Air Techniques A/T2000 Series

Tips for Scheduling Preventive Maintenance Programs

by Jim Wisniewski ("The Dental Guy")
RPI Product Development

An RPI document.

In today’s quest to maximize life cycles and increase profits, one would think preventive maintenance would be the gospel. If you travel from doctor’s office to doctor’s office as most service technicians do, you know this is not so. I often wonder why doctors and dentists spend so much money on equipment and so little time caring for it. This is why I always taught preventive maintenance (P.M.) procedures to office personnel in every office I have ever serviced. Let’s take a look at my program for the A/T2000 racks.

Film Slippage. What is it and how does regular P.M. correct it? When the film no longer moves through the rollers correctly or not at all, this is known as “film slippage”. After a period of time, rollers have a tendency to swell because of the solution in which they operate. Rollers also swell if they become overheated. What’s more, overheating will decrease the life of the solution. (The ideal temperature for the solution is 83ÞF/28.2ÞC.) Foreign material and silver build-up or a slick roller surface also will cause film slippage. If the roller surfaces do not match, film will not move through them correctly. Since intra-oral film is smaller than panoramic or cephalometric, it has less roller contact and more potential for slippage.

Following is my recipe for success when it comes to a P.M. schedule for the film processor. The daily routine should be taught to the doctor’s office staff so they can do it themselves. In fact, you may give the staff a copy of this article to place close by the equipment for quick reference.

DAILY • Start each day by checking the solutions. Replenish if necessary. • If the processor has an auto replenisher, check the levels. Replenish if necessary. • Be sure to turn water “ON”. • It’s best to use a cleaning film three times a day – in the morning, at noon time and just before going home. • Perform temperature check. Supplies needed: Temperature probe and cleaning film. There are several brands of cleaning film on the market. Dent-X and Kodak both make them, but I recommend the Air Techniques cleaning film.

WEEKLY • Remove the developer transport rack and rinse under warm water. Use a spray cleaner to help loosen foreign material or build-up on the rollers. Use a Scotch-Brite® pad or comparable nylon scrub pad. It’s important to restore the finish on the rollers. Silver build-up and slick and/or foreign material must be removed. Respray if necessary and rinse thoroughly, since any spray cleaners left behind can cause contamination within your chemical solutions. • Install racks. (It’s best to air dry or use a lint free cloth.) • Replenish solutions. • Repeat the same procedures for the fixer rack. • Run cleaning film. • Perform temperature check. Supplies needed: Temperature probe, scrub pad and spray cleaners. Dent-X and Air Techniques both offer spray cleaners, but I recommend the cleaner sold by Gendex.

BI-WEEKLY • Repeat WEEKLY cleaning schedule for transport racks. • Drain solutions. Rinse the tanks. Use spray cleaner on tanks. Use scrub pad to wipe clean. Be sure to rinse thoroughly. (It’s best to air dry or use a lint free cloth.) • Reinstall racks and replenish solutions. • Run cleaning film. • Conduct temperature check. Supplies needed: Same as for the WEEKLY cleaning.

MONTHLY • Inspect the washer/dryer rack. Clean if necessary. • Rinse the racks and tanks first so the cleaners can go right to work. • Soak all three racks in the designated cleaning tubs containing the cleaning solution. You can soak the developer and fixer racks right in their tanks and run the processor at the same time. Be sure to turn “OFF” the replenisher. • Remove the circulators and drain tube plugs with their washers. • Use spray cleaner on circulators as well as the drain plug assembly. • Be sure to agitate the racks in their designated tubs. Follow the cleaner’s instructions and use soaking cleaner at least every 3 months. For the washer/dryer rack, do not wait longer than 3 months to clean. • Remove build-up on the rollers with the scrub pad. Rinse racks and tanks to avoid contamination. (It’s best to air dry or use a lint free cloth.) • Reinstall circulators and drain tube plugs using new washers. • Reinstall racks. • Replenish solutions. • Use cleaning film before operating processor. • Perform temperature check. Supplies needed: Temperature probe, scrub pad, and the following items all made by Air Techniques – Formula 2000 Cleanser, Spray 2000 and cleaning film.