HDPE Jerrycan Blow Molding Machine Selection Guide

An HDPE jerrycan blow molding machine is almost always bought for one of two reasons: capacity is full, or a customer has asked for a container the current mould cannot produce. In both cases the specification conversation starts in the wrong place — with machine tonnage and output — when the decisions that actually determine whether the project works are made by the container: its handle, its view strip, its neck, and how the wall has to be distributed if the pack is used for dangerous goods.

Get that order wrong and the symptoms appear slowly. A view strip that forms unevenly and reads as a defect under the customer’s quality gate. A handle that flashes or traps a weld line exactly where the load is concentrated. A 20 L container that weighs more than it needs to, because the die and mould were never matched to the container geometry, and the extra gram goes into every single unit for years. None of these problems is solved by buying a bigger machine.

Sailwin has built extrusion blow molding machines for 500+ installations in 60+ countries over 15+ years, covering 0.5 L to 1000 L containers, with every machine running a full-load FAT before shipment under ISO 9001:2015 and CE marking. This guide walks through the selection sequence our engineers use: size first, features second, output third, tooling cost last.

1. Why Jerrycan Projects Go Wrong Before the Machine Is Ordered

The failure pattern is consistent. A buyer compares three EBM quotations on tonnage, output and price, selects the cheapest machine that meets the hourly target, and only then sends the container drawing for the mould. At that point the mould engineer discovers the container needs a mould that the selected machine cannot carry — or can carry only with a die head that will not deliver a stable parison at the required weight distribution.

The cost of discovering this late is not the machine price difference. It is the schedule: a standard machine is built in 30–45 days (45–60 days for custom configurations), and on-site installation and commissioning takes 3–7 days. Re-scoping a machine mid-project pushes both numbers, and the second-order cost is a container designed around a machine instead of around its own performance requirements.

The correct sequence is the reverse. Fix the container specification — volume, neck finish, handle, view strip, whether the pack must satisfy UN performance requirements for dangerous goods — then select the machine class that produces it comfortably, then confirm output, then price the tool.

2. Matching Machine Class to Jerrycan Size, 1 L to 25 L

Sailwin publishes the EBM range in single-station and twin-station variants at the same container size — for example SW-S5L with 2S5L, and SW-S12L with 2S12L. The twin-station version exists because the economics of a small container change once output matters: two stations on one machine share the extruder, the frame and the utilities, which is cheaper than two separate machines producing the same total output.

One caution: container volume is the entry point, not the specification. A 20 L jerrycan carrying water and a 20 L jerrycan carrying a solvent with a barrier layer are not the same project, even though both sit in the SW-S30L class. Weight and layer structure decide whether the class fits; volume only narrows the list.

3. Handles, View Strips and Necks: The Three Features That Define the Tool

These three features have more influence on project cost and long-term running performance than container volume does. Each has a straightforward version and a difficult version, and the difference is usually visible in the drawing before any machine is quoted.

Sailwin EBM machines process PE, PP, ABS, EVA, PC and PA, including multilayer PE + PA + EVOH structures for containers that need a barrier. If a jerrycan might be used for a solvent, fuel additive or agrochemical, raise it at the enquiry stage — retrofitting a monolayer line into a barrier line is a far larger project.

Where a pack falls under UN performance requirements for dangerous goods, the machine’s contribution is consistent wall thickness and weight distribution. The drop, stack and leak tests measure the container, but they measure the process that made it.

4. Output, Cycle Time and Changeover: Reading the Quotation

Output figures in an EBM quotation are quoted at a container size and a cycle condition. A published figure of 600 pcs/h at up to 30 L means exactly that — it is not a promise for a different wall thickness, a heavier container or a multilayer structure. When you compare two suppliers, compare the output figure at your container, not at whichever container makes the number look best.

• Ask for the output at your container weight. Wall thickness and part weight set the cycle; a heavier container always runs slower, and the quotation should say so.
• Confirm the control platform. Sailwin machines use Siemens or Mitsubishi PLCs with FESTO combined blow valves, SMC cylinders, Schneider electricals and ABB components, and the PLC monitors 40+ parameters in real time so process drift is visible rather than inferred.
• Price the changeover, not just the mould. Mould change takes under 30 minutes on a Sailwin machine, but that number assumes pre-set recipes, accessible services and mould storage close to the machine.
• Check what ships with the machine. Lead time is 30–45 days standard and 45–60 days for custom configurations, installation and commissioning takes 3–7 days, common wear parts ship within 48 hours, and remote support runs 7×24.

5. Case Study: A 20 L HDPE Jerrycan Line for an Industrial Packer

An industrial packer in South-East Asia needed 20 L HDPE jerrycans for automotive fluids, with a view strip and an integrated handle, on an SW-S30L class machine rated 600 pcs/h at up to 30 L.

Scenario based on a Sailwin customer project; site-specific figures available on request during engineering review.

Frequently Asked Questions