On April 2, 2013, I wrote about my big Springtime Project. It is now a month and a half later and I have successfully completed my first “boot job” as they call it. I put the boat in the water last weekend and was so proud………….it didn’t sink! Admittedly, I did keep it on the trailer while in the water at the ramp for about 15 minutes though and checked all round in the engine compartment to make sure nothing was coming through. As many of you know, it is always a good feeling of achievement when you dig into something you know little about, research it and are able to make a successful repair. I did check with the repair department at a local marina and found out that it would have cost $1,400.00 to have them do it. Since I was able to do it for less than half of that in parts cost, that just reinforces benefit of doing it myself. I asked a lot of questions before and during the process and received a lot of good advice.
At EXAIR, I have recently fielded some questions about some of our newer products to help dispel any misnomers and bring to light some of the differences between the various models so customers can make an informed decision when they begin to look at our products and aren’t quite sure what to think…….much like me and the boat project.
One customer had asked me, “I have a lot of pneumatic actuators, a couple of Air Knives and some E-vacs on a compressed air line. I would like to mount a Digital Flow Meter to the line to know how much air we are consuming. Is it OK to permanently install the Digital Flow Meter or should I only use it on a temporary basis?”
The answer is that the Digital Flow Meters are intended to be installed permanently on a pipe for continued monitoring of compressed air flow for as long as the line is in service. In fact we have other accessory items such as the Summing Remote Display and the Data Logger which aid in monitoring flow over longer time frames.
Another customer asked, “You have quite a few different Industrial Vacuums for solid material pick-up, how do I know which one will work best for my material? Is there a specific particle size range that each should be used for?”
The answer is that all of our solid pick –up, Industrial Housekeeping products: Chip Vac, Heavy Duty Dry Vac and Heavy Duty HEPA Vac can pick up most any solid materials as long as they will fit into the hose without clogging it. Think of the Chip Vac as our standard duty unit, the Heavy Duty Dry vac as the Heavy Duty pick-up unit and the Heavy Duty HEPA Vac the one that gives the best all round performance and can also work to filter very fine dust particles down to 0.3 micron at 99.97% efficiency.
In effect, all of our Industrial Vacuums are well suited for shop and industrial type uses. However, if you are the type of person who wants a bit more power, then HD Dry Vac and HD HEPA Vac are for you. If you have a large quantity of a very fine dust you are working with and don’t want to be clogging your filter bag immediately, then the HD HEPA Vac is our newest and best offering.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. We make every effort to allow people to contact us in a variety of ways, so keep them coming. We can walk you through and help you get to a good point in your project.
Neal Raker, Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com