Showerthought: Our old sand reclamation unit was a money pit until we switched to a thermal process.

For about three years, we ran a mechanical reclaimer at our shop in Toledo. It was loud, it broke down a lot, and we were still buying about 30% new sand every month to keep our molds good. The boss was always mad about the repair bills. Then, six months back, we finally got the okay to install a small thermal reclaimer. The difference is night and day. Our sand quality is way more steady, the waste pile is tiny now, and we're down to maybe 5% new sand use. It's quieter and the air in the bay feels cleaner, too. The upfront cost was big, but seeing the before and after on our material orders proved it. Has anyone else made a switch like this and seen a real drop in their monthly sand budget?

3 comments

3 Comments

michaels952mo ago

The mechanical units are just headaches waiting to happen. We ran numbers on ours before switching and the downtime alone was costing us close to $4k a month in lost labor and rushed sand orders. The thermal unit paid for itself in about 14 months just on reduced new sand purchases and fewer repair calls.

the_sean3mo agoTop Commenter

That 30% new sand number is wild. Did you track how much the constant repairs and downtime on the old mechanical unit were actually costing per month, or was it one of those things where the real pain was just the constant hassle of it breaking?

the_hannah3mo ago

We never did the math, just accepted the breakdowns as a tax on doing business. The real cost was the guy who had to stop what he was doing to go fix it every other day.