate discharge to ensure flatness of a part, good luck on controlling shorts. I use gate freeze to ensure product Cpks on critical dimensions, and to provide the most consistent, economic parts. - S. Kern, Switzer Select Enterprises, Woodruff , SC, (864) 587-1930, skernsse@earthlink.net.