Filling Machine Troubleshooting: Causes & Fixes

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Problems on this page:

Fill volume out of spec (over or under-fill)Dripping or stringing nozzles No fill or blocked nozzle Foaming or spillage Containers not centred under the nozzles Fill varies from head to head Container breakage or crushing at the filler Filler pauses on low product or supply faults

Fill volume out of spec (over or under-fill)

Hits OEE: Quality

Symptoms: Net weight or fill level drifts outside limits, high giveaway or checkweigher rejects.

Worn valve or piston seals

Inspect and replace seals; rebuild worn fill heads.

Supply level or pressure varying

Stabilise the supply tank level and inlet pressure.

Viscosity or temperature change

Control product temperature; recalibrate for the recipe.

Calibration drift

Recalibrate fill volume and verify against a checkweigher.

Prevention: Routine calibration, seal inspection, stable supply and temperature.

Dripping or stringing nozzles

Hits OEE: Quality

Symptoms: Product on threads, caps or conveyor, sticky containers and contamination.

Worn nozzle shut-off or no suck-back

Repair or replace nozzles; enable and tune suck-back.

Product too thin or aerated

Control viscosity and de-aerate; adjust fill speed.

Valve timing off

Tune valve open and close timing to the container.

Prevention: Nozzle maintenance, correct suck-back, viscosity control.

No fill or blocked nozzle

Hits OEE: Availability

Symptoms: One or more heads not dispensing, missing fills rejected downstream.

Blocked nozzle or inline filter

Clean or replace the nozzle and filter.

Air lock in the manifold

Bleed air; ensure a flooded suction.

Valve actuator or signal fault

Check the valve solenoid and PLC output.

Prevention: Filter changes, CIP and flush schedule, valve checks.

Foaming or spillage

Hits OEE: Quality

Symptoms: Foam over the rim, inaccurate level fills, sticky mess at the heads.

Fill speed too high

Reduce fill rate; use bottom-up or diving nozzles.

Product aerated upstream

Fix pump or agitation entraining air; de-aerate.

Wrong nozzle for the product

Fit anti-foam nozzles suited to the product.

Prevention: Tuned fill profiles, leak-free suction, correct nozzle selection.

Containers not centred under the nozzles

Hits OEE: Quality

Symptoms: Product on the outside of containers, spills, nozzles touching the necks, wet necks before capping.

Worn or wrong change parts

Fit the correct starwheels and guides for the format and replace worn pockets.

Indexing or starwheel timing off

Re-time the infeed starwheel and indexing to the filler.

Container dimensions out of spec

Measure incoming containers and agree tolerances with the supplier.

Worn centring bells or neck guides

Replace worn centring bells and neck guides.

Prevention: Change-part checks at every changeover and incoming container checks.

Fill varies from head to head

Hits OEE: Quality

Symptoms: A few valves fill high or low while the rest are on target; checkweigher rejects trace back to the same heads.

Worn seals or springs on individual valves

Rebuild or replace the seals on the outlier valves.

Uneven product supply to the bowl or manifold

Check the level control and the supply pressure to the filler.

Blocked vent tubes or product filters

Clean vent tubes and product filters.

Calibration drift on single heads

Recalibrate each head and record fill by head so drift shows early.

Prevention: Record fill weight by head and rebuild valves on a schedule.

Container breakage or crushing at the filler

Hits OEE: Availability

Symptoms: Broken glass or crushed containers at the infeed or starwheels, stops for clean-up and inspection.

Starwheel timing or guide gaps wrong

Re-time the starwheels and set guide gaps to the container.

Too much line pressure at the infeed

Reduce back-pressure and tune accumulation ahead of the filler.

Damaged containers arriving

Inspect incoming containers and hold damaged lots.

Worn change parts

Replace worn starwheels and guides.

Prevention: Change-part inspections and controlled infeed pressure; a written glass breakage procedure.

Filler pauses on low product or supply faults

Hits OEE: Availability

Symptoms: The filler stops or slows waiting for product, low-level alarms, uneven fill speed.

Upstream tank or pump not keeping up

Check the supply pump, valves and filters, and the batch timing upstream.

Dirty or miscalibrated level probe

Clean and recalibrate the level probes in the bowl or tank.

Air drawn into the product line

Check fittings on the suction side for leaks and bleed the air.

Blocked product filter

Clean or replace product filters on a schedule.

Prevention: Level probe checks during sanitation and filter changes on a schedule.

Guidance only. Always follow lockout/tagout and your site's safe-work procedures, and verify against OEM manuals before acting.

Stop the same fault coming back

Recurring filling machine stops usually trace to a cause you cannot see by hand. The partner we recommend is Fabrico: it tracks OEE and downtime live from PLCs, IoT sensors or AI cameras; where cameras are fitted, the video of a stop sits next to its machine data so the cause can be reviewed; and a technician opens the work order from the stop in the same system. Data is hosted in the AWS EU region, and Fabrico and the company behind it hold ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 20000-1 and ISO 9001.

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Methods that cut recurring stops: the six big losses · root cause analysis · preventive vs predictive maintenance · TPM · SMED & changeover