Answers
1. What should I look for when buying a soda blasting machine?
There are a few key points you should look for when buying a soda machine.
These include simplicity, serviceability, reliability, maneuverability, technical support and built to Australian Standards. (Government departments are not permitted to employ machines that don’t conform to Australian Standards as many imported soda machines are unable to be used within some parts of Australia.)
back to top
2. What soda should I use in the machine?
Some companies have made reference to modified soda. This is soda mixed with calcium carbonate (Lime) for improved flow capabilities. The material safety data sheet of almost all sodium bicarbonates clearly states “Avoid exposure to lime dust combined with sodium bicarbonate as caustic soda may be formed” The definition of “caustic” is “Burning or corrosive”
Furthermore, using a mix of lime does in fact not help flow problems as both sodium bicarbonate and lime are natural absorbent.
So choosing the right sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) to buy is very important.
ISSG are consistently testing Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) from all over the world. One would be amazed at the different types, shapes, sizes and sharpness of baking soda that are out there. Our continual research keeps our BUMP soda at the forefront of technology, efficiency and effectiveness. Many types of baking soda we have tested consist of what the industry calls scale. It is best described as small white hard rocks of baking soda within the soda itself. This scale can often damage glass and can cause havoc when soda blasting engines, hydraulic or mechanical parts as it can create damage to internal parts.
Sodium Bicarbonate, being a natural absorbent, has been widely used to soak up moisture and odours. This should be a major consideration when looking to buy soda for your soda blasting machine. As compressors, compress the air, moisture is formed which can cause major clogging problems when blasting. This can be reduced by the use of expensive air dryer. However, during very humid and rainy conditions, moisture is still a problem. This can also affect the storage life of your bicarb as it absorbs moisture while sitting on the shelf creating large clumps. ISSG actually produce a moisture resistant Soda called BUMP soda. Designed and produced here in Australia for Australian conditions.
This virtually eliminates moisture related problems and extends storage and shelf life as no moisture is absorbed into the fine granules. During humid and rainy conditions, you will also have the added benefit of continual work when all the others have to wait out the weather conditions.
back to top
3. Can I use different medias in my Soda Machine?
Why would you want to?
The selling point of many soda machines is that it is boast they can run multiple medias through a single pot for spot blasting purposes. This can often be to your detriment and ISSG DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS. There is no real reason why you should want to run different medias through your soda pot. First let me give you a few blasting insights. The soda industry is a totally different industry than the hard abrasive industry and the blasting machines from both industries reflect these differences, both in media usage and capabilities.
Let me give you an example: Most soda blasters perform a variety of work that spans many industries often in a single day. Many jobs simply can not be done by any other media except soda such as soda blasting engine parts, aviation parts and very delicate surfaces. If your soda pot has had multiple medias through it, it must be 100% free from any hard abrasive. It only takes 1 single grain of hard abrasives to destroy a bearing, internal engine faces, brass pressure plate, brass choke seal, hydraulic pumps or to make hole in a delicate surface. Further more, as soda blasting is used extensively in glass cleaning and graffiti removal from glass, it only takes 1 single grain of hard abrasive to scratch or crack the glass. If you want to reduce liability issues, downtime and general headaches and stress, one should only run approved soda through a soda blasting machine and any other hard abrasive through a standard hard abrasive pot that are designed for that purpose. Soda blasting is a highly lucrative specialised industry. Using the wrong machine or media for specific jobs can be detrimental to your business outcome. Soda is soft and can blast everything that hard abrasive cannot with no or very mild abrasion. Can hard abrasives blast glass, rubber, copper, brass, bronze, stainless steel, fiber glass, porcelain etc with out damage? The answer is no it will damage them. Even 1 single grain of hard abrasive can cause damage.
A second major issue about using multi medias through your soda pot is wear and tear. Hard abrasives have a high wear and tear factor on their machines as the abrasive is often harder that the equipment such as nozzles, valve systems and hoses. Using ONLY soda in your soda pot will virtually eliminate wear and tear as the soda itself is not hard enough to cause damage to the parts. Hence why most companies recommend only spot blasting with a multimedia pot, not long durations of blasting.
back to top
4. How can I reduce clogging and moisture related problems?
Moisture and humidity are very difficult to completely eliminate, regardless of the type of setup you have. The simplest method is to use media that is moisture resistant. This was you will be covered by any climate condition. ISSG supply the industry with BUMP Soda, an actual moisture resistant soda that virtually eliminates moisture related problems. Using standard soda can cause valuable downtime and moisture problems.
back to top
5. How long do your nozzles last?
On the MOHS hardness scale (1 being Talcum powder and 10 being Diamonds), baking soda sits at about 2.4 on the scale. Glass is about 5.5 and most steels sit between 7 and 8 on the scale. If ONLY soda is used in your soda machine, the nozzles should never wear at all. Anything harder than 2.4 on the Mohs hardness scale, if done correctly, can not be damaged by soda.
back to top
6. How long does it take to fill a soda machine?
This is a very important questions the outcome to this question has major implications.
Many soda machines on the market need funnels to fill their soda machine. This can take up to 20 minutes for some soda machines to fill. This does depend on the size of the machine, but this is a general standard. If you are soda blasting 8 hours a day, and you have a 1.5 X 25kg bag capacity soda machine that uses an average of 1 X 25kg and hour as a standard, filling time can take up as much as 1hour and 40mins a day. This equates to a loss of almost 21% productivity just filling up the machine.
back to top
7. How easy is the machine to maneuver?
Some soda machines are easier to maneuver than others depending upon size and design. Current designs incorporate fix trailer types, skid mount or simple roll on roll off units. Consider your present and future target industries to choose the correct set up for your business.
back to top
8. What should I look for to reduce future soda machine down time.
Many soda machines on the market create downtime due to their complex design and are not user friendly. A simple design Soda Blasting Machine equates to less moving parts, les downtime, easier to service and easier to use. All users will at some point need to access valve components for routine maintenance and cleaning. Look for simple user friendly soda machines that allow the user to quickly remove the main air and media valves. Contaminated media from human error or moisture may have to be removed so make sure that this process is as quick as possible to minimise servicing and down time.
back to top
9. The bigger the soda machine, the bigger the compressor that is needed. Is this correct?
No not t all.
This is a fallacy in the soda world. Many soda companies will try to convince clients that small soda machines are to be used with small compressors and large soda machines are to be used with larger compressors. This is not entirely correct. Nozzle size is one a few main factors that determine the compressor size to machine size. One can buy a large soda machine but run a small nozzle (i.e. 1/8th Nozzle size). It will obviously take longer to fill the larger volume Soda Machine with air, but once filled and pressurized a large soda machine with a small nozzle can be run with a Free Air Deliver of about 15cfm. Make sure you match your compressor size, to nozzle size, to your individual specific needs.
back to top
10. Are there any other benefits of using BUMP soda?
Yes.
Many soda machines use the cheap standard soda. However, in an effort to slow down existing moisture related problems, these soda machines are sold with compressors with added expensive air management systems including aftercoolers or air dryers, some of which need external power an added hassle and potential breakdown. We have seen many soda machines using this system during an existing job where their compressor broke down. Consequently, the job could not be finished as other mobile compressors did not have existing specialised air management systems. If a normal compressor was used, the soda machine would clog up almost instantly. Using BUMP soda from ISSG would not have caused this embarrassing downtime and another standard compressor could have been used to complete the job.
Furthermore, most standard air management systems can not remove 100% of moisture. Refrigerated dryers and desiccant dryers can remove a majority of the moisture however pose problems with being mobile as they do not take kindly to vibration. Most of these costly air management systems are usually used in large industries such as pharmaceutical companies due to their size and running cost. While soda blasting, any humidity and moisture present, can create problems with the soda machine and clogging is almost eminent. On many occasions while soda blasting, the weather conditions can change dramatically from dry and sunny to rain in a matter of minutes. Therefore, although soda blasting conditions might have started out fine, they ended in disaster and major clogging and flow problems are encountered due to moisture and humidity. BUMP soda alleviates all these moisture related problems and the stresses involved.
back to top
11. Can soda blasting remove rust?
Some companies will lead you to believe or promote the fact that soda itself can remove rust. This however is not true. It is not a well known fact that soda itself cannot remove rust as soda is very soft and does not have the abrasive qualities of garnet or other hard abrasives. Our clients see this as a good thing. As we have restored many classic cars and hotrods, we have been told by many that sandblasting a vehicle causes damage and pitting and also creates a complete dull matt finish and one can not see where the rust starts and stops. Then 12 months after the paint job, bubbles may appear because they did not remove all the rust. Soda blasting cleans the rust up but does not remove it. Due to the original factory finish after soda blasting, one can clearly see exactly where the rust starts and stops for removal or preparation making sure to remove or treat 100% of the rust with out damage to the outer skin.
back to top
|
