Troubleshooting Burnt Glue in the Edgebander
Glue selection, heating element performance, and temperature settings all come up for discussion when an edgebander seems to have a burnt glue problem. December 27, 2010
Question
I recently cleaned my gluepot and am already getting burnt glue in the pot and bits of char on the glue roller. Machine is a Brandt KD55 and the glue is Jowat 288-60 natural. Gluepot is set within range of what's recommended for the glue. What am I doing wrong?
Forum Responses
(Cabinetmaking Forum)
From contributor P:
I'm not as familiar with the Brandt KD55 as I am some, but the principles are the same with any system when working with hotmelt. Pots have heating elements positioned in the best location to disperse heat evenly. When an element burns out, it requires the other elements to work overtime to keep up. When an element stays on additional time to bring the glue up to temperature or maintain the proper temperature, it causes a very concentrated hot spot from working overtime. The hotmelt glue that is touching this hot spot is easily charred or oxidized.
You can check your elements by using an ohm meter. Disconnect the pot plug and you will see 2 rows of pins. The manual should give you the number of the pin position that each element is connected to and it should explain how to ohm your elements to check for a defective one. This may not be the problem, but if the elements are not working properly, it will cause added glue burn.
From the original questioner:
Thanks very much for taking the time to post that. I just replaced all 5 heaters in the gluepot when I cleaned it.
From contributor A:
We recently changed from the same glue you are using to Dorus and have seen a dramatic reduction in charred glue in the pot. We were told that the Jowat glue had more filler in it and that was what charred. The Dorus is almost twice the price, but has been worth it for keeping the pot cleaner longer.
From contributor C:
We once changed to Dorus because it was supposed to be better. It was hell - we went right back to Jowat. I was told Dorus was an excellent glue but not recommended for my machine.
Recently we changed to Wilsonart contact adhesive and had great results. We went back to the Conbond and have had hell to pay with the Binks gun. Anyone have a problem shooting a Binks 2001 and Conbond 2325?
From contributor N:
I bought a used KD54 a few years ago and had to clean the glue pot when I received it since all the glue was burnt and charred. The previous owner even sent a small portion of glue pellets to get me started. They were Jowat. I cleaned the pot and also bought a temperature gauge to see if the glue temp was the same as the digital display. Turns out the temp of the glue in the pot didn't correspond to the temp on the display. He was running it much hotter than the recommended 190-200 degrees Celsius. I adjusted the temp and used Dorus pellets and haven't had any problems. Do the two different glues perform differently? Not sure since mine was running too hot when I received it. All I know is that after adjusting the temp and using Dorus in a KD54 it works great. First, I'd check the temp of your glue pot and adjust if necessary. If that doesn't work, try Dorus.
From the original questioner:
I checked the temps yesterday (190 at the pot and around 176 at the roller). I'll give the Dorus glue a shot. Thanks very much for the feedback.
From contributor I:
Just changed to Dorus 351 transparent, and it's working perfectly in my KD-56 - much less charring than with my previous filled hotmelts. Keeping the gluepot topped off helps too.
