Injection moulding machine problem

It was a crisis call for a table-top injection moulding machine. Clear acrylic meter faces were being moulded and the output quality had deteriorated overnight.

The controls were fairly simple, the key ones being those for temperature control of 3 zones. Temperature setting was through potentiometers with graduated dial plates. The instruction manual had a chart listing the 3 settings for various plastics.

The easiest way to check whether the temperature controllers were working was to connect bulbs across the heating elements and observe the change in the switching while changing the settings. All 3 tested okay.

When I was mulling over the problem the owner excused himself for a while.

Then 'Eureka'! I turned the knobs fully anticlockwise and the pointers were not at 'zero'.

All I had to do then was to loosen the knobs to rectify that.

After changing back to the settings for acrylic, the machine was back in business!
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