We got a call from Alice telling us that her EZ9 had recently started whistling when she walked by. (She was flattered at first, until she realized it was whistling at everybody)
It had never done this before, so she knew something was wrong and that it would need to be fixed. She needed to know what could be causing it and what she could do to make it stop.
She hated calling the service tech. She had already experienced the high charge for a service call and how she would have to wait for such a long time for them to show up.
She also never knew if the work that she was being charged for was actually completed…and, at the same time, whether her autoclave really needed the work they said they completed
Having worked with us before, Alice knew that we would guide her both honestly & correctly
So, she decided to give us a call to see what the problem could be, with the hopes the issue could be resolved without her having to pay for a service call
First, The Facts
- First, we want to make sure it wasn’t whistling just at her, but that it was whistling all of the time (and it was)
- Next, we needed to know where the whistling was coming from on the autoclave (the whistling was coming from close to the “closing device”)
- Last, we asked if she could see wisps of steam coming from that area (she could)
The Verdict
Together, we were able to quickly determine the source of the whistling. And this problem was a simple fix.
The Door Bellows was faulty and needed to be replaced
Here is What You Need to Know
When you see steam coming out around the center on the end of the door panel where the closing device is located, and/or is whistling, it is the Door Bellows that is leaking and needs to be replaced
If left unresolved, it can cause a whole lot of other (expensive) issues
Here is where you can find it
In the center on the left-hand side of the door panel is the “Door Housing Bolt” as shown in the picture below
Unscrewing the bolt will allow you to access the door bellows assembly housing. Simply pull out the old parts.
If any parts are stuck, you can simply insert a drywall screw (~4 inches long) and turn it a couple of times and then pull the parts out. Alternatively, if your autoclave is close to an operatory where you have an air syringe, you can simply blow the parts out
Now insert the new bellows assembly into the door housing and replace the housing bolt and it is now ready to go back to work
Incidentally, to prevent this from happening, Tuttnauer recommends replacing the Door Bellows annually along with filters, gaskets and air jet valve, and is included in most of our PM Kits
Ps: The symptoms and fixes described herein applies to all Tuttnauer Automatic Autoclaves, not just the EZ series
A Side Note: Alice misses the whistling now