Don’t grenade your mixer. Follow these 4 rules.
Grenading is a fun term we use to talk about serious mixer failures, but when it happens in your plant, it’s anything but fun.
If you’ve seen a grenaded gypsum pin mixer firsthand, you’ll know it is very much like having an explosion go off in your mixer. A loud grinding, smashing noise resounds throughout the plant, sometimes metal shrapnel goes flying, and slurry gets everywhere.
As you can imagine, it’s catastrophic to clean up. It’s also a big expense, a safety hazard, and a big chunk of downtime to get your system up and running again.
How do you avoid grenading a mixer? Respect the number one commandment: Thou Shalt Not Allow Tramp Metal Into Thy System.
1) Don’t do undocumented mixer DIY
Each one of our mixers is designed, engineered, and built to fit your specific system, with precise measurements to ensure the parts fit perfectly. It’s a process we’ve outlined in our blog before.
When you need to make adjustments, a DIY approach won’t cut it. We’ve seen plenty of plants add water jets or inlets to their mixers, then run into trouble because the spare parts don’t fit together as they should. Ill-fitting parts can cause issues like buildup inside the mixer that eventually lead to grenading.
Call us before you make any alterations. We’ll edit the drawings we made for your original build to create a template to accurately spot the feature you’re adding, plus tell you how and where to install it. Then you can rest assured the parts will fit.
2) Don’t hit your mixer with a hammer
If you grew up with CRT TVs, we understand the instinct to whack something to make it work again. With all the time we spend designing, building, and polishing beautiful mixers, it’s a little sad to see them come back with hammer marks.
But it’s not just about our feelings. The misconception here is that it’s necessary to hit the mixer sometimes, because that’s the best way to knock material buildup out of the breather.
The fact is that hammers only create dents in the breather, which are the perfect kinds of pockets for more buildup to happen. Buildup then leads to issues like paper breaks or grenading. If buildup is a chronic issue in your system, we highly recommend choosing the peaceful option by calling our gypsum consultants for help.
3) Don’t let tramp metal sneak in
This one is easier said than done. Tramp metal can enter the system from almost any point in the process — even from the first truck or boat to load up that gypsum ore from the mine. Once your rock gets into the plant, pieces of your own equipment, like bolts from a screw conveyor, can get knocked into the pile.
You can’t account for every loose bolt or dirty truck bed, and magnets aren’t 100% effective in separating the tramp metal. If something like a gudgeon bolt — a part that can be as large as a computer mouse — gets far enough down the line, it’s almost guaranteed to grenade your mixer.
Our gypsum consultant, Wayne Beveridge, usually recommends setting up what’s called a tramp metal trap. It gives the metal a place to fall and keeps it contained while the gypsum carries on down the line. If that sounds like something you need, Wayne can sketch one that fits your system and help you find the right parts to make it.
4) Keep a mixer maintenance and rebuild schedule
If you’re seeing any issues in your mixer, maintenance should be the first step. Mixers need to be maintained in different ways on a weekly and monthly basis. This can include removing buildup from the interior, adjusting clearances, checking parts for wear-and-tear, and replacing anything that looks too worn.
To keep costs as low as possible, make sure you rebuild your mixer as needed. The process involves sending your mixer over to our shop, where we’ll re-chrome and polish any parts in salvageable condition and repair or replace the rest.
All this due diligence ensures your tolerances stay precise, preventing buildup from becoming a big enough issue to grenade the mixer.
Reach out anytime (but preferably before something blows up)
Did you notice how much we invited you to get in touch if you have a problem? It’s not because we’re lonely — we really mean it. Whether you need help with your drywall production process, mixer buildup, a new alteration, or a rebuild, our consultants have decades of experience in the gypsum industry and are always ready to help. Call us today.