HDPE Bottle Molding Leak Detection

Alright packaging folks, pass on to me what "industry standard" is in this case. I'm evaluating suppliers of HDPE 1 gallon bottles and getting into discussions over leak detection verification.

From my perspective, a leak in a bottle is an unacceptable defect, and since they're using an in-line leak detector to reject bottles, monitoring/verification of this equipment should be similar to metal detection with checks at start/end of shift at minimum and if the equipment is found to not be working all material since the last good check should go on hold for rework or disposal.

Is this fair? I've had problems with regrind-contamination leaks in the past that should have been caught by the leak detector tolerances and I'm getting strict on this issue. What verification procedures/intervals have you all seen? What % of bottles with leaks above the detector's tolerance are expected to make it past this step?

I would say that I largely agree, but quarantined product when equipment is found to be not working properly could be rechecked before condemning it to rework or disposal.

Based on previous complaint target levels I would say the standard for bottles with leaks making it past the detector should be something better than 1/10,000.

Kind regards,

Tony

I would agree with Tony, Last good check would be used as a marker to impound / Quarantine rather than dispose of, depending on the equipment verification frequency.

I would also recommend, if not already doing so, that your test equipment checks are suitable to verify across the full range of your specification. This type of test equipment usually uses pressure decay over a given test duration. So your test samples need to incorporate the smallest detectable example.