Material accumulation in the rotor groove causing the yarn to break is a serious spinning efficiency problem for the open-end spinning industry. Fine trash, sometimes called pepper trash, is blamed for this rotor buildup and subsequent ends down. The origin of this pepper trash has been blamed on various foreign materials from soil to small-leaf particles and other plant materials. There is currently some indication that the origin of the material building up in the spinning rotor groove may derive from broken pieces of hull. Specially processed test cotton was produced at the Southwestern Cotton Ginning Research Laboratory that contained known high quantities of soil particles, and small leaf and hull fragments. This cotton was provided to the Cotton Quality Research Station to be processed through their open-end spinning line. Material was collected from rotor grooves for further analysis to determine its origin. Once the origin of the problem material is determined, then the problem of removal can be addressed during the ginning process.
