A little more explanation is needed from me regarding Eric units after receiving many very genuine questions by email and telephone.
All Eric units are hand made to order and the only items we do not actually ‘make’ apart from the polyproylene are –
The steel for the frames.
The filter brushes.
The EricMat sheets.
The threaded stainless steel rods.
The nylon spacers and nylon nuts.
The UPVC aeration lines and fittings.
The waterproof bolts.
Having said all this, we do cut, weld and powder coat the steel frames, we do fit the filter brushes to our brush box frames; we do form all EricMat sheets into EricMat blocks after the rods, spacers and nylon bolts have been incorporated and we do install the aeration lines and fittings.
After this has been completed, we do ensure all units are water tested.
Eric outer boxes are manually heat-welded on all the seams by heat gun and polypropylene rod and I assure you all, whilst they may not look to be exactly ‘futuristic’, they must be the shape they are in order to produce the desired results.
These boxes are there to do a ‘big boy’s job’ in outdoor climates all around the world and they are as ‘bomb-proof’ as it possibly gets.
However, on very rare occasions, care in transportation (mostly to overseas customers) is not carried out as it should be and as a result there have been a few leaks found after installation. This is, without any exception, a part of a weld that has snapped.
The good news is that should this happen in the future, unlike moulded boxes that cannot be repaired, a new weld can be made in minutes to make the box as good as new again. Heat guns and polypropylene rod plus operatives who use them daily are to be found in just about every town and city in the world today.
Looking at this from all angles and, although it has yet to happen, it is a possibility that, for whatever reason, the water in the box is allowed to freeze solid. If this ever does happen the 9% expansion of the ice will shatter the weakest weld but, again, this can be fully repaired later.
Another question asked is what is the lifespan of the brushes and the EricMat blocks?
For both these internal parts the answer to this is ’indefinitely’ – I suggest that say, every six months, the brush box is lifted out and pressure washed and each EricMat block is removed and gently rinsed by a garden hose. Before they are replaced, a rinse of the box itself will ensure it is back to being as good as new. The entire operation should take less than 5 minutes or so.
Whilst on the subject, there are several Eric owners who also own a pump-fed Eric Two unit for their quarantine system as and when required at different times of the year.
The beauty of this is that they can shut down these quarantine systems when not necessary and hose down the cartridge blocks from the E2 before leaving them to dry out.
When the next start-up is needed, any cartridge block from the main filter will start-up the quarantine unit immediately and the spare cartridge can replace the one removed.
Waddy.