Many hazardous substances are used in car maintenance and repair, so every opportunity to reduce the amount of chemicals is important. This can often be done by upgrading equipment.
The filters are cleaned with water, not chemicals.
Speed motors is a small car repair shop that has been specializing in repairing car exhaust system and car computer programming for at least five years.
With the support of LIFE Fit for REACH project, it purchased equipment to wash soot filters so the exhaust gasses are in compliance with EU standarts.
The process in the new equipment lasts for about an hour. It first checks the filter flow, then the filter is placed in a pressure washer and washed. It is then dried and filter flow is checked again.
In this process only water and electricity is used, in the past it was thorough manual work with a significant amount of hazardous substances being used. Among the substances that no longer need to be used to clean the filters were naphthalene, which is very dangerous to the environment and possibly a carcinogen, as well as diethanolamine, which causes long-term damage to organs.
Speed motors is the only car repair shop who has such equipment in Latvia, and the car service plans to clean at least two soot filters per day.
Renewing of clutches without toxic boric acid
The car repair shop Proring, who have been mentioned previously, also continued its cooperation with LIFE Fit for REACH, and now another dangerous substance is no longer used in its daily work.
The round grinder, manufactured in Italy and purchased with the support of the project and intended for the repair of car clutches, does not require a special emulsion - boric acid mixture - for cooling. Previously, it took at least 30 l of hazardous mixture a week to grind clutches using conventional lathe.
The machine is very specific, designed for a narrow work profile. Proring is the only company in Latvia that offers to repair clutches. The nearest places where similar service is offered are Lithuania or St. Petersburg.
Any service worker can quickly learn to work with this equipment, and this is very important, because today there is a shortage of certified lathe operators.
In the first half of the operation, about 700 clutches have been repaired, mainly for private cars, but commercial vehicle parts have also had to be refurbished.