Portable Dust Collection/blasting Cleanup

blastoffinc

Hello, my name is Jesse and I am a sandblaster/Sodablaster in Buffalo NY. I love the site it's great to be able to get the answers here when I can't find them anywhere else.
What I am wondering is, what you guys do for collecting the sodablast dust when working on site. I have been using a fan from Eagle Ind. and a dust sock but was wondering if there was a better way to capture the dust. The cleanup after blasting specifically boat bottoms, has been nothing short of a nightmare! Also what do you guys do for cleanup? We have done about 6 boats but have been getting away from them because the setup/cleanup.
Thanks in advance for any help!

blastoffinc

Nothing?? I see lots of helpful replies to other posts? Did I post the question incorrectly?

painter213

Don't really know. I don't deal with Soda blasting, but amybe someone will chime in here to help you out. One thing that I always heard about Soda Blasting is the spent abrasive will wash away with a good rain. It will dissolve and do down the drain. Other than that, seems like your doing ok with a blast containment and a ventilation fan and dust sock. Other than that you can move up to a powered dust collector like a 20,000-40,000CFM unit maybe. But your containment would have to be in real good shape.

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Blastman

I always tell my customer that he or she can get a much less expensive clean-up person than me. I hate to do any clean up, but if you want to get rid of the soda, wip up a solution of about 20% white vinegar and warm water, stick it in a hudson sprayer. You will be amazed.

MACCS

Hi Blast off

I have a unit specifically designed for blast and paint applications. The unit is 100% mobile.

Please feel free to PM me in regards to my product information.

Thanks

M.A.C.C.S

user20594

One of the reasons that soda blasting got such a bad name in the car stripping industry is the myth that vinegar car remove or dilute soda. Soda is an alkyd. Not an acid vinegar can change the ph level of acid not an alkyd that is why half of the cars that have been stipped with soda soda have paint failures. Use a mild soap or water to wash surfaces down. Soap is a surfactant.

Blastman

Well I guess you should not take clean-up advice from someone that does not do clean up. I was told about the vinegar thing back when I bought my soda tank in 1995. I do not prefer using soda to strip cars, but I have stripped hundreds of cars, boats and helicopters over the years with soda and have never had a complaint of paint failure from the process, though I understand that many other people have had different results.

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ERAD_DIB

Mr. panderson apparently never tires of posting information here, even if he doesn't really have any information, or if all he has is incorrect information.

I don't think so, Tim. Wikipedia says:
"Sodium bicarbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate is the chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. It is a component of the mineral natron and is found dissolved in many mineral springs. The natural mineral form is known as nahcolite. It is also produced artificially."
The artificial production involves brine, ammonia, carbon dioxide, and maybe some other stuff. When I get the right media in boxes or bags, that's all I need to know. (Well, I do have its MSDS handy, too. )

"Many laboratories keep a bottle of sodium bicarbonate powder within easy reach, because sodium bicarbonate is amphoteric, reacting with acids and bases."

Wikipedia also sez:
"An Alkyd is a polyester modified by the addition of fatty acids. They are derived from polyols and a dicarboxylic acid or carboxylic acid anhydride, hence the term alk-yd from 'alcohol and acid or anhydride'."

And finally, from Wikipedia once again:
"Any type of vinegar may be distilled to produce a colourless solution of about 5% to 8% acetic acid in water. This is variously known as distilled, spirit, or white vinegar, and is used for medicinal, laboratory and cleaning purposes as well as in cooking, including pickling."
Most commercial white vinegars are 5% acetic acid solutions, with a pH of around 2. Some brands run higher, i.e. less acid. (Lemon juice has a pH of 1.) I didn't (and don't wanna) do the math to figure out what the 8% solution might have for a pH.

Back to BlastOffInc's original question, I'm guessing by setup/cleanup you're referring to containment. I think that's your best bet, giant PITA though it may be. Once the dust and anything else is contained, then you can vacuum it, roll up the plastic and dispose of it in an established location, or whatever works. (Legally, of course.) You can dissolve the soda dust with water, once any anti-moisture coating on the crystals has been cracked, but you're still left with the paint chips or whatever was blasted off of the boat.
Neutralizing the soda's 8.5-or-so pH with the vinegar might be better for grass and other green stuff that it landed on, but the paint chips still have to "go away." Since marine coatings tend to contain copper and other substances to deter growth of funky organisms on the hull, one or more agencies with "Environmental" in their name might take an interest in it.

Somebody might have invented an attachment that vacuums up expended media/dust and removed material right at the blast nozzle, but I dunno how efficient it might be.

Wow, my reply is about as helpful as panderson's, eh?

user20594

I have made mistakes before. If I have made another I will admit to it. I would like to know if any one has actually used this info in real life. I subscribe to the Line Chaser magazine. This is a real life car club that has thousands of people. They have used ASI to strip their cars for the last ten years. I have warped some sheet metal, every one has pissed customers. I turn out a 95% rate of happy customers. I use crushed glass, Black Diamond, glass beads, Red Flint, steel grit, iron oxide, soda, Garnit, corn cobs, river rock. Anything that will produce the desired results for my customers. I think Mr. Panderson has studied his stuff and has improved over the the years. I was told by the guy who sells me my soda that washing down with vinegar is and still is a myth. I would also like to say this and next year are going to prove who can stay in it for the long run. I am scared I dont have the jobs I need to be confident. If you dont feel the pinch then you have a better market than me. Soda, Plastic Media, Idustrial, or shop work. Thanks Paul

user20594

Ps, Besides the **** you talked at me what does anyone have line up for the 09' season. I got about 300,000' lined up down from 400,000' from last year.

deadjed

Speaking of cleanup....

Has anyone used a 55 gal. compressed air vacuum ? Would it be too much for picking up smaller size media -crushed glass, etc - from the customer's property , jobsite ? I have been looking at this vacuum for a few days now..

http://www.industrial-vacuum-cleaner...ir-vacuums.htm

thanks,

blake

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blastserv

i have a 55 gal air vac from hafco vac...i made a tall stainless silo that holds alot of media and it sits on top like it was sitting on top of a 55 gal drum and i use it almost everyday for vaccuming my booth up after i am done. i also use it with drums on a mobile job for cleanup if i am responsible for it.the bottom of the silo is tapered and has a ball valve on the bottom and i lift it with my forklift and park it over top of my blast pot while working instead of lots of back labor.

there are some bugs i am working on like the floor tool tube is super thin tubing and i keep wearing through them due to high amounts of abrasive rubbing the inside on the bend in the handle also the filter getts dusty quick and i think there needs to be some kind of seperator....other than that it works rather quickly and makes my booth look like i never used it

i bought the dual venturi unit and use the 2 inch piping with the floor tool
hafco vac nummber is 201-447-0433 and you want to talk with john rodriguez

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deadjed

Thanks!

I appreciate the information .

Question : Will the vac pick up a lot of unwanted debris - dirt , grass - if I was blasting a deck , or other outside object ?

thanks,

-Blake

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Prodigal Son Coating : A Full service powder coating company featuring mobile media blasting , mobile powder coating , along with a 2700 square foot powder coating and media blasting facility located right off I-70 / Oak Grove , MO exit .
prodigalsoncoating.com

blastserv

blake, the vac will pick up anything that the floor tool is put over so yes...a problem i have is i bought the largest hose kit and floor tool harfco vac sells.it is 2 inch in diameter.the tubing is super thin and the tube wears a slit in it after a few uses.i have a upper half of the tube being shipped right now so i can maybe have the inside sprayed with bedliner material so it doesnt erode through.it picks up alot of media in a short period.like 40 to 50 bags in a hour.if i could only get my wife to work like that...

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jkcole18

I personaly use a sock also then i back it up with a air scrubber with cheap paper filters, this still leaves the need for a vac but the air around my work area is alot more habitable

jkcole18

never seen a paint failure from soda blasting done properly, and saying half is just wrong and unfair to the industry

user20594

there is no longer an industry for soda

deadjed

Would you expound on this statement , please ?

-Blake

__________________
Prodigal Son Coating : A Full service powder coating company featuring mobile media blasting , mobile powder coating , along with a 2700 square foot powder coating and media blasting facility located right off I-70 / Oak Grove , MO exit .
prodigalsoncoating.com