Commercial Range In Iowa Needs Some Attention

The range in Iowa that called us asked if we could help them with a lead dust problem they were having behind the trap. We told them we sure could but that we would also find out why it was happening. Typically, the DCU handles all the lead dust in the chambers. Although not perfect, there should not be an excessive amount on the floor let alone the walls the top of the trap etc.

We arrived on site and decided to find out what the problem was causing so much dust. We suspected a breach in the DCU filters so we opened one of the DCU doors to inspect.

We got the door off and immediately knew what the problem was. The filters were installed improperly. These filters have a gasket applied from the factory on one end which goes into the DCU first. Then, you apply your own gasket material on the other end of the filter to create the seal once the door is put into place. These filters were installed backward with the manufacturers seal facing toward the door so lead dust was bypassing the filter and getting into the clean air box and then shot out of the exhaust system and all over the floor and the trap!

We mentioned this to the owner and came up with a plan to fix this problem. Next, we vacuumed the entire back of the range from top to bottom with an explosion proof vacuum and wiped everything down with lead abatement wipes.

This customer had some HVAC filters that needed to be disposed of properly. We work with a reclamation company that handles metals and contaminated debris from ranges with chain of custody documentation and returns a commission to the range for the metals (pretty decent way to reclaim some revenue). We bagged up all the old filters, emptied all the buckets and left this trap spotless for them. After that, we checked all the targets for any problems.

Fortunately, there were not any major problems with the targets so we wrapped things up and cleaned up after ourselves. We were able to get all the disposed of material out of the customers way and were able to get our hands on some new filters for the DCU for him to install later with instructions to do so. Sentinel Range Service does it again! We can get proper DCU filters for your range and replace them for you. Give us a call at 801-669-2138.