Whether you are in the food, chemical, medical or any other industry that requires the facility to maintain a high degree of sanitation, wash-down is a necessary part of daily operation. Unfortunately facility’s that do have to conform to this standard tend to suffer many water related electrical failures and are constantly having to repair or replace costly equipment. But this does not have to be the case. By observing a few simple rules when preparing for wash-down, your company could save many thousands of dollars in saved equipment and downtime.
Check your seals first
Most wash-down facilities already have electronics that are manufactured in the certain way to be water resistant. Usually this is through the use of stainless steel, sealed enclosures. While the steel should last many years with no corrosion issues, the rubber or plastic seals are what will degrade first and is the main cause of most water intrusion problems. Therefor it is important to make it a regular routine to inspect the seals of all waterproof enclosures. Also, check other electrical enclosures such as motor wiring boxes and switchgear.
Train on proper bagging methods.
Not all water-resistant electronics can be subjected to the direct spray of a cleaning hose, so in these cases it is necessary to bag the equipment in plastic before performing a wash-down. Without proper training, it is very common to see this bagging procedure done incorrectly. The most frequent thing we see is the wrong part of the electronics being bagged or only being partially bagged. For instance, the personally will bag the front of a touchscreen but not the back, exposing the power supply to get splashed by water. It is important to train employees how to clean every type of device individually and have a written procedure for each.
Remove Standing Water
Not all corrosion related damage is related to direct contact with a spray of water. In fact, most failures are caused by consistentlymoist environment. Evaporation and condensation are killers of electronics so it is important that after the wash-down is complete, as much moisture is removed from the area as possible. Remember to not only clear floors and surfaces but underneath the equipment as well.
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