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Post Info TOPIC: fluid bed contamination


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fluid bed contamination
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Hi fellow waterjet operators!

older mitsubishi waterjet

I am very new at this , I am employed at a company that is using a waterjet that I operate. I have been tasked at becoming the "waterjet expert"

since I started we have been having an issue with contamination of the waterbed and feed to the jet. it keeps plugging filters like crazy!

its usually filter 2 (hurricane) and the first filter the the jet, the bag filter is hardly ever effected..

I cant tell you what I cut but the material seems to be a laminated fiberglass with maybe a carbon fiber core.

the cut fiberglass seems to float on top and gets mixed in with the water (grey sludge)  but the water also turns a brown muddy color, this is what looks to be getting trapped in the filters...

I have put a pipe around the overflow feed tube to the to try to keep the surface water from entering the feed to the first filter box seperator from there it goes to the filtering /holding tank for the jet....the brown muddy water ends up plugging the filters usually in the middle of a run, thereby stopping the jet...

there is a garnet seperator system that seems to work , we have been changing the bags when it builds up there...

we have drained it and dug out the used garnet twice since i have been there...

questions: could the barton garnite be contaminated? causing the brown muddy condition which looks like a fine silt?

could the fiberglass ,fiberglass resin or carbon be contaminating the waterbed?

im thinking of a better PM schedule for this machine maybe more water change outs?

help please, this is a heavy production machine running at least 20 hours a day 5 times a week

 

thank you for any answers!

Mark 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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bump: anyone have any advice?

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SO I'll admit I'm completely unfamiliar with your setup, but here is what I know.

 

THe bron muddy condition is normal for about every jet I've seen.  THe fiberglass I would recommend just skimming it off.

 

As far as your filters, I may be far off here, but are those filters designed to handled the garnet mesh grade you are using? I'm not sure how old the machine is, but if the garnet is sludging it up then that may be an issue. Also, If you have slime mold in your tank with a sensitive filter, it may be getting trapped on your filter bags and causing a flow issue. If that's the case put a pool float with chlorine tabs in it and see if it clears up.

 

Good Luck

 

DC



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thanks dc for a response!

i have been skimming the fiberglass off with a pool skimmer, it has been helping..
one problem we might have had was #2 filter installation...we had been dropping the filter in then installing the top plate and collar ....now we install the collar first then drop rhe filter
in the canister....we might have been getting blow-by ...

also changing the resin bag more frequently trying to change it around 100-125 ppm..

the filters have been lasting longer...plus we run them longer , it seems to filter better when partially plugged....as log as it still trips the flow switch so the chiller turns on...

just changed the garnet feed line from the hopper to the canister before the focus tube....that helped with a few air leaks...

the maintnence guy changed the venturies on the garnet recirculation system to the right size ones....so we seem to be getting better throughput of the garnet in the fluid bed...

still trying to get the company to spend the 2 grand on the barton wand to move the garnet better....i have been using a garden hoe to move it latley...

its running better but still not perfect....we have been getting some chatter on the parts that we cut...dont know where that is coming from

thanks for the help!








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