Blaster Media Washer, How it Works.
- Silvio Ruiu
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 6 hours ago
Media washer is ultimately responsible of the whole efficiency of your blaster, mastering its setup means making the difference between a successful process or a huge waste of money. Assuming it is clear the overview how the blaster works, if not here you can get a quick refresh. Reminder: a washer not properly set is not stopping the machine, it just makes everything worse.
Blaster washer external appearance.
Washer is bolted under the side wing of the elevator column, it is a "metal box" with a "descending shape", the top part is the real washer, the bottom is a storage for the media before going to the blastwheel again.
Internal Functionality.
Somewhere around the box in the top part, there is an air inlet, air is sucked inside because in the back there is a suction pipe conncected to the filter, this suction is controlled by a valve installed on the pipe itself; the more you open the valve, the more the airflow crossing the box. Very top of the washer is designed to welcome the media lifted by elevator, and to create a kind of "waterfall' of media which is crossed by the airflow; the more the air corssing, the bigger "pieces" of media will be carried beyond the waterfall, arriving in a wide room where pressure drop so the dust falls into the waste pipe. Assuming the vacuum provided by the filter is costantly steady, the valve behind the metal box works as setting for the whole system, allowing to remove bigger or smaller dust particles to be continuously drained out while the machine is working. Bottom of the metal box works as funnel for the media to access the blaswheel for a new run.
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Washer, how important it is in a blaster/peener.
Missing the set point, valve too closed means leaving too much dust inside the blaster:
More dust means more wear on the whole machine.
More dust means less energy hitting the parts to process, longer cycle time or slowing the pass speed; ultimately more energy used to get less production.
Metal dust it is flammable, risk of fire/explosion increases.
All the points above get numerically worse if you are using grit media.
Missing the set point, valve too open means to remove "good" media from the blaster:
Removing good media means blaster needs to be refilled more open, with a significantly increase of OPEX.
If you change the media, washer checking is mandatory, you can read here about how important is consistency in your abrasive forniture.
Setting the washer.
Media Washer Calibration:
Zero the valve behind the washer.
Run a 15-minute cycle (manual control for pass-thru). Let the system stabilize for 5 minutes.
Clear the waste pipe. Shake it. The outlet must be free of old dust to evaluate the new flow.
Incremental opening: Open the valve slightly. Wait 30 seconds.
Evaluate: Shake the pipe again. Look at what comes out.
The Limit: Repeat until you see the first grain of good media. That’s your boundary.
The Setting: Close the valve just enough to stop the media loss. Wait 30 seconds.
The Result: 100% dust removal, zero media waste.
Verify: Compare a waste sample today with one in three days. If it’s steady, the setting is locked.
Hopefully you are all set, if you need extra support you can email at: silvioruiu@gmail.com.
General blaster components summary:
Wheel blaster, how is made. general overview
Closed blaster cabinets. layouts of most common equipment running on cycle time.
Open blaster cabinets. layouts of most common equipment running on cycle time.
Wheel Blaster Elevator. how it works and how to fix common issues.
Media Washer. How it works and how to set it up - this post.
Blaster Filter house. How it works and common issues.
Blaster Control panel. How to keep it efficient and long lasting.
Blaster accessories and ancillaries. How simple items can improve quality.
Media, the fuel of the blaster. General overview and features of media types.
