Core · Miami, FL
CO₂ Ice Blasting
CO₂ comes to us when the usual cleaning methods are too harsh for the part. We clean it without water, without chemicals and without anything abrasive touching the surface.
What builds up, and why it matters
On this kind of work the problem is grease, carbon, adhesive and production residue across every kind of substrate. Most cleaning problems arrive with a constraint attached: it cannot get wet, it cannot be scratched, it cannot be taken apart, or it has to be back in service the same shift.
A mobile rig means the compressor, hose and operator arrive at your shop, plant or driveway. The people who call us about co₂ are usually anyone who has been told their part is too delicate to clean properly, and the thing they are actually worried about is that the cleaning does more harm than the dirt did.
The method
Why dry ice and not the alternatives
- Non-abrasive
Cold does most of the work here. The contaminant shrinks and lets go, and the surface below it is left as it was.
- Low moisture
Nothing is left wet, so no water sits in seams, channels or behind covers. The equipment goes back into service dry.
- No secondary waste
The pellets turn to gas, so you are left with one thing to deal with: the dirt we took off.
- Often no teardown
Panels, guards and assemblies can often stay put. The nozzle reaches into recesses, so the hours normally spent stripping a machine down go back to production.
More core work
Related jobs we get called for
Questions we get asked first
Will it damage the surface underneath?
Rarely, and we take the risk out up front. Pressure and pellet size are set on a spot nobody will look at, so if a surface reacts badly we find out there and stop.
Do you have to take the equipment apart for co₂?
Usually not, and that is where most customers save. Equipment cleaned in place goes back to work sooner, without the hours of taking it down and putting it back together.
How much mess does it make?
It depends on how much is caked on, since that is all that comes off. The ice adds nothing to the pile, and we clean up what is there.
Do you come to us?
Yes. We arrive with the truck and everything it carries, wherever you are in South Florida, up to roughly a hundred miles from Miami.
What does a job cost?
We need to understand the job before we can put a number on it, so the first step is you telling us about it. Photos make that faster. The figure you get back comes from one of the owners and reflects the actual work.
How soon can you look at it?
That depends mostly on your calendar. If a line is coming down for maintenance, give us the date and the window, and we will tell you right away whether the rig can be there for it.
The comparison
How this compares to the usual methods
- Media blasting
Abrasive by definition. Anything with a tolerance or a finish worth keeping comes out changed.
- Pressure washing
Pressure pushes moisture past seals and into connectors, and then you wait. Panels and motors rule it out.
- Solvent and degreaser
Softens the contaminant but leaves a film, fumes and a disposal problem, and attacks finishes you meant to keep.
- Hand scraping
Slow, inconsistent, and the tool marks the surface. Fine for a small area, unworkable across a machine.
- Dry ice
The pellet is soft and the mechanism is temperature, not abrasion. It turns to gas on impact, so the only thing left to sweep up is what came off.
What comes off
The deposits we see most
What follows is the short list of regulars. Every one of them is a crust or film bonded to a working surface.
- Paint and coatings
Selective removal, layer by layer, on parts where media blasting would cut into the substrate.
- Salt and corrosion product
Salt deposit and the oxidation it starts. Anything abrasive removes the protection along with the salt.
- Ink and printing residue
Ink and coating on anilox and press rollers, surfaces where changing the texture changes the print.
- Food residue
Carbonized product build-up in a plant where neither standing water nor a chemical film is acceptable.
- Grease and oil
Grease traps whatever dust and grit lands on it and hardens into a sticky crust. The cold cracks it loose and it usually comes away cleanly.
- Carbon and soot
Soot and carbon scale from heat and exhaust. It looks permanent, but it is usually among the first deposits to break free under the cold.
- Adhesive and sealant
Cured sealant, old gasket, tape glue and sound deadening, the residue left when something was removed but its bond was not.
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.
- We test a small area
We start gentle and work up. The setting that cleans without harming the surface is found on a patch tucked away, never on your front panel.
- We blast, then clean up
One mess instead of two: the pellet vanishes and we take away what it removed.
- You look before we pack up
We would rather you find the missed spot while we are standing there than a week later. Another pass on the day is the cheapest fix available.
- You describe the job
Describe the equipment and the mess. If it cannot come offline that changes the plan, so say so early.
- We look at access and containment
The layout decides the method more often than the contaminant does. We work out reach and containment before quoting anything.
What happens in your space
We cover what should not be hit before anything gets blasted. It takes minutes and saves arguments.
There is nothing toxic in the media and no residue afterward. What we watch is the room itself: an enclosed space needs moving air, and we arrange it up front.
Expect noise. Everybody inside the working area wears hearing protection, us included.
The surface will be cold when we finish. We will tell you on the day if a piece needs a few minutes before handling or will show some condensation on the way back to room temperature.
Tell us what needs cleaning.
Tell us what you have and where it is. If you can snap a picture, send it. Giancarlo or Kenny will be the one who calls.