The heart of the tunnel washer is its drum, with an eccentric Archimedian helix that makes the optimal use of the drum volume and thus produces a highly efficient wash action while securely transporting the linen batch. JENSEN’s smart drum design allows a lighter drum without compromising the strength resulting in less energy to operate. This unique design, plus the fact that the helix is fully welded to the inner drum throughout (with no vertical bulkheads), gives the drum an extraordinary degree of strength and stability.

The ALPHA TW5 therefore does not need any oversized drum plates, with their comparatively high weight and consequently greater consumption of drive power. The eccentric design of the helix makes far better use of the drum volume than is the case in conventional machines with drums of similar diameterand depth. Deep beaters ensure that the linen and process water are thoroughly mixed together and the outstanding washing action is made even more efficient by the washboard-shaped helix which offers multi-directional mechanical action. The drum is driven by a frequency-controlled geared motor and an extremely robust and durable toothed chain. This drive design has proved reliable a thousand times under the most severe conditions.

The frequency-controlled drive is very smooth-running and protects all the drive components. An automatic electronically monitored system ensures that the chain is always perfectly lubricated. Specially designed drain valves on the double drums ensure that solid matter such as sand or metal particles from work wear etc. is always removed from the compartment and damage due to catalysis is safely avoided. Generously designed rapid drain outlets with ball valves that open up the entire opening ensure that drain times are very short, bath exchange is efficient and there is no risk of lint accumulating. The specially designed wash beaters assist rapid bath exchange and the efficient transport of the linen batch.

All the drain valves also have clamp fasteners for ease of maintenance and can be opened without tools for inspection purposes – this is a tremendous advantage for the laundry manager as it saves time and money. The correct function of the drain valve can be checked through an inspection window in the discharge nozzle. Specially designed steam nozzles are ideally adapted to the drum geometry. Their position on the bottom of the double drums means that the steam very rapidly enters the process water and ensures very short heating stages even when cycle times are short and a perfect heat distribution within the batch. There is no time loss like on conventional machines with simple heating boxes below the drum.