Proper maintenance and regular cleaning of your Corona Treater is critical for improving up-time, saving time and money, and helping your Corona Treater to last longer. In this blog post, we will walk you through how to properly clean the Ground Rolls, Insulators, and the Electrodes and Electrode Magazine of your Treater Station.
Before you get started, ensure you have all the proper supplies. You will need the following:
- 3M Scotch-Bright Pad
- De-greaser spray - we typically recommend using CRC HydroForce All Purpose Degreaser or even a Comet Deodorizing Cleanser
- Isopropanol Alcohol
- Water
- Comet or Ajax
- Wash rags
Cleaning your Treater Rolls
To clean your Treater Rolls, use a 3M Scotch-Bright Pad and some sort of degreaser spray to wipe down the entirety of your Treater Roll. We typically recommend using CRC HydroForce All Purpose Degreaser or even a Comet Deodorizing Cleanser.
Then, use a dry rag to wipe off the excess cleaning solution from the Treater Roll.
Once you’ve wiped down your Treater Roll & removed all of the excess cleaning solution, always remember to use a rag with Isopropanol Alcohol and go back over your Treater Roll to clean off any remaining chemicals.
Cleaning your Electrodes and Electrode Magazine
Dirty Electrodes are the #1 cause of Current Trips on your Power Supply so it’s important that you regularly clean them in order to avoid dirt build up. To clean your Electrodes, the first thing you need to do is remove the High-Voltage Jumpers from both ends of each Electrode. Then, you’ll need to remove the clear, rubber O-Rings from only one end of your Electrodes. These are designed to keep the Electrodes in place.
Once you have removed the High-Voltage Jumpers and the O-Rings from your Electrodes, remove each Electrode from the Magazine by simply sliding them directly out of the Magazine. The easiest way to clean your electrodes is to have them all removed from your Treater Magazine and clean them one at a time.
Once you have them all removed, we first suggest using a wet 3M Scotch-Brite Pad with your cleaning solution (we recommend using either Comet or Ajax cleaning solution) and scrub the entirety of each Electrode. After scrubbing each Electrode, use a wash rag with water and wipe down each Electrode to remove the excess dirt. Then, after wiping down your Electrodes with water, take a rag with Isopropanol Alcohol and wipe down each individual Electrode to clean off any residual cleaning solution and/or dirt.
The more you clean your Electrodes, the less stained they will be.
Cleaning your Baffles and Holder Blocks
While it is very important to clean the individual Electrodes on your Treater station, a lot of customers assume that they only need to clean the top surface of their Electrodes.
In order to avoid your Electrodes becoming too hot due to dirt build-up which can lead to a current trip, you also need to make sure that you regularly clean the Holder Blocks and Baffles of your Electrode Magazine because that is where you’re going to arch out to ground at the bottom.
To clean the Baffles and Holder Blocks, normally we would recommend using a rag with Isopropanol Alcohol to remove the dirt, but a lot of the time just plain water can get a lot of the dirt off – depending on the amount of humidity in your plant.
No matter the type of Corona Treater you have, it’s important to regularly clean the Baffles and Holder Blocks as it can significantly improve your plant’s uptime.
If the Baffles and Holder Blocks are not maintained and cleaned regularly, the carbon will track, and a current trip can occur – forcing you to spend time and money on replacement parts.
Cleaning your Insulators
Similar to maintaining Electrodes, you have to make sure that you consistently clean the Insulators, and anything else on your Treater Station that tracks down to ground in order to avoid a current trip.
To do this, open the Easy Access door on your Treater Station to access the Insulators. Then, using a rag with Isopropanol Alcohol, wipe down the entirety of each Insulator. If you do this on a Blown Film Station every 3-6 months, your Insulators will last forever.
By scheduling regular cleaning and maintenance of your treater station you can substantially increase the life of your treater station and avoid costly unplanned downtime for your line.