We have nearly reached the end of the segment on the Air Techniques Acadia amalgam separator. So far we have reviewed the Pre-Installation, Assembly, Installation, Inspection, and Troubleshooting of this unit. What is left to review on the Acadia are the maintenance and recycling procedures of the filter and the entire unit.
For those of you following this series, our first segment started with the amalgam separator that requires the least amount of work, maintenance, cost, or inspection, the M.A.R.S LibertyBOSS.
Maintenance of the Air Techniques Acadia
The photo below is a caption of the maintenance portion of the Air Techniques Acadia user manual.
Though the statement above says the Acadia requires “minimal maintenance” the rest of the manual seems to contradict that statement. Below will be breaking down the maintenance portion of this user manual.
Large Particle Inlet Filter Strainer
Some of this information is redundant as the “maintenance” section of the Acadia user manual falls under the inspection of the unit, which we covered in Part 3 of this blog series.
For those of you who haven’t read the whole blog series of Acadia amalgam separator, the inlet solids collector should be inspected once a week. The material in the solids collector should be handled and disposed of as toxic material.
It is recommended to inspect the inlet filter, while you are conducting the inspection of the collection filter.
Fill Level of Solids Collection Filter
Once again, this process has been covered in Part 3 of this blog series, and unclogging the system was covered in Part 4. As described in Part 3, the design of the Acadia filter makes it difficult to effectively note the sludge level of the system.
The foam retaining wall, separating the liquid from the solids, makes it very difficult to determine the sludge level. That is why Air Techniques released a chart with recommended change intervals, that once again contradicts the information stated in the maintenance portion of the user manual.
Replacing the Acadia Filter
As seen above, the manual is stating that the filter should be changed every 12 months from the date of installation. The problem is, it doesn’t state that the 12 months is a minimum requirement, and the system is expected to be replaced sooner than the 12 months in most offices. The chart below is the collection filter replacement schedule, as recommended by Air Techniques in the Replacement and Disposal section of the Acadia user manual.
Next Blog
Due to the complexity in the design, maintenance, and inspection of the Air Techniques Acadia, we had to extend the last segment of this blog series will be on the disposal procedures.