UL-certified PVC profile grade debuts at Chinaplas; colored PVC replaces painted ABS in air-conditioner panels

PolyOne Corporation (Avon Lake, OH) has debuted a UL-certified PVC extrusion grade for outdoor electrical enclosures at Chinaplas 2012 this week (Booth N1F41) in Shanghai. The grade is a solution from the Geon Rigid Vinyl family.

Another recent success in the sector is replacement of painted ABS with pre-colored Geon Vinyl rigid molding grades in air conditioner panel applications in a collaboration with Friedrich, a global air conditioner manufacturer who wanted to reduce production costs for their Kühl room air conditioners.

PolyOne worked with Midwest Plastic Fabricators and its supplier, Walton Plastics, to develop a UL-certified Geon vinyl extrusion grade for outdoor electrical enclosures that meet UL94 V-0 and NEMA 4X requirements.

PolyOne collaborated recently with Friedrich, a global air conditioner manufacturer, to replace painted ABS housings with pre-colored Geon Rigid Vinyl for production savings and quieter operating units.

PolyOne's technology and sales teams discussed Friedrich's needs and ran molding trials at PolyOne's Innovation Center on a Friedrich tool to determine what colors, textures, and gloss could be achieved. PolyOne's Color Lab used both existing colors and custom color-matching to provide the seven colors required by the application. PolyOne's technology team then collaborated with Friedrich by providing part design recommendations, running additional tooling trials at PolyOne's Innovation Center, and working directly with Friedrich's manufacturing locations globally.

Making the switch from painted ABS to pre-colored vinyl simplified the supply chain and reduced operational cost while providing a high-quality, aesthetically appealing housing. In addition, Friedrich found that the Kühl unit runs more quietly because of the improved sound deadening characteristics of PVC.

In the appliance segment, these pre-colored PVC grades have the aesthetics needed to replace painted metal or plastics such as ABS. In addition to standard and custom colors, Geon Vinyl rigid molding materials are available in deep saturated colors, transparent colors, and specialty colors, such as metallics, all of which have the UV resistance needed to keep parts looking new longer than competitive options.-[email protected]