Film Coating Troubleshooting Chart
Your guide for increasing process efficiency and improving product quality
Problem
LOGO BRIDGING I Coating spans across the tablet logo or breakline, making the logo unreadable or breakline not clearly visible
• Low adhesion core ingredients
• Poor logo design
• Poorly plasticized film coating
• Low adhesion film coating
• Spray rate too high
• Product temperature too low
• Atomization air pressure too low
TWINNING I Two or more tablets are stuck together
• Inappropriate tablet shape (flat surfaces)
• Pan speed too low
• Atomization air pressure too low
• Spray rate too high
• Spray guns too close to bed
• Insufficient drying
SURFACE EROSION I The tablet surfaces are worn away or damaged during the coating run
• Hygroscopic tablet core
• High core friability
• Logo placement or design
• Low film strength
• Suspension solids concentration too low
• Spray rate too low
• Pan speed too high
• Punch design
• Punch wear
• Inappropriate baffle design for tablet shape
EDGE EROSION I The edges of the tablets are worn away or damaged during the coating run
• Sharp edges on tablets
• High core friability
• Low film strength
• Suspension solids concentration too low
• Spray rate too low
• Pan speed too high
• Incorrect coating pan fill
• Worn tablet tooling (causes ‘flashing’)
• Inappropriate baffle design for tablet shape
PEELING I The coating peels away from the tablet surface
• Overheated tablet core
• Poor film coating formulation, eg. low film
mechanical strength, poor adhesion to core, poorly
plasticized
• Core tablet erosion
BREAKAGE I Tablets are broken during the coating run
• Tablets are too soft or too brittle
• Tablets cap/laminate
• Poor tablet shape for coating
• Pan speed too high
• Inappropriate baffle design for tablet shape
• Spray rate too low
• Suspension solids concentration too low
Color Key: • Tablet Core • Coating Formulation • Process/Equipment
This document is valid at the time of distribution. Distributed 23-Mar-2023 (UTC)
Solution
• Use high adhesion core materials
• Use logo design optimized for film coating
• Select an optimally plasticized film coating from
Colorcon
• Select a high adhesion film coating from Colorcon
• Decrease spray rate
• Increase product temperature
• Increase atomization air pressure
• Choose tablet design that eliminates flat surfaces*
• Increase pan speed
• Increase atomization air pressure
• Decrease spray rate
• Increase gun-to-bed distance
• Increase drying (through higher inlet temperature
or higher inlet airflow rate)
*Adjustment of process conditions minimizes the issue, but
typically does not solve it completely. To completely eliminate
problem, the tablet shape should be changed.
• Reduce hygroscopic core materials, eg.
superdisintegrant
• Investigate core improvement
• Change logo design & placement
• Select a high strength film coating from Colorcon
• Increase suspension solids concentration (if possible)
• Increase spray rate
• Decrease pan speed
• Improve punch design
• Check punches for wear or damage
• Change baffle design
• Change tablet shape/design
• Investigate core improvement
• Select high film strength coating from Colorcon
• Increase suspension solids concentration (if possible)
• Increase spray rate
• Decrease pan speed
• Fill pan to correct volume
• Replace tablet tooling
• Change baffle design
• Reduce pre-warming temperature/time
• Select an optimized film coating
from Colorcon
• Improve tablet core: reduce hygroscopic ingredients,
reduce friability, choose better core shape
• Investigate core improvement
• Change tablet compression profile
• Change tablet shape
• Decrease pan speed
• Change baffle design
• Increase spray rate
• Increase suspension solids concentration (if possible)
 Problem Solution
FILM CRACKING I The coating is cracked, fractured or broken
• Poorly plasticized film coating • Select an optimally plasticized film coating from
• Expansion of core due to heating
Colorcon
• Core and coating have different thermal
• Avoid high tablet bed temperatures
expansion properties • Reduce mineral type fillers in the core formulation,
• Lack of relaxation time between tablet eg. calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, magnesium
compression and coating carbonate
• Extend time between tableting and coating
SPRAY DRYING (logo filling) I Dried coating material creates a rough, uneven surface on the tablet and/or fills the
logo or breakline, making the logo unreadable
• Suspension solids concentration too high • Decrease suspension solids concentration (if possible)
• Atomization air pressure too high • Decrease atomization air pressure
• Drying air temperature too high • Decrease drying air temperature
• Spray guns too far from tablet bed • Decrease gun-to-bed distance
• Poor spray gun design or maintenance • Replace or service gun
• Turbulent airflow • Minimize pan negative pressure
• Aeration of coating suspension • Optimize suspension preparation to avoid aeration
PICKING AND STICKING I Coating material pulled from the tablet surface and/or coating material deposited on the surface
• Poor adhesion to core • Use high adhesion core excipients
• Poor film adhesion • Select a high adhesion film coating from Colorcon
• Low solids film coating formulation • Select a high solids film coating from Colorcon
• Spray rate too high • Decrease spray rate
• Drying air volume too low • Increase airflow rate
• Drying air temperature too low • Increase drying temperature
• Pan speed too low • Increase pan speed
• Atomization air pressure too low • Increase atomization air pressure
• Pan load too low • Increase pan load
• Poor spray uniformity • Increase number of spray guns, fan width and/or
gun-to-bed distance, suspension flow rate balance

ORANGE PEEL ROUGHNESS I The entire surface of the coated tablets appears rough, like the surface of an orange
• Film coating suspension viscosity too high • Select a low viscosity film coating from Colorcon
• Atomization air pressure too low • Increase the atomization air pressure
• Suspension solids concentration too high • Decrease coating suspension solids concentration (if
• Spray rate too high possible)
• Poor spray gun performance • Decrease spray rate
• Correct gun setup: gun design, gun spacing, gun-to-
bed distance, fan width, suspension flow rate
balance, or use a better spray gun
COLOR VARIATION I The color of individual tablets is uneven or non-uniform
• Pigments are poorly dispersed • Select a fully formulated film coating from Colorcon
• Core ingredients interact with film coating to cause color • Select a different film coating from Colorcon
instability • Select a film coating with a solid plasticizer from
• Liquid plasticizer migration Colorcon
• Low opacity film coating • Select a high opacity film coating from Colorcon
• Core overwet during coating • Increase tablet bed temperature
• Core ingredients (usually moisture sensitive) migrate • Use an isolating seal-coat
(bleed) through the coating

TABLET-TO-TABLET COLOR VARIATION I The color of coated tablets is uneven within the batch
• Poor tablet shape • Optimize tablet shape for mixing
• Suspension solids concentration too high • Decrease suspension solids concentration (if possible)
• Low opacity of film coating • Select a high opacity film coating from Colorcon
• Low film coat weight gain • Increase weight gain of film coating
• Pan speed too low • Increase pan speed
• Insufficient number of spray guns • Increase number of spray guns
• Pan load too low • Increase pan load
• Poor baffle design • Improve baffle design
• Poor spray gun design or setup • Correct gun setup: gun design, gun spacing, gun-to-
bed distance, fan width, suspension flow rate
balance, or use a better spray gun

Color Key: • Tablet Core • Coating Formulation • Process/Equipment ©BPSI Holdings LLC, 2019

For more information, visit out website at www.colorcon.com or contact your Colorcon representative.
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The information contained herein, to the best of Colorcon, Inc.’s knowledge is true and accurate. Any recommendations or suggestions of Colorcon, Inc. with regard to the products provided by Colorcon, Inc. are made without warranty, ei-
ther implied or expressed, because of the variations in methods, conditions and equipment which may be used in commercially processing the products, and no such warranties are made for the suitability of the products for any applications
that you may have disclosed. Colorcon, Inc. shall not be liable for loss of profit or for incidental, special or consequential loss or damages. The information contained in this document is proprietary to Colorcon, Inc. and may not be used or
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This document is valid at the time of distribution. Distributed 23-Mar-2023 (UTC)