Soda blasting, when all else fails

[Desk Jockey]

Last week we had some stainless steel brewery tanks we were trying to restore and were not having much success to clean them with our normal cleaning agents.

After doing some test cleaning to show what we could do with them using soda blasting, we were given the job.

The tanks looked like new once they were blasted, needing only a towel to removed a remaining powder.

 

[Larry B]

Nice work

 

[Scott]

Very cool, Richard!

Whatcha charging for a job like that?

 

[Desk Jockey]

Not enough!

They were under a thousand a tank.

They also had 500 kegs, but I don't think we will get those, they needed to be shipped out to replace some heat damaged plastic plugs. they could refurbish them cheaper than we could soda blast them.

If they didn't need to be shipped we might have had a chance at them too!

Oh well, we'll do what they give us! :wink:

 

[Scott]

Not enough!

They were under a thousand a tank.

They also had 500 kegs, but I don't think we will get those, they needed to be shipped out to replace some heat damaged plastic plugs. they could refurbish them cheaper than we could soda blast them.

If they didn't need to be shipped we might have had a chance at them too!

Oh well, we'll do what they give us! :wink:

Thanks!

Hmmmm......wonder how much it costs to refurb. them? $100?? Plastic plugs can't cost THAT much, can they? Figure in shipping, cleaning, etc...hmmm

 

[Desk Jockey]

We were going to charge them $30.00 each, they could get them refurbished for $18.00 for our part. Not sure of what there charges were.

As a byproduct when they caught the overspray of the tank clean up, they would clean up twice as fast.

So we explained how they've been preconditioned and would actually clean faster,so we could charge less.

But with them having to go back anyway, I doubt we will get them.

Can't do it this week anyway, I think we have four floors of an elevator shaft to soda blast after a fire last weekend.

 

[Scott]

We were going to charge them $30.00 each, they could get them refurbished for $18.00 for our part. Not sure of what there charges were.

As a byproduct we they caught the over spray of the tanks and now would clean up twice as fast. So we explained how they've been preconditioned and would actually clean up in half the time.

But with them having to go back anyway, I doubt we will get them.

Can't do it this week anyway, I think we have four floors of an elevator shaft to soda blast after a fire last weekend.

:shock: :shock: $18?? Yeesh!

NEXT!

 

[Mikey P]

How did you contain the soda?

 

[Desk Jockey]

This warehouse has some reconstruction yet to be done (another company) and will need cleaning from head to toe so we didn't have to do much. A Vortex axial fans, after blasting pull the line off and blow down with compressed air.

The other job this week is in an elevator shaft in the middle of student housing on the campus of the local university.

That will be more difficult containment.

We plan to set up critical barriers at the elevator doors on the four floors. Use two Vortex's one to push and one to pull the cloud out the top of the shaft. As long as we have good neg air it shouldn't be a real problem.

Getting the hopper and air compressor to reach as been a bigger issue.

 

[Jack May]

Do you have Dry Ice?

If so, how do they compare?

I'm thinking dry ice would be more suited to the elevator scenario where cleanup is significantly less of a concern?

And no, I haven't used one, so I don't know what I'm talking about, like usual but hey, that's why I'm asking.

John

 

[Desk Jockey]

John
We don't have a dry ice blaster. I'd like one but the accessibility of dry ice, the price of blasting limits the jobs we could use it on.

Dry ice can be more aggressive and pit metal, damage wood, soda is non abrasive.

Soda wont hurt the cables or any electrical either.

In the case of the stainless beer vasts had we ice blasted it and pitted it the stainless, it would have no longer been stainless.

Ice blasting has less cleanup, but soda is safer.

 

[tmdry]

Richard,

what else have you used the soda blasting for?

which jobs do you think you'd get a decent profit margin and can stay profitable for someone to justify the investment?

 

[Desk Jockey]

We've used to clean soot off the concrete in an elevator shaft and in attic rafters. We also have done a couple of cars and a trailer with soda and paint off cinder block with walnut husks as the media.

You move really fast on wood, it would probably make the most sense to use it on floor joist or rafters. But unpainted cinder block and concrete are not that bad. The cars and painted cinder were slow and used a lot of media.

 

[Ed]

What brand do you have Richard?

 

[Desk Jockey]

Grand Northern, Wayne Lawrence is their salesman and his very helpful.