NALGENE bottles and closures are engineered, manufactured, and sold to work together as a system. These procedures are followed by NNI before any product is released to the marketplace.

Receiving Inspection

NNI currently performs these checks on incoming lots of material as noted below. All tests are based on NNI historical data and information supplied by resin manufacturers.

1. Resin Flow: Melt Flow Indexes are performed on selected lots of incoming resin per ASTM D1238.
2. Visuals: A Visual Comparison of each lot of resin is performed to assure that there is limited lot-to-lot color variation during manufacturing runs. NNI also checks each lot's granular size and configuration to ensure that uniform molding will be accomplished.

Molding Inspection

Molding inspection is performed in two major steps. Step one is the First Piece Approval stage. NNI Manufacturing must obtain First Piece Approval from Quality Control before any parts can be assigned to stock.

Step two is the critical In-Process Inspection. Parts are continually checked at specified intervals during the entire production run. Inspection criteria for the above steps are:
Bottles and Closures First Piece/In-Process

• Physical defects/appearance
• Molding integrity/completeness of threads and sealing ring (closure)
• Standard NNI Leak Test
• Wall thickness (bottle only)
• Molding integrity of threads and neck chamfer (bottles)
• Dimensional checks

Leak Testing

The standard NNI leak tests for bottles

NOTE that the Standard NNI Leak Tests are performed with WATER. The same tests, using other liquids, may not yield the same results. NNI advises customers to test NALGENE bottles and closures under the conditions of their planned application to ensure safe usage of the product.

Warning: Do not use NALGENE bottles, carboys, or other containers under pressure or vacuum, except those products that are specifically designed, specified, and tested for these applications. the application of pressure or vacuum to products not designed for such use may result in failure of the products, damage leading to property and/or personal injury.

Production bottles are randomly selected. Bottles are filled with a sufficient volume of water. Then standard test closures, with fittings to allow pressure application, are screwed onto the bottles at specified torque values. The bottles are inverted, so that water covers the junctures of the bottles and closures. Air pressure of 2 psig is applied for 2 minutes. The pressure is then released. The closures are removed and then checked. If no water is found on the closure's threads, the bottles are judged to be leakproof. This protocol applies to bottles with closures 83-mm or smaller. For 70-, 100-, and 120-mm closures, see below.

The standard for NNI leak test closures *

In a complementary procedure, closures are randomly selected from a production run. Standard test bottles are filled with water. The selected closures are applied to the bottles at specified torque values, and are inverted. Fittings are attached to the bottoms of the test bottles.

Air pressure of 2 psig is applied for 2 minutes. The pressure is then released. The closures are removed and then checked. If no water is found on the closure's threads, the bottles are judged to be leakproof. This protocol applies to bottles with closures 83-mm or smaller.

* NNI performs leak testing at higher psig levels when required for specific product claims.

To test bottles, carboys, and other containers with large closures

A standard test closure (70-, 100-, or 120-mm) is applied onto a container filled with water at specified torque values. The container is placed on its side for 15 minutes. if no water escapes, the container is leakproof. 100- and 120-mm closures are tested in a complementary procedure using standard test containers. The accept/reject criteria for the NNI program is "0" accept and "1" reject. When a defect is discovered, all parts molded from the time of the last "Acceptable" inspection are held until molding variances are corrected. These parts are then inspected and disposition is made based on the results.