Custom powder coater ABITL Finishing helps prevent fire hazards -- and ensure plant hygiene -- with Nilfisk-Advance America''s CFM 137 industrial vacuum cleaner. ABITL, based in Tulsa, OK, uses the portable vacuum to collect the ultrafine powders that settle on the rafters, beams, and floors of its powder application rooms.
"The CFM 137 vacuum greatly reduces the amount of powder that settles in the work area," says ABITL president and COO Luis Acevedo. "That''s because the vacuum''s outlet port is HEPA-filtered, which prevents powder from being exhausted into the air."
Showing Its True Colors
As a custom powder coater, ABITL may use up to 10 different colors a day. "With so many color change-outs, preventing cross-contamination is a real challenge," says Acevedo. "Any amount of contamination is intolerable because it alters the color of the finished product, and our customers depend on us to produce consistent, brilliant colors."
ABITL Finishing provides high-quality powder coating services for a wide variety of products, including aftermarket automotive outer parts, high-end exercise equipment, marine applications for trolling motors, exterior aluminum fencing, and more.
To safeguard its customers'' products -- and its reputation -- ABITL does everything it can to ensure excellent color separation, prevent color bleeds, and otherwise maintain high color-quality standards. According to Acevedo, this level of quality can only be achieved by thoroughly cleaning all work areas with a high-efficiency vacuum cleaner.
"Vacuuming is the best way to ensure that all of the residual powder paint is removed from the walls, equipment, and any other areas where it may present a contamination or explosion hazard," says Acevedo. "We''ve been using Nilfisk-Advance America''s CFM 137 portable vacuum cleaner at least two hours a day, five days a week since we opened our facility nearly two years ago, and we''re very happy with its performance."
Cleaning a large spray-to-waste booth like ABITL''s typically entails removing filters and either replacing them or blowing them out -- both time-consuming, costly tasks. "Within minutes, we''re able to vacuum the filters using the CFM 137 vacuum, which dramatically cuts down on the number of times we have to clean or replace them," Acevedo says. "Overall, we''ve reduced cleaning times by about 80% with the Nilfisk vacuum."