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Who likes maintenance?

Reliable and precise dosing pumps for demanding applications
Who likes maintenance?

BIA Kunststoff- und Galvanotechnik, a leading manufacturer of plastic components with metallic surfaces for the automotive industry, is using Qdos pumps from the Watson-Marlow Pumps Group to dose process-critical additives into its electroplating machines. Replacing diaphragm pump technology, Qdos was selected for its precision, reliability and low maintenance costs.

At the headquarters of BIA in Solingen near Düsseldorf, this 950-employee company operates a total of four electroplating machines that help produce more than 450,000 metal-plated plastic parts every day. “Our core competence is electroplating, and we have designed our own state-of-the-art electroplating machines”, says Alexander Zabel, Maintenance Manager at BIA. Each of the company’s four machines has a dosing station, which is where several dosing pumps meter important additives such as brighteners, wetting agents and accelerators into the electroplating baths. “In modern electroplating machines, the question of when, where and in what form additives are dosed plays a crucial role in the quality of the end product”, explains Zabel. “This means that the dosing station is a vital part of the electroplating process.”

The highest level of precision is required to ensure the correct concentration of additives in the electroplating baths and ultimately the quality of the coating on the plastic parts. In addition, BIA places the utmost importance on gentle transportation with as little pulsation as possible. Failure to achieve this could mean that the transported additives become “shattered”, with the result that they cannot deliver the desired effect in the electrolyte.
Diaphragm pumps reach their limit
Until recently, diaphragm pumps were used as standard in the dosing stations at BIA, but they were gradually proving problematic. “The diaphragm pumps simply failed to provide the essential level of precision we require when transporting additives”, Zabel remarks. “We frequently had to carry out volumetric measurements to ensure precision.” However, a more serious issue was the frequent, time-consuming and costly maintenance incurred by the diaphragm pumps. “We sometimes dose highly concentrated acids and these often damaged the pump components that were transporting the media, so the parts had to be replaced”, he continues. “What’s more, the diaphragm dosing pumps produced a flow with a high level of pulsation. This had a negative impact on the quality of the substances being transported. Surfactants are a particular example of where it’s important to pump at a steady rate to avoid damaging their structures.”
According to Zabel, the company had been looking for alternatives to diaphragm pumps for a long time and “struck gold” when it found Watson-Marlow. “In May 2013 we decided to test the Qdos dosing pump”, he says. “We were impressed with the results right from the start. Firstly, Qdos provides 100 % precision. We typically transport volumes of 100 ml/min and when we set the Qdos to 100 ml, it transported precisely that amount, even along routes that were more than 50 m long. This makes the need to perform volumetric measurements regularly a thing of the past.” In contrast to diaphragm pumps, the Qdos also works without any accessories such as seals or check valves, making installation easier.
Practically no maintenance
The main advantages of the Qdos pump are the long maintenance intervals, short downtimes and low maintenance costs. The only wearing part in the whole pump is the patented Renu pump head, which can be replaced as a complete part within a few minutes and does not require any tools or special training.
“We still haven’t been able to see how easy it is to replace the pump head because we simply haven’t needed to yet”, Zabel comments. “We installed the first Qdos pumps one year ago and they haven’t caused us any problems since, even though they’re in constant use six days a week.” Qdos pumps from Watson-Marlow have now been installed in two of the four electroplating machines at BIA – making a current total of twelve pumps. However, more are certain to follow. “We will gradually replace all our diaphragm pumps with Qdos dosing pumps from Watson-Marlow”, Zabel concludes. “Put simply, the Qdos pumps installed in our plant have been extremely reliable and have required practically no maintenance so far. And that’s exactly what we want: after all, who likes maintenance?”
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