Aluminum Baffle Filters

Chris I disagree with you on seeing more and more of Prism's filters. Your crews may see them once or twice before Facilitec takes over the entire exhaust system. Think about it. They will get foot in the door and then the door closes. I've never seen a Prism's filter what do they look like or are they just spankin new kinda clean.

If your approach to filter cleaning is with a pressure washer only you ain't cleaning didley squat. I have a big pot and it holds three filters 20x20. We can't clean everybodys filters this way but those restaurants that have the right gas fired appliance we are lookin good the next morning when the owneror chef comes in and looks at the filters.

I want to build a filter cleaning tank and mount it on my trailer but I haven't found the perfect tank yet. Needs to be made from metal and large enough to hold five filters and should be able to close/seal so it won't spill as we drive down the road.



Any ideas anyone?
 
Chris,
When did Facilitec buy Prism filter service?Did they combine the service centers yet?
 
David we'll have to see where Facilitec goes with these filters. Most likely
Prisim's filter service will be a foot in the door for Facilitec.

John the deal went through on 4/11 and I heard about it straight from Daryl himself. I have not heard anything since about how they are going to run it.
 
Chris,
Going to look at those water wash hoods this morning wish me luck.

I'll call you later.
 
Good luck.

Find the access doors on top of the hoods - they are always there.
Take lots of photos if you can of everything.

For a small fee I'll help you bid it :D
 
They didn't want them cleaned. They wanted them repaired and certified. They were Vent Masters but they called them Gaylords. Faciletec has the cleaning contract on them, national coverage thing or some BS like that. Waste of time for me.
 
Dlee
I bought a portable ,heated,stainless filter cleaning tank on ebay about a year or so ago.It is 115 volts and has a stainless top.It was designed for bakery racks and hood filters.It's about 2' wide by 4' long and 4' high rectangular shape,and on casters.It is NSF approved and made by a company called Dipaway.It was like new and a guy bought it for his restaurant that closed.I won it for a little over $300 but the guy paid about $3000 for it .I have a 10k watt watercooled Kohler generator in my UD box truck and run it off that.I put in hot water from my pw'er first,and let the filters soak in degreaser while I clean the hoods.I hook up to the ball valve at the bottom and connect a hose and run the waste water to the grease trap or sanitary sewer, then pressure wash them in the tank.I've tried looking up the company Dipaway ,but never could find anything on them.The tank works nice,and better yet looks professional and is a nice touch over companies that clean the filters in the customers sink or worse yet pressure washes them out in the parking lot letting the grease and chemical fly evreywhere.I know when I owned restaurants the companies thet I used either used my sinks or used my parking lot,and it did look unprofessional(especially when they showed up half in the bag!)I have thought about adding a pump to circulate the water in the tank,to see if it works better,but it does a good job as it is and I am trying to deal with my natural tendency toward overkill(and I just like buying equipment!)
 
Dipaway requires 3-12 hours to clean a tank full of filters. Great for a restaurant to soak overnight, but hardly worth spending the big bucks for anybody here. unless its a 12 hour job!
 
We often clean them in a tank and exit the emulsion with a similar valve/hose arrangement. The filters/baffles always are clean throughout. Never does it take 3 hours. Probably the secret is the very hot, potent s/h chem solution coupled with agitation. The agitation is not very sophisticated - nothing more than stirring with a hoe whenever we pass by. This method will bring virtually any filters or baffles (with the exception of mesh) to completely clean. Works every time and our total time involvement is probably 5 minutes or so. We are lucky in that we found the tank in the trash and our cost was the ball valve installation only - less than $10. Every legitimate cleaner needs a tank. The day is coming when the CWA under the auspices of the EPA will halt all of those who still illegally p/w filters and allow the emulsion to run into the sewer. Getting 'caught' just one time will bring a career to an end. I just shake my head when I see some of the many 'schools' advocate such a method.

Richard
 
I need to find a tank or have one built. Not sure how to add high heat, electric or gas they both have their pros and cons yet they are both present at every restaurant I've cleaned. I favor the gas method but it is sometimes difficult to get to the connections as opposed to plugging into a electrical outlet on the wall.

Hmm... if electric... how many watt element(s) would one need to rapid boil water in a tank say 4'x2'x4' or 32 cubic ft of water to 213º F.
 
think 220 volts or don't even try it, anything smaller will take all night to heat it
 
Don't need it that hot. Don't need any type of heater. The typical 155 degrees on tap is fine - the chem will immediately bring it in excess of 200 degrees. In the rare occasion when hot water is unavailable you can still boil a large amount of water with chemical - just add enough. Expensive, but an option when need arises.

Richard
 
I've tried the soaking method it's OK but not as good as boiling and some filters like the aluminum type disappear in a caustic based mix and galvanized become ungalvanized.

If you would need 220v could you use two 120v elements wired separately to different outlets.
 
What do you do with the waste water from the tank? Also how do you rinse the filters after taking them out of the tank?
 
I agree about the price Grant,but at $300 plus shipping($140),considering it went for $3000 new it was worth it.As far as the water taking long to heat,I fill it with hot water from my hot water PW'er,so starting out at 200 degrees the heating element has a jump start,and the tank is double walled insulated so it holds the heat well with the double walled insulated tight fitting top.As far as the waste water .the tank is mobile so I roll it out of the box truck,down the aluminum ramp and set it up outside.I either run it off my generator(10,000watts) or I plug it in at the restaurant,and when the filters are done soaking I empty the tank by opening the ball valve with an attached 2" hose and empty it into the grease trap,or into the drain in the mop sink(then flush the drain with hot water).
I have seen a diagram someone took old oil tanks and added gas burners to the bottom,to make a stationary filter tank for a filter exchange program.I dont see why you could not do that on a smaller scale with a stainless steel industrial tank,some casters,and a propane gas burner setup underneath(with a thermostat temp control,and regulator). of course you would set the tank set up outside,and have someone who works on gas equipment set up the gas burner.If you look under "stainless tank" on ebay there are always all different size industrial stainless tanks for sale from all different types of industrial applications that people salvage and sell on ebay.Some of them are pricy,but some you can pick up cheap.The dipaway filter tank I bought was under restaurant equipment,but for $3000 (new)there really is not much to it.It is just a rectangular tank with a tight fitting lid,a heating element under a grid in the bottom of the tank,casters on the bottom four corners and a ball valve on the bottom.Oh yeah,I forgot an NSF sticker on it which lets them charge all that money for it!
Josh- when they are done soaking,I take the lid off,drain the water out,and leave the ball valve open and the drain hose is left wherever I am draining the wash water(grease trap or mop sink) ,I take all the filters out and place them on the lid which is turned upside down on the ground and put them back in the tank one at a time and pressure wash each one in the tank and the wash water is contained and sent to the drain.
 
I see. Sounds like something you could have built for a few hundred dollars. Not sure about the size of it though.

When the waste water reclamation is enforced you will not be allowed to use the sewer drain in the restaurant. All water will have to be recycled. So whether you are dumping in the storm drain or pumping it down the drain, it's just a matter of time before neither will be an option.
 
Oh goody goody Josh, I've been waiting for the day we have to start charging for wastewater hauling and disposal. Maybe the days of scrape only will come back.
What do you think your average amount of wastewater per job is? I would guess mine 50 gallons on a McDonalds, if it is a real bad one you could add to it by 20 or 30 gallons.
Question for anyone using a soak tank
If using a heated soak tank, do you think you could save and reuse the water for more than one job? If so how many?
 
I was thinking along the lines of reusing as well. But then you would have to use the sink or storm drain for runoff when you rinse them.
 
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