User guide

AccuMeter Controller Chapter 11: Configuring a new PLC 74
HOPPER SETUP Tab
• DISPLAYED NAME. This is displayed above the blender on the main recipe page and on the
top of every “pop-up” page to tell you which piece of equipment you are on.
• MASS FLOW HOPPER ENABLED/DISABLED. Set the to enabled if you have a weighed
mass flow hopper. If you are either using a central non-weighed collection hopper with 2 prox
switches (high/low) or are starve feeding a process without any collection hopper then
DISABLE this. If DISABLED then all other settings or pages mentioned after this point do not
have any effect.
• HOPPER SIZE. Set this to about 75% of what the hopper will actually hold in weight. Be sure
to take into consideration the lightest bulk density of material that you will be running in the
hopper. Setting this too large will cause the blender to overfill the mass flow hopper and will
back the resin up into the feeder tubes causing the drives to overload and trip out. Setting this
too small will cause the blender to hunt and search instead of locking into the process rate.
• RELOAD %. The percent at which the feeders will turn on to fill the mass flow hopper. This
value should be set to 50%, but can be lowered if the process rate is physically too high for the
size of the mass flow hopper and can be increased if the process rate is significantly lower than
what the mass flow is sized for. Consult ACS service or engineering before changing.
• EMPTY %. The percent of the hopper determined to be empty. Leaving it at the default 2%
will prevent variations in the scale calibration from falsely appearing as resin. This should not
be changed.
• STEADY WINDOW SIZE IN %. The blender will try to stay within a percent of weight
around the median point between the Hopper Size Weight and the Reload %. If it is within this
window then it is considered “In Steady Window” and then begins calculating process rate once
all of the feeders have their “steady flags” engaged. Increasing this value will allow for more
variations in bulk density and is necessary when blending post consumer scrap or high
percentages of varying bulk density flake regrind. However, setting this value larger will cause
a larger displayed variation in the extrusion process rate. This should be taken into
consideration if you are using this data for closed loop extrusion control.