Does a scratched Colored Protective Case need replacing?

No. A scratch under 0.3 mm is cosmetic; only a breach through the wall ends the body.

Can a pressure washer be used?

Yes, below 5 MPa and 45 C, nozzle 200 mm off the surface.

How often does the gasket come out?

Check at 12 months, replace above 30 percent set; on a coast, shorten to 9.

Can a Colored Protective Case be repaired?

Cosmetics yes, structure no. A pen covers a groove under 1 mm; a through crack retires the body.

How should an idle Colored Protective Case be stored?

Lid closed, flat, out of light, and work each latch every six months so the gasket takes no set.

Scratches Are Not the End: A Colored Protective Case Service Log

Quick answer: Most Colored Protective Case bodies are retired long before they fail. Set intervals instead: latches and handles at 30 days, gaskets and hinges at 90, wall thickness at 365. Wash below 45 C at pH 7 to 9, and replace parts at 5000 latch cycles, 30 percent gasket set or 0.3 mm hinge wear.

Scratches Are Not a Verdict
Inspection Intervals: 30, 90 and 365 Days
Cleaning: Detergent, Water and 45 C
Replacement Lines: Latches, Gaskets, Hinges
Service Life: Light, Stacking and the Year-Five Audit
FAQ

1. Scratches Are Not a Verdict

The commonest waste is retiring a body over one white mark. Pigment in a Colored Protective Case sits in the plastic, so a scuffed surface keeps its colour; the white line is flattened texture. A thin coat of wax takes most of it out.

What has to go is reading appearance as condition. Depth decides, not area: under 0.3 mm clean only, 0.3 to 1 mm touch in with a pen, and only a breach justifies a new body. A body costs 180, a latch 6, a gasket 14.

Defect	Appearance	Verdict	Action
Scratch under 0.3 mm	white line, no base	serviceable	polish
Scratch 0.3 to 1 mm	pale groove	serviceable	colour pen
Crack under 20 mm	white edge	watch	drill-stop, tag
Crack over 20 mm	through	stop	replace body
Latch missing a tooth	pops open	stop	replace latch
Gasket gone hard	no rebound	watch	replace gasket

2. Inspection Intervals: 30, 90 and 365 Days

Inspection is split by age, not one sweep: too often and the sheet is signed unread, too rare and a broken latch is found by the cargo.

Colored Protective Case: blue body opened flat, two halves facing up, a segmented hinge between them, one red latch at each end

At 30 days check three things by hand: latch play, whitening at the handle root, new splits on the shell. Two minutes per body at the outbound desk.

At 90 days add gasket rebound and hinge stiffness. A gasket returning to 80 percent passes; a stiff hinge wants dusting, not oil, which collects grit.

At 365 days measure. Eight wall readings with an ultrasonic gauge, four bottom corners and four side midpoints: 10 percent below the log puts a body on watch, under 2.4 mm it stops. Compare shade with a retention sample, since a delta E above 2 means the batch no longer mixes with new stock. Log by body number, since year two only means something against the same series. Three years of numbers give the real life on your route, not the eight a supplier quotes.

3. Cleaning: Detergent, Water and 45 C

Bad cleaning damages a body faster than none. Polypropylene shrugs off acid and alkali but not stress cracking, and residue in a rib channel opens a crack months later.

Detergent neutral to mildly alkaline, pH 7 to 9; chlorine only in an outbreak, at 500 mg per litre.
Water below 45 C; above that the polymer softens and the lid flange distorts.
Soft brush and sponge; a steel pad cuts grooves.
A clean rinse at rib channels and the hinge line.
Air dry upside down in shade; sun yellows pale bodies twice as fast.
Wipe dry after disinfection; chlorine pits the latch.

4. Replacement Lines: Latches, Gaskets, Hinges

Parts have a life; the body does not.

Colored Protective Case: overhead view of the open blue body, two flat cavities, the segmented hinge down the middle, red latches open at both ends

Part	Check	Replacement line	Interval
Latch	feel and tooth face	5000 cycles or a missing tooth	24 months
Gasket	press and release	set above 30 percent	12 months
Hinge	pin diameter	0.3 mm wear	36 months
Fixing screw	torque wrench	retorque below 1.2 N·m	6 months
Handle	20 kg static	whitening at root	12 months

The latch reaches its line first: five thousand cycles sounds remote until a line opens a case eight times a day, landing inside two years.

The gasket fails by hardening, not tearing. At 30 percent set it looks whole but will not return, and the seal drops from IP67 to splash resistance.

5. Service Life: Light, Stacking and the Year-Five Audit

Half the life of a Colored Protective Case is in the material, half in storage. A body left in the open chalks at 2000 hours of ultraviolet.

Stack no more than five tiers with a board between; without one the lower lid dishes within six months and eats half the gasket compression. Hold storage between minus 20 and 60 C. In year five run a full audit and demote passing bodies to indoor runs.

Conclusion

Most maintenance money goes on parts that could have been repaired. Split inspection into 30, 90 and 365 days, write the latch, gasket and hinge lines into the sheet, hold wash water under 45 C: eight years is ordinary for a Colored Protective Case.

This article discusses only the container (case body) side of specifications and design intent, and does not cover any handling, loading or use of the contents.