A washdown environment — a facility where high pressure washing with water or chemicals takes place — creates special needs for machinery. It doesn’t take an engineer to understand that blasting electronics with a pressure washer and chemicals can cause some problems. Indramat motors are usually closed and therefore safe to use in washdown environments.
Why the need for a washdown?
Cleanliness is especially important for industries such as food and beverage or pharmaceuticals. Contamination can delay production, or close your doors for good. Plus, it’s a matter of public safety.
Keeping production areas squeaky clean would be impractical without washdowns. Imagine taking a scrub brush and cleaning out each nook and cranny of every single machine. Just thinking about it is tedious and inefficient. Washdowns allow for fast and thorough cleaning.
The trouble with washdowns
Again, moisture and electronics don’t mix. Anyone who has dropped their phone in a puddle understands this concept. Exposure to water and moisture ruins servo motors, too. Of course, the chemicals used in washdown environments can potentially damage machinery as well.
Still, it’s impractical to carefully wash your servos by hand with a bucket of soapy water and a sponge in hand. A washdown really is the best method for cleaning machinery in industries that require pristine production areas.
So how do you protect your servos during a washdown?
Indramat motors are the solution
Indramat motors are fully enclosed, making them ideal for washdown environments.
If you operate a system using Indramat servos, then you can spray away and rest easy knowing your motors will be just fine. Fully enclosed servo motors also benefit from increased longevity. This is one of the reasons Indramat servos run reliably for decades on end.
All servo motors – whether they’re washdown-rated servo motors, or not – can ultimately fall victim to the high psi and caustic chemicals used in a washdown environement. Contact us for repair, reman, or any other service on your Indramat industrial motion control products.