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Cleaning Electrical Equipment With Dry Ice

By Cyndi Nyberg on site. As environ-
EASA Technical Support Specialist mental regulations
become more stringent,
Dry ice is a relatively new alternative to grit many users look for
or solvent cleaning of electrical equipment. It new ways to reduce
is often not feasible to have a motor taken out hazardous waste.
of service and sent to a shop for cleaning, either Typically, insulation
due to shear size or difficulty in dismantling the resistance and polariza-
machine. tion index tests are
Transportation to and from the service center performed on the motor
can also add considerable downtime that can be winding both before
very costly. Dry ice is a practical alternative. and after cleaning. In many situations, there is
Dry ice cleaning can be done on site with mini- a dramatic improvement seen in the insulation
mal downtime. It is possible to clean the after the winding has been cleaned with dry ice.
external parts of a motor with dry ice without You could at least expect the improvement to be
any interruption of service. comparable to the standard steam cleaning and
bake drying process.
Process Makes Cleanup Easier
The process of dry ice cleaning is relatively Drawbacks To Consider
simple. Dry ice, or solid carbon dioxide, is pro- There are definitely drawbacks to dry ice
pelled onto the motor winding at a high cleaning. One, of course, is the cost. It is fairly
velocity. The pellets are solid and hard enough expensive to get the equipment and training
to loosen dirt. One of the disadvantages to necessary for the process.
cleaning with solvents, sand, corncob grit, or Equipment includes a pressure source (liquid
glass beads is the leftover mate- nitrogen), a machine to
rial, which can be difficult to grind the dry ice into pel-
clean up and often hazardous. lets, a way to transport the
Upon impact, the dry ice melts, There are a number of materials, and the dry ice it-
and changes from the solid form advantages to dry ice self. Training and
to carbon dioxide gas, leaving cleaning. Dry ice cleaning certification are also ex-
only the dirt removed from the is not as abrasive as tradi- penses, but are not difficult
motor to clean up. tional methods since the to obtain. In addition, the
There are a number of advan- pellets change to gas as cleaning process is very
tages to dry ice cleaning. Dry soon as they hit the dirt, noisy, requiring hearing pro-
ice cleaning is not as abrasive as before coming into contact tection to all present during
traditional methods since the with the winding. In addi- the process.
pellets change to gas as soon as tion, the process almost
they hit the dirt, before coming eliminates dirt and grit from Steam Cleaning Still
into contact with the winding. getting further imbedded Popular
In addition, the process almost into the winding. Dry ice Steam cleaning and grit
eliminates dirt and grit from get- cleaning is also faster and blasting are the most com-
ting further imbedded into the more efficient than clean- monly used ways to clean
winding. Dry ice cleaning is ing by hand. motors in repair facilities
also faster and more efficient today. However, as more
than cleaning by hand. and more of your customers
look for ways to reduce
Reduce Or Eliminate Solvents downtime and waste, and as new technologies
Hazardous waste disposal will always be an emerge, dry ice cleaning (or some other new
issue in the motor repair business, but the use method) could become a preferred method of
of dry ice can reduce or eliminate solvent use cleaning electrical equipment.