Do I need to Replace or Repair my Electrostatic Air Cleaner?
You can restore most electrostatic air cleaning systems to their original CFM output and cleaning efficiency for less than it would cost to replace the air cleaning unit. This is because we can source OEM and after-market parts for almost every aspect of your electrostatic air cleaner. We have OEM and after-market parts in stock that will fit into more than ten brands of air cleaners, including Smog Hog, Trion, Mist-Buster, Tri-Mist, and Cool Blaster. Most repairs can be performed without taking down the air cleaner, saving removal and installation costs.
You may need to replace an air cleaner in three instances.
- When the air cleaner has multiple parts damaged, and the sum of those parts outweighs 75% of the cost of a new unit. Usually, this only occurs after a machine fire gets sucked into the air cleaner or if the air cleaner gets hit by a fork truck and the cabinet of the air cleaner is too severely damaged to repair. If we are only replacing a blower and electrical components, you will almost always find it cheaper to replace these parts.
- When the air cleaner was initially designed to handle less CFM or smoke density than you now need it to handle.
- If your unit is over 40 years old we find that the wiring can become brittle, creating a fire risk. The remaining components are often in need of replacement by this point.
Occasionally we find someone who has changed coolants or material in their process and have found that they are now dealing with a greater density of smoke. The original air cleaner may not be able to handle this increased quantity. Rather than replace the unit, however, we generally find it is more cost-effective to add a second unit that can handle the increase in smoke load.
It is almost always a bad idea to attempt to speed up your unit so it can move more CFM. While it may be cheaper to replace the motor with one that has a higher horsepower or simply change pulley sizes, you will find that the electrostatic filter efficiency will drop off as you do so. Just because you increase your air flow doesn’t mean that you have increased the amount of air cleaned or the amount of smoke removed. As airspeed increases, the dwell time of particles moving across the plates of a collection cell goes down, meaning that a smaller percent is collected, and more smoke will blow through the unit. If you need more CFM to capture the smoke, we recommend a new air cleaner or a second unit to collect the additional smoke effectively.
If you still aren’t sure or need help in any way, give us a call at 888.451.0844. We will be glad to help!