cover story In April, Nicklin Auto Parts & Recyclers began operating their new SEDA DrainTower vehicle drainage system. The installation in Nicklin’s new building was done by ELV Select this past winter, and it followed the installation of three Girolift 10,000-pound dismantling lifts. “Our new SEDA DrainTower is a nice system,” says Krajcar. “It siphons everything out. We’ve already gone through the learning curve, and the guys are really picking up the pace on it. It’s doing a nice job.” Bob Vanleeuwen, co-owner of ELV Select, coordinated the entire installation for Nicklin and says three Girolift vehicle hoists were placed strategically in line with overhead doors, with a dedicated SEDA DrainTower per hoist. “The SEDA equipment was installed after the bulk of the rigid piping was completed and fluid tanks were installed with an alarm panel that senses all levels in each of the system’s fluid collection tanks,” explains Vanleeuwen. “The alarm is designed as a two-stage process, making operators aware of the 75 percent level, which can be overridden, and then stops the pumps in the SEDA equipment at 90 percent capacity. The entire process was designed to be very efficient and environmentally friendly.”
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It’s about reinvesting in the business, buying better equipment, loaders, crushers and other equipment, to do jobs we were always hiring others for. It only makes sense to do it yourself.” Denis Krajcar
26 Recycling Product News May/June 2018
A 10,000-pound-capacity Girolift dismantling lift, in tandem with a SEDA DrainTower, installed at Nicklin Auto Parts & Recyclers in Guelph, Ontario. Krajcar says when they initially decided to get a new vehicle drainage system, they shopped around. In the end, their decision came down to service and parts availability. He notes that they had been using another system, which they were happy with, but when they had an issue they could be waiting three or four days to get a part. “Nobody would stock parts for it,” says Krajcar. He adds though that things have changed since ELV Select started a partnership with Austria-based manufacturer SEDA, as their Canadian distributor, and he started working on the upgrade of their vehicle drainage system with Bob Vanleeuwen. “Now they’re only 20 minutes up the road from us,” Krajcar says. “So that played heavily into determining that we were going go with the SEDA system. Firstly, I’ve known Bob for many years. I call him a friend. And secondly, if we have an issue, he’s got the parts immediately, so we can be in production in no time. “When we’re operating the way we are, at the pace we’re operating, when something goes wrong and everything stops, you are not going to send your employees home, but we can’t get things done. In the summertime, we can be pulling in 40 to 50 cars per day. It doesn’t take long before you’re backlogged 200 or 300 cars, if our system is down. Previously, periodically we would run into issues like this.”
Quality recovered fuel
“Each DrainTower is equipped with the ability to suction gas/diesel, waste oil (engine/transmission), power steering brake and washer fluid, and coolant,” says Vanleeuwen. “Each fluid can be evacuated without spilling a drop and is pumped directly into separate storage tanks. Fuel is separated using SEDA’s Quality Control sight glass, transferring dirty and clean fuel to separate containment tanks. “This is a major advantage for any recycler, as fuel can be reused in delivery vehicles, tow trucks and other vehicles.” This system benefit is certainly one that has not gone unnoticed by Denis and Nicklin’s staff. “Because of the volume of vehicles that we process here in the day, and in a month, we have an abundance of used gasoline, which we recover through the SEDA system and filters,” says Krajcar. He says their quality recovered gas and diesel fuel is shared with employees and used in his own vehicle, as well as for their fleet. “We recently bought new Ford 650 series trucks with V10 gas. That certainly has helped us a lot, just in what we save in diesel fuel costs through using our own recovered fuel. We’ve upgraded our whole truck fleet. Our oldest truck is now a 2016 model.” He says that for recovered fuel they use three filter systems, and because he and his employees use the gas in their