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While you wipe the sweat off your forehead this summer do yourself a favor and think of your corona treater. Heat, humidity and a lack of cleaning are mortal enemies of your treater and they can shut your operation down.
Why is this a lethal combination? Cool air moves across the electrodes maintaining a safe operating temperature. However a dirty station allows the air flow to bring other things with it.
Dust in the air, substrate fragments, moisture and other debris are all carried into the electrode assemblies. Unless you have a regular cleaning schedule they will accumulate, eventually clogging the exhaust path and reducing the air flow rate. Heat will build-up and electrodes can fail. Excess moisture leads to even more problems. When combined with the ozone generated by the corona treating process a sticky brown liquid residue can collect in the exhaust chambers and the ductwork.
This residue contains nitric acid and NOx; it is corrosive and a skin irritant. As this residue accumulates it captures additional debris. This accumulation will quickly create an environment conducive to high voltage arcing.
Enercon recently introduced an "easy-clean" hinged electrode assembly. The new assemblies instantly pivot open to allow quick and easy access to the area just behind the electrodes. This is where the most troublesome accumulations occur. Cleaning this area can now be accomplished in a matter of minutes. Standard on all current systems, the new electrode assemblies are retrofittable to older Enercon systems.
If you have any questions on how to maintain your Enercon system call us at 262-255-6070. We look forward to serving you.
Originally appeared in eNews: Maintenance 3rd Quarter 2001.
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