Frequently Asked Questions
General
Where are the tools made?
- Switzerland
Where are your service centers located?
- Hapco Inc locations in Kent (OH) and Hewitt (TX)
- https://hapcoinc.com/service/ to find our Certified and Authorized Service Centers
What’s the difference between BAK and the Other Green Machine?
- Less electronic circuit boards, totally brushless and 1 year versus an extended 3-year warranty.
Can we buy directly from Hapco or do we have to buy from our distributor?
- Both
How can I get parts?
- Call 800-345-9353 or send it in to one of our service centers https://hapcoinc.com/service/
How do I get my tool fixed?
- Call 800-345-9353 or send it in to one of our service centers https://hapcoinc.com/service/ in your area
Does your overlap welder come with a storage box?
- No, unless you purchase it as a kit
Roofing
Rion
When can I use the Eron vs Rion?
- In roofing the ERON is used to weld Mod Bitumen and the Rion for single ply materials (TPO – PVC, etc.)
When do I have to change carbon brushes in the Rion and Eron?
- Please also consider the outside parameters like how clean the air is, if there is higher voltage, damp or wet conditions. Those will affect the lifetime of the carbon brushes and make it significantly smaller. Under the best conditions for the RiOn it’s approx. 1500 working hours and ErOn is approx. 1200 working hours. Once the brushes are changed, the lifetime is cut in half, if they are changed another time it’s cut in half again.
How to perform Rion maintenance?
How to perform Rion troubleshooting?
Roofon and Roofon Edge: To Get Started
When I can use Roofon (or Roofon Edge) vs Laron?
- For small jobs under between 20 -100 squares and where I need to weld curves details.
What plug do I need to use for a Roofon?
- L630P or L1430P (230v/15.2 Amps)
Is the line cord the same for Roofon and Roofon Edge that for Laron?
- Yes, 230v, L101 230v. For Roofon and Roofon Edge 120v: USE L120
How to properly wire your plug?
When do I have to change carbon brushes in the Roofon and Roofon Edge?
- Please also consider the outside parameters like how clean the air is, if there is higher voltage, damp or wet conditions. Those will affect the lifetime of the carbon brushes and make it significantly smaller. Under the best conditions for the Roofon and Roofon Edge is approx. 1200 working hours. Once the brushes are changed, the lifetime is cut in half, if they are changed another time it’s cut in half again.
How to setup Roofon properly?
- 220V Line needed (most buildings’ 220V line electrical power is only providing 208V, which is not enough for these tools to operate effectively. A volt meter will assure you of your power source)
- 100ft GFCI line cord (10 Gauge wire). It’s strongly recommended not to use cord that is longer than 100ft.
- 5000W minimum generator for the Roofon only. If you want to add a heat gun to be powered, an 8000W generator is effective.
How to turn on Roofon properly?
- Note: This machine is analog, not digital
- On the back of the machine is green a power button. Press it “on” and cool air will begin circulating through the heat gun.
- To the left of the power button is round knob. It is the air flow knob.
- Above the air flow knob is the speed knob.
- For your heat, go to the heat gun. You will turn the red potentiometer knob for your heat selection just as you do with your hand-held units. Set your desired temperature (you will notice that there is still cool air blowing out of the nozzle), you must push the toggle switch on the heat gun in order to activate the heating element. Once you feel hot air blowing out of the nozzle, you should be ready to weld in approx. 3-5 minutes.
What are the recommended temperature settings?
- For TPO:
- .040-.060 mil. Thickness (supported & unsupported)
- set your air flow at 100% (maximum)
- set your speed at 2
- set your temperature at 8.5
- For PVC:
- (.040-.045 mil. Thickness)
- set your air flow at 100% (maximum)
- set your speed at 3
- set your temperature at 8
How to setup Roofon on the single ply?
- You will align your welder just like our larger Laron welder: the pressure wheel on the front of the machine below the black weight, is on the top edge of overlap layer and the guide wheel (aka: pizza wheel) is on the lower edge of the overlap layer.
- The outside of your pressure wheel and the guide wheel must be aligned for your machine to move in a straight line. (See operations manual).
- You will want to see a slight angle of the nozzle from the outside angling down to the inside of the weld (not flat). (See operations manual)
- You want to see 1.5mm of the edge of the nozzle sticking out of the edge of the top layer of single ply material.
- The distance of the nozzle from the pressure wheel should measure 32mm-42mm (approx. 1.25” – 1.65”) from the hub nut (center) of the pressure wheel.
How to shut down Roofon / Roofon Edge properly?
- At lunch time or at the end of the day, turn the toggle switch on the heat gun off, letting cool air circulate through the machine for approx. 3-5 minutes. Once you feel consistent cool air blowing out of the nozzle, press the green button to “off”.
- Always cool down the machine using this process. It will save your heating elements and promote a safe work environment.
- Always store your Roofon with the nozzle in the welding (down) position, inserted in front of the pressure wheel to save wear and tear on the heat gun.
Roofon and Roofon Edge: Troubleshooting
How to perform Roofon and Roofon Edge maintenance?
The power is ON, but why aren’t I getting any or enough heat?
- Reference: Roofon and Roofon Edge Maintenance video 0:12 – 02:26
- Check the power cord and the plug to make sure they’re wired correctly (Reference: Wiring Diagram)
- If it’s wired correctly, there’s could be a broken wire from the plug clamping down onto the cord. The best way to check is to remove the plug, take a pair of pliers, and pull each wire. If one of them pulls out, then you must cut back approximately 6 inches, and rewire your plug.
- If there’s no broken wire, there could be a broken wire on the other end of the cable where it connects to the housing. To fix that, you have to remove 4 screws that hold the cover on, disconnect the wire inside, pull the wire out, cut 6 inches back, and redo the wire inside the housing
Why am I getting a cold weld?
- Reference: Roofon and Roofon Edge Maintenance video 02:30-04:00
- Adjust the nozzle height.
- Loosen the three nuts, turn the set screw counter clockwise until your nozzle lays flat, once it’s done, tight down all three nuts.
Why am I burning the membrane?
- Reference: Roofon and Roofon Edge Maintenance video 04:04 - 05:19
- Pitch of the nozzle might be lying completely flat. You need to set the proper pitch
- Loosen all 4 screws of the nozzle, turn the nozzle counter clockwise, all the way to the left, this should give you a proper pitch of the nozzle.
Why am I getting wrinkles in the sheet?
- Check the alignment of the nozzle with the pressure roller. You need to have 2mm or 1/8” opening of the nozzle sticking out pass the silicone of the wheel.
- Reference: Roofon and Roofon Edge Maintenance video 5:21 – 07:73
- Use 10mm wrench to loosen the two 10mm bolts of the mounting bracket so you can move the tool around to achieve the 2mm opening. Check the proper distance between the nozzle tip and the center of pressure roller. Use a ruler to make sure you have the nozzle 38mm-42mm or 1 ½ - 1 5/8” from the center of the pressure roller bolt. Check again to make sure still have 2mm or 1/8” nozzle opening sticking out pass the silicone wheel, then tighten the two 10mm bolts.
- FOR ROOFON EDGE: Guide roller might be out of adjustment.
- Reference: Roofon and Roofon Edge Maintenance video 08:39 – 09:32
- The distance between rocker arm and the edge of guide roller should be 10mm. Take 17mm wrench, loosen nut on the back side, turn the axle until you have achieved 10mm distance. Then tighten up the nut.
- FOR ROOFON: Guide roller might be out of adjustment.
- Reference: Roofon and Roofon Edge Maintenance video 10:05 – 09:32
- The distance between rocker arm and the edge of guide roller should be 30mm.
How to store Roofon and Roofon Edge?
- Reference: Roofon and Roofon Edge Maintenance video 10:30 – 11:03
- Guide wheel in UP position, heat source in DOWN position
- Do not store line cords on top of the welder
INDUSTRIAL HEAT SOURCE AND BLOWERS
Which replacement element I need for my tool?
Extruder Tips
- Number one rule is to thoroughly read the manufacturer’s extruder operators manual before beginning extrusion welding. Pay particular attention to line cord specification and length, and insure that the generator used can adequately provide the extruder wattage required. Using a generator undersized to that which is required to properly power the extruder, could result in damage to its’s sensitive electronic components.
- (Over 95% of phoned-in trouble shooting calls to our Service Dept. are power line cord related and/or generator is undersized)
- Similar to steel welding and plastic welding -- temperature, pressure, and speed all contribute to a successful extrusion weld.
- Liner material and welding rod must be clean and dry. Use a 50/50 mixture of Simple Green and water for cleaning as this combination will wick away moisture. Never use 100% water to clean liner, since moisture remains on the surface despite its dry appearance.
- Lightly grind/scuff edges (2”- 3” distance in on both panels) to be extruded with some form of light sanding wheel to scuff material. Scuffed area will oxidize immediately, so extrusion should begin soon after.
- Consider current ambient temperature, possible wind conditions, which affect liner temperature and dispensed molten plastic, ultimately affecting extruded weld quality. Adjust extruder temperature accordingly, and/or operators’ pace.
- Tie and pull snug a small piece of cloth in a knot around the welding rod where it enters the extruder. This will act as a “wiping cloth” to help minimize the amount of dust/debris being pulled in to the internal extruder barrel.
- Never use welding rod that has gotten wet. If wet welding rod enters the extruder barrel, it will steam off the moisture internally as it is heated in the barrel, creating small air pockets/bubbles in the extruded seam with weld quality being compromised.
- Place the extruders Teflon tip evenly positioned overlapping both panels.
- A thin (approx. 1/8” thick) layer of extruded material with a small raised lip on each side of the Teflon welding shoe will typically result. If extruded melted rod is too thick, operator should increase his/her pace accordingly.
- Let weld cool and test pull the seam.
- Cut patch pieces in a circular or oval pattern and large enough overlapping the area needing repaired, as there is no need to patch 90-degree angles which will waste welding rod.
- Shutting down extruder: snip off welding rod at extruder entry point and pull trigger until you hear RPM’s increase. This procedure “bleeds” some of the remaining melted rod and once higher RPM’s are heard, release the trigger. Follow extruder manual for reducing both mass and heat temperatures before turning extruder off completely. Extruder takes a while to cool down. Allow leftover extruded material to hang from the Teflon tip cooling for 10- 15 minutes. Use thin tip needle nose pliers to reach in (without damaging the tip) thru Teflon tip opening and gently pull out partially cooled material. This will remove some of the leftover melted rod residing internally in the Teflon tip. Performing this procedure will help reduce start-up/heating time for the next extrusion project.