Case Study: Electro-Wash CZ Recovers Expensive Medical Equipment

We received a call from a very satisfied customer who had used Electro-Wash CZ High Precision Cleaner (part #ES7100) to perform a quick repair of medical equipment. This repair resulted in a cost savings of more than $6000 over buying new replacement equipment.

Bill is the Clinical Engineer at a local Hospital Surgery Center. He heads the department that is responsible for maintaining the electronics used in the precision medical equipment used at the center.

With all the changes mandated by federal and local clean air laws, Bill sought a replacement cleaner that would perform well and meet the new stringent standards. Bill tried a number of different products but found them to have an objectionable odor or to be too aggressive on the plastics used on the equipment.

Bill finally identified and qualified Chemtronics Electro-Wash CZ Cleaner Degreaser. Bill considered the odor of Electro-Wash CZ to be negligible and he has found the product to be safe for all the plastics he encounters. He now uses Electro-Wash CZ as his ‘go to’ cleaner for servicing all the electronics associated with the medical equipment used in the hospital.

One of the many pieces of surgical equipment used is a device that has a plug-in hand piece. Recently this equipment was turned in to the repair department as non-functioning. When tested it was found that the main device processor was not recognizing that the hand piece was connected, even after it was repeatedly disconnected and plugged-in.

Bill tested the device himself many times but could not get it to work. In desperation, he decided to clean the hand piece connector plug by spraying it with Electro-Wash CZ. By inserting the extension tube (straw taped to the side of the can) into push-button actuator, he was able to precisely inject cleaning solvent into the tight connector and thoroughly clean around the pins.

He was pleasantly surprised to find that when he plugged in the hand piece, the equipment was immediately restored to working order. He tested it many times and found this quick cleaning of the hand piece connector with Electro-Wash CZ had solved the problem. Electro-Wash CZ effectively flushed out residual moisture from the connector, left behind after the connector had been autoclaved prior to use of the hand piece in surgery.

Had Bill not tried to clean the electrical connector with Electro-Wash CZ, the only alternative for getting the equipment working would have been to replace the non-functioning hand piece, at a cost of $6000. The high cost of replacing the hand piece was a bad option because the equipment had only been in service for two years. Even though his accounting department had previously complained about the cost of Electro-Wash CZ, Bill was able to demonstrate the cost effectiveness of this product by its use in this simple repair.

A process was put into place to clean the hand piece electrical connector with Electro-Wash CZ after each autoclave sterilization. This is expected to keep this piece of surgical equipment functioning for a long time, postponing the eventual replacement of the hand piece assembly. The ease with which he was able to restore a piece of equipment using the Electro-Wash CZ has convinced him to use CZ in all his electronic and electrical cleaning applications.

Chemtronics Electro-Wash CZ is a high purity, nonflammable solvent cleaner for the critical cleaning and degreasing of electronics, electrical assemblies, and sensitive components. Electro-Wash CZ is engineered to clean a wide variety of soil, oil, grease, oxides and handling contamination, from equipment and assemblies that include: