Spending the right amount in the beginning reaps rewards for North Auckland Joiner

Nav Sharma, Installation Manager at NZ DUCT+FLEX, visited Glen Williamson at Marton Lee on Auckland’s North shore to see how the filter installed 5 years ago was performing. When asked to describe the filters performance, Glen Williamson explained its ‘reliability’ was the biggest benefit to his busy joinery business.

Marton Lee on Auckland’s North Shore, has been in the joinery business for over 35 years and was bought 12 years ago by Glen Williamson and Simon Burden. They have continued to build a strong reputation, designing and building a full range of residential cabinetry including kitchens. Good quality design and best practice for every project, and an assurance that it will do the work it is intended for, are their winning operating values.

Five years ago, accelerated growth and the need to utilise more floor space for production, resulted in searching for a new dust extraction filter unit to be placed outside, making the working environment for staff as safe and pleasant as possible. Choosing NZDUCT+FLEX to design and install the extraction system, Glen requested a solution that would cover their needs now, and protect further expansion for the business in the future.

Specifying the correct dust filtration size and system type for a customer is the secret to ensure long term customer satisfaction explains Geoff Ebdon from Duct+Flex who specified the filter. “The secret to long lasting dust removal, with minimal maintenance, is applying the principle of Low pressure operation for the filters. More filter area worked less hard, costs maybe another 10-15% initially but this means the filter system lasts longer with no attention whatsoever required and over 5-10 years, paying back the small additional initial cost and giving great performance consistently.”

Geoff Ebdon suggested a classic 4 unit Modular Filter with a 500mm Rotary Valve exit for collection, all from Danish based JKF Industri, twinned with a powerful Danish 22kW Material Direct Drive fan from the same manufacturer.

LOW Pressure dust extraction system explained :

If you have more actual filter cloth available to deal with the air and dust volume two things happen.

• The velocity of the dust as it leaves the ducting and enters the filter drops off quicker, so more dust simply drops straight into the collecting area and doesn’t even touch the filter socks

• The dust that does come into contact with the filter socks does so at a lower velocity and so tends to settle more on the surface of the cloth, forming a ‘cake,’ that actually aids the filtration process, rather than being driven deeply into the fabric of the material. This means no clogging of the bags, longer life, less changing of filters and cleaning. The system just works for years with no attention required except turning on and off each day.

The problem with ‘saving money’ by buying a smaller system than you really need, is you rely on ‘cleaning’ the filter bags. This can involve removing the socks and getting covered in dust, freight costs, cleaning costs, and refitting time. Most filter bag suppliers will tell you that after washing, you only get about 50% of the performance compared to new bags. So it makes sense to get the specification right at the beginning.

The system pictured was actually more powerful than Marton Lee required 5 years ago, so to save energy, a Variable Speed Drive and sensors are fitted to control the fan speed. Glen Williamson from Marton Lee is completely satisfied with the installation, the improved environment for his skilled staff as business continues to build, and confirms that NZDUCT+FLEX are always happy to re-visit the extraction system to confirm velocity readings are as they should be.

For more information contact New Zealand Duct & Flex Freephone 0508 69 38 28 www. nzduct.co.nz or email info@ nzduct.co.nz