The Blackhawk Chuck Housing Assemblies (CHA) that are currently in your plant, are key components that need to be changed.   These units wear out after a period of time.  Some units may last longer due to volume of production, bottle dimensions, equipment adjustment and general cleaning practices. 

Production volume gives a good indication as to how long the CHA’s last.  Dairies that run high volumes of product will wear out the CHA’s quicker.  Dairies that run a low volume of product the CHA’s will last longer.  For instance, if a filler has an eight head capper and runs about 16 million units on the filler per year, it should roughly come to 2 million units per capper.  This is a good estimate as to when the CHA’s may begin to or are losing the tightening capabilities. Again, this 2 million units per capper is merely a bench mark.

Bottle dimensions, if the bottles “I” dimension is too small or the “T” (Thread) and Ratchets are too big, this will be putting excess strain on the CHA’s.  The CHA’s will wear out faster due to the extra force required to compensate for the irregular bottle dimensions. Keeping the bottle dimensions in the bottle tolerance range should allow dairies to run production at or above normal production rates without shortening the life of a CHA. 

Equipment adjustments, if one lowers the capper height too low the result will be premature wear on the internal components.  This is caused by excessive top load pressure. The actuator and the jaws will wear prematurely and will not perform as designed.  However lowering the capper height is common practice, it can be a good indicator that the CHA’s are beginning to have excess wear and tear and will be requiring replacement.

When the CHA’s are worn out and the set needs to be replaced, contact Blackhawk’s Customer Service Department (630)-543-1905 for re-ordering