Many times a potential customer will call our office or email asking for a quote and delivery on a specific type of equipment. Our standard response involves asking the customer a series of questions ranging from what the product is, estimated throughput rates, percentage of plus and minus screen size, and others. We typically also ask for an application data sheet to be filled out. All this helps remove the guesswork out of equipment sizing.  Sometimes the customer thinks he knows what is required based on past experience or what someone else has told him he needs. While many times these assumptions may be correct, we want to make sure what we sell the customer will ultimately meet or exceed their expectations. While filling out forms and asking questions definitely assists in proper screener selection, I have found asking for a sample of the product for in house testing eliminates all the guesswork out of the equipment selection process. If time permits and the customer requires we can also send out a demonstration model for a short in-house testing period.

Running tests on a sample or sending out a demonstration model will ultimately remove all the guesswork out of equipment selection. Too many times a customer leaves out important information in the equipment selection process such as agglomeration, actual mesh size of the product being screened, or operating in a very hot environment. All variables can make an impact of the proper operation of a screener.

The size of the sample required will vary with the customer’s applications. Sometimes a sample of just several hundred grams is sufficient while other times we may need 25-30 Kgs of material in order to determine proper flow and throughput rates. If the customer is concerned with a consistent throughput rate over several hours or days, we would then suggest sending out a demonstration model. Our policy is fairly simple. We ask that the customer pay for a typical screen charge and the customer is also responsible for freight or UPS charges to and from their facility. We then offer a 2 weeks free trial policy. A small charge would apply if they need to keep the screener for a longer period. About 50% of this charge is applicable to the purchase of the screener.

There are also a number of applications where the customer is asking for a demonstration model or would like to send in a sample for testing but we feel after running the same material in the same scenario many times over (example: powder coating reclaim) we can simply offer a performance guarantee. This guarantee is simply a work or return offer. Send a purchase order for the screener and we will ship the customer a machine. If the screener does not perform to the customers’ needs, it is easy to return the screener and there is no charge. We offer this to our customers, but after 25 years of selling, I cannot remember a machine coming back to the shop.

We are happy to test your product, please contact us today with your unique application.

Jeff Hochadel

Jeff Hochadel has over 25 years of experience building and selling vibratory screening equipment. Jeff is responsible for handling fine mesh screening applications for The Cleveland Vibrator Company. His expertise is utilizing our Ultrasonic Deblinding System to solve difficult screening problems. When Jeff is not visiting customers promoting our products you can most likely find him fly fishing.