Most maintenance managers we talk to don't have a cleaning problem. They have a downtime problem. The equipment is filthy, but pulling it offline for a wash means lost output, lost labor hours, and a backlog that takes a week to dig out from. So the grime stays — until a sensor fails, a coil starves for airflow, or a scheduled inspection turns up a problem no one wanted to see.
Dry ice blasting was built around that exact bind. The pellet is solid CO₂ at roughly -78 degrees C. It hits the surface, lifts the contaminant by thermal shock, and sublimates back to gas — no slurry to pump out, no rinse water on the panel boards, no solvent on food-contact stainless. Whether the line next to the one we're cleaning can keep running depends on your layout, ventilation, and containment needs, and we scope that with you before the job.
What we mean by "inside your maintenance window"
We don't promise zero downtime. Here's how we frame it on a quote instead:
- No process water, so after proper lockout/tagout, motors, drives, and switchgear can be cleaned in place with no dry-out window before re-energization.
- No abrasive media, so there's nothing to vacuum out of bearings or fish out of an oil pan.
- No cleaning chemicals added of our own added, so there's no neutralizing rinse or off-gassing window to plan around.
- Mobile rig, so the asset doesn't move — we bring our own air and pellet supply and work around the schedule you set.
The work still takes time. A heavily fouled oven hood is a multi-hour job whether we use dry ice or a pressure washer. The goal is fitting that time inside a maintenance window, shift changeover, or PM slot you already have — provided that window gives us the access, ventilation, and any required lockout/tagout — instead of adding a tear-down day on the front and a re-assembly day on the back.
Where this fits in an industrial plant
- Bakery and tortilla lines: oven crowns, conveyor chains, and proofer interiors, where wet washdown means hours of dry time.
- Co-pack and bottling: filler heads, capper turrets, and labelers, worked inside the cabinet during a scheduled window.
- Refrigeration: evaporator coils on cold-storage and process refrigeration, cleaned dry so the compressor's low-side controls and fan motor stay dry.
- Wood and metal manufacturing: motor frames, busways, exhaust hoods, and paint-line racks, cleaned without wetting adjacent equipment.
- Fleet shops: chassis, undercarriage, engine bay, and frame rails, cleaned without a wash-bay dry-out cycle.
Building your own cost case
If you want to model the case for your own plant, build it from three lines using your own numbers: lost output during your current wash method, labor for any tear-down and re-build your current method requires, and corrosion or electrical repair spend you can trace to water intrusion. That's a worked model for you to run with your own figures — we don't have a Summit-attributed dollar result to hand you, and any number we quote back should be treated as an estimate pending your own site data.
What it doesn't do
It doesn't strip cured paint or remove rust scale — those need a media with more structural mass. It's usually not the right call for an outdoor concrete pad or a vehicle exterior wash with no electronics exposure; a pressure washer is faster and less expensive for that scope. And it doesn't sanitize or disinfect in a food plant — it's a mechanical soil-removal step; your own SSOP and sanitizer still apply.
Limitations and safety
- CO₂ sublimates and displaces oxygen — ventilation and CO₂ monitoring are required in confined or low-airflow spaces.
- Electrical equipment is cleaned only after lockout/tagout performed per your site's procedure, with your electrician's sign-off.
- A substrate test patch in an inconspicuous area is run first on any surface or finish we haven't cleaned before.
- Hearing, eye, and respiratory PPE as applicable, plus containment for the work area.
- Dislodged contaminant is collected on site; disposal is the responsibility of your facility per your waste protocol.
- Hazardous materials (asbestos, lead paint, silica, PCBs, biohazard) are out of scope without a licensed abatement contractor.
- Coverage and scheduling are subject to crew availability and travel; we'll confirm on enquiry.
Send us your worst PM bottleneck — a coil, a hood, a wire harness — and we'll come walk it. No quote pressure, no slide deck.
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