What does a clean extrusion operation look like?

I've probably been to a dozen different tube/hose, and wire/cable extrusion plants and they all have in common a haphazard arrangement of thermocouples and heaters for the head/die and anything else not internal to the extruder. I'm talking about thermocouples hanging down and across the floor where they regularly get trampled, heater power cables spliced to SO-cord and hanging from wire nuts and electrical tape, also piled on the floor under the die, and all these cables get hot melted plastic dribbled on them, and it's just a horrible saddening mess. They keep spare thermocouples and heaters by the pallet-load to keep up with how often they get damaged; it's like these are consumables.

Am I alone in these observations? I've never installed an extruder; I realize there are limitations, but still never seen an extrusion installation that I would feel proud to be able to say I had installed. I'm wondering if such exists, and what it looks like. Do you have any pictures to show, or descriptions to give, of stellar extrusion operations?

I'm thinking if I were setting up an extruder, I would erect some structure overhead (maybe not directly overhead where it would be baked from heat though), with plug boxes to run the heaters and thermocouples to, so that they are not piled under the head where plastic drips, with cables just long enough to go where they need to go. Spares would be assemblies with plugs and proper length cables, no wire nuts and tape flying midair. It seems to me this would save a lot of money. But I've seen nobody do it however, so maybe I'm being naive. Maybe the damages are unavoidable no matter how clean the installation is.

I've never seen the extruder that makes Cheerios, but the plant engineer described it at an ISA meeting 4-5 years ago. It did not sound like your installation, but the nickel wire extruder down the road does. Aluminum extruder 1/2 hour from here is cleaner, too. Not pristine, but cleaner than your description.

I have a customer that is a silicone shop.

Their extruder looks like it just came out of the crate. Nothing patched, jumped, rigged, bodged, or even out of place. And, it's still pretty clean.

Saw a plastic sheet Extruder that fed right into a vacuum former once. It was for food containers and everything there was very clean. Also have seen brass Extruder that looks like your description of what you have seen.

Funny just finished a install today. The other 5 extruders aren't in bad shape. Its all the add on that they did that mess up a nice install. Would have taken some better pictures if I knew somebody would look at them.

CENTER said:

Funny just finished a install today. The other 5 extruders aren't in bad shape. Its all the add on that they did that mess up a nice install. Would have taken some better pictures if I knew somebody would look at them.

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This looks great, however I don't see any die heaters or thermocouples installed yet. Or is the installation just "that good" so that I can't even tell they're there? How long before it looks like this? I hope never.

How about just: Not like a plate of spaghetti

Actually borrowed from model railroading about the track design after years of "improvements"

They are using the same extruders. They have a plant about 30 miles away and you could have taken that picture there. They also don't stop the machine when the head leeks. The PVC or the nylon just runs all over the wires. That was a early picture the head was not connected yet.