Automotive Adhesive Cell Cleaning · Windsor

The situation

An automotive assembly plant in Windsor, Ontario had heavy adhesive and primer buildup throughout a robotic production cell. Black contamination had accumulated on fixture plates, aluminum framing, and the conveyor rails that move parts through the cell. Buildup like this is difficult to remove by hand, and traditional methods – sanding, scraping, solvents, or pressure washing – risk damaging aluminum surfaces, introduce water and chemicals into a live production environment, and often mean pulling equipment out of the cell.

Adhesive and primer buildup on robotic cell fixture before dry ice blasting — Windsor automotive plant

Clean fixture after dry ice blasting, adhesive removed without abrasion — Windsor automotive plant

Before: the state of the cell

Cured adhesive had built up across the cell — stringing along the aluminum transfer rails, caking the chain tracks, and coating the pallet fixtures. This is what the crew walked into:

Automotive conveyor line and pallet fixtures coated in adhesive and sealer residue before dry ice blasting, Windsor plant — Before: pallet fixtures and conveyor rails coated in adhesive residue across the cell

Cured adhesive strings and buildup caked on aluminum conveyor rails before dry ice cleaning — Before: cured adhesive caked along the aluminum rail and chain track

Heavy adhesive stringing on transfer rails and clamp bracket before dry ice blasting, Windsor automotive plant — Before: adhesive stringing on the transfer rails and clamp bracket

The approach

Ontario Dry Ice Blasting cleaned the cell in place using dry ice blasting. Solid CO2 pellets are accelerated at the contaminated surfaces; on impact they lift the adhesive and then sublimate – turning straight from solid to gas. That means:

No water and no chemical washdown
No sand or grit, and no blast media left behind to clean up
A non-abrasive process that is gentle on aluminum and surrounding components
Work performed in place, around the fixtures and equipment

The result

The fixture plates and aluminum framing were brought back to clean metal, and the rails and surrounding surfaces were cleared of buildup – all without removing the fixtures from the cell or introducing water or chemicals into the production environment. The before-and-after photos tell the story: from black, caked adhesive to clean, bare surfaces.

Why dry ice blasting for production cells

For maintenance and plant teams, the advantage is cleaning that fits around production rather than fighting it. Dry ice blasting is a strong fit for robotic and assembly cells, adhesive and primer contamination, fixture plates and aluminum framing, conveyor systems, and tight spaces where teardown is not practical – making it well suited to scheduled shutdowns and maintenance windows.

Serving Southwestern Ontario

Ontario Dry Ice Blasting is based in Wallaceburg and serves Windsor, Chatham-Kent, Sarnia, London, and the surrounding region. If you have adhesive, paint, or general buildup you have been working around, we would be glad to take a look. Call 226-627-4878.

Need this in your plant? This is our weld cell & adhesive cell cleaning service — see also EV battery & automotive line cleaning and typical pricing. We serve Windsor-Essex and all of Southwestern Ontario. Call or text photos to 226-627-4878.