Plastic blowmolding: Hayward Pool adds accu head machine from Graham Engineering

The largest manufacturer of residential swimming pool equipment in the world, Hayward Pool Products, has taken delivery of a new accumulator head blowmolding machine from Graham Engineering Corp. to help Hayward meet growing business. The machine's ability to quickly change colors was a major selling point.

Hayward (Elizabeth, NJ) has had the Graham Engineering machine running since last October in its factory in Clemmons, NC, where it is used to blow mold several sizes of pool filters. The machine included a 6-inch bore grooved extruder with a 400-HP AC motor, a 50-lb series head, and a 60 x 60-inch press with pre-pinch and blow pin assembly with quick change over. The unit has 140 tons of clamping force and independent servo-platen control.

Scott Pugh, manufacturing manager of Hayward, said of the new machine, "The fast color change capability of the Graham machine was a key selling point. This was demonstrated to us firsthand before we placed an order, and verified successfully on our machine."

According to Graham Engineering (York, PA), color changes that can require as many as 8-12 hours or more on other machines can typically be accomplished in less than one hour on Graham machines. During the Hayward machinery acceptance, Graham demonstrated both white-to-black (complete color change in 6 shots) and black-to-platinum (30 shots) color changes.

Graham Engineering's accumulator blowmolding machinery are available with single and dual head configurations, with from 5-50 lb (3-30 liters) capacity.