Dry Ice ?????????

[1 Bravo 6]

Has anyone ever heard of Dry Ice Blasting?????????????? (as oposed to sand blasting).

A local firm in Rockhampton has begun advertising this "revolutionary" method.

According to the item in the newspaper, Dry Ice Blasting;

Is non abrasive, so will not damage any equipment;

Is non toxic, therefore not using any harsh chemicals or solvents;

Is non conductive, so has no moisture that can be used on live power.

Quote; "We can open up the inside of a computer and delicately clean with live power, then turn around and rip bitumen off the road". End quote.

The dry ice used is in pellet form and is reported to have been hugely popular in Denmark, "before growing in momentum in the United States".

Sounds interesting.

Rick.

:devious::devious:

[JimmyZ]

Hybrid Z site has a thread regarding blasting methods. This one has come up. Just search dry ice. The thread was really about wet sandblasting but the ice thing came up.

It is a very interesting way to strip a car and no compalints. Just wondering what the price is.

It's a lot easier/cheaper to use aircraft remover and sandblast only the areas that need it. (2 gallons A-rem for a Z) You could have an entire car stripped and derusted in two days with this method.

2c

Jim

[DaveN]

Dry ice blasting has been available to industry in the US for about 20 years. The first equipment supplier, and I think the inventor, was based in Canada.

It is non-toxic if used with plenty of ventilation or a -- high CO2 concentrations in air are toxic if breathed and in prolonged skin contact. It is not abrasive to steel and is very good at removing paint and tar like fouling because it cools the stuff enough to make it brittle. Just be careful about cleaning things that could be damaged by extreme cold or fast, uneven cooling.

[EScanlon]

Although some restoration shops will cite Soda Blasting as their preferred method.

E

[WingZr0]

Although some restoration shops will cite Soda Blasting as their preferred method.

E

Dynamite, if you wanna blast something use Dynamite !

Seriously though this Dry Ice sounds like a cool idea

Something new everyday..

~Z~

[beandip]

I have seen soda blasting done but not dry ice. I did sand blasting my self on my Z and it was a real mess. I blew sand out of every crack and cranny for months afterward. Either of the other methods would be a better alternative. The City uses soda blasting to remove painted lines on the streets. No clean up and they don't need to worry of damaging the cars passing by . It doesn't remove any of the surface of the black top either. I have been told sand blasting peens the metal and effects the hardness causing it to be more brittle. I have no experience with this my self , but just passing on information. Gary

[Tony D]

I have seen Dry Ice Blasting used on cleaning large electric motors and it seems to work well. you must be ventilated, and the machinery is not cheap!

I have some photos of the hopper, it think it was made in Germany. The job was cleaning an 8,000 HP Allis Electric Motor in Timmins Ontario, Canada. Siemens was doing the cleaning job.

[geezer]

I have seen dry ice blasting done on a large scale for at least 10 years now. It was being used to clean off the build up of paint on skid bars and paint lines. They used full body suits and air fed helmets for protection. If you have ever seen the paint sludge that accumilates in a high volume painting operation you could appreciate how effective the dry ice is. As mentioned the extreemly low temperatures turns even sticky paint sludge brittle enough to simply fall off. I posed this same question when I was considering using this method to clean my Weber carburetors, but I didn't find anyone who did dry ice blasting on a small scale with more finess than the heavy equipment I've seen.