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Martin County · Florida
Hobe Sound dry ice blasting
When we take a job in Hobe Sound, the rig comes to the machine rather than the other way round.
How the work runs here
Everything arrives on the van: compressor, hose, operator and containment. It is also why nothing has to be crated up and driven across town, the work happens where the machine already sits in Hobe Sound.
Solid to gas on impact. Nothing settles into a bearing, nothing runs toward a drain, and the only residue is what was already on the part.
What we clean
Where this method earns its keep in Hobe Sound
Nearby
Also working across Martin County
Questions from Hobe Sound
What do we have to provide?
Just access and parking. There is no tap to find, no drain to use and nothing of yours to plug into.
Will you work during a shutdown?
Usually. Tell us the window you have, including overnight or a planned shutdown, and we will tell you honestly what fits in it.
What kinds of jobs do you take here?
It ranges from a single restoration project to a plant maintenance window. The method does not change much.
Is there a travel charge?
Sometimes, on the longer runs. Either way it is discussed before anyone commits.
How do we book it in?
Describe the job and send a photo or two. Giancarlo or Kenny will call you, not a scheduler.
Do you cover Hobe Sound?
Yes. Hobe Sound is inside our regular working area, and the rig travels to the job rather than the other way round.
Conditions around Hobe Sound
The heat matters more than people expect: baked-on residue cures harder in a South Florida summer. That is why so much of the work is removing what has bonded to a surface without taking the surface with it.
Light industrial, automotive and marine make up most of what we are called out for. In every case the truck brings its own air and its own containment, so you are not adapting the site to suit the method.
With no slurry to contain and no media to recover, a confined Martin County site stops being a problem.
What comes off
The deposits we see most
Most calls involve one of the following. The common factor is a bond between two things that should not be bonded.
- Resin and mold release
Release agent and resin build-up on tooling, where a solvent fix trades one residue for another.
- Paint and coatings
Removed selectively where the substrate underneath has to survive, which rules out most abrasive approaches.
- Salt and corrosion product
The year-round problem on the coast. The finish holding corrosion back has to survive the cleaning.
- Ink and printing residue
Ink and coating on anilox and press rollers, surfaces where changing the texture changes the print.
- Food residue
Carbonized product, fat, starch and sugar build-up on processing equipment, cleaned without chemicals touching a food contact surface.
- Grease and oil
Oil film is the layer everything else sticks to. Remove it and half the job is already done.
- Carbon and soot
Heat-bonded black deposit. Because heat put it there, a sudden cold front is what breaks its grip.
How a job runs
What happens once you call
If you have not seen this done before, the process is worth reading once. Nothing below is hidden in a footnote.
- You look before we pack up
Inspect it with the rig still set up. Anything you are not happy with gets another go before we leave.
- You describe the job
Send images if you can, they settle most of the questions. A wrong-tool verdict comes on that first call, not after the invoice.
- We look at access and containment
Where the compressor sits, how far the hose has to reach, what gets masked or moved, and where the removed contaminant ends up. On food and electrical work this is most of the planning.
- We test a small area
Settings get proven somewhere nobody looks before they get used somewhere everybody does. What is correct on cast iron will mark aluminum, so the test is not a formality.
- We blast, then clean up
There is no spent media to recover, only the deposit, which we collect before packing up.
The comparison
How this compares to the usual methods
- Hand scraping
Hours of work for an inconsistent result, with gouges where the blade slipped.
- Media blasting
It works by removing material, which is the problem. Acceptable on heavy steel, damaging on soft alloy, plating or a machined surface.
- Pressure washing
Water gets into everything and has to come out again before the equipment runs. Around electrics it is off the table entirely.
- Solvent and degreaser
It loosens the mess and leaves its own behind, along with fumes and something to dispose of.
- Dry ice
Thermal shock breaks the bond. The pellet sublimates, so nothing abrasive touches the part and nothing is left to collect but the contaminant.
What happens in your space
Everything the rig needs arrives with it. No tap, no drain, no outlet.
Anything nearby that should not be touched gets masked before we start. That is quicker than explaining it afterward.
The media is solid CO2, nothing toxic and nothing left behind, but it pushes oxygen out of a closed room. Ventilation gets planned before the hose is connected.
This is not a quiet method. Ear defenders are standard issue on site for anyone nearby.
Describe what you are dealing with.
Give us the job, the address and a rough description, pictures if you have them. The call back comes from Giancarlo or Kenny directly.