Cleaning Motor Fan Covers Using The Vac-u-Gun

Having a background in industrial process pumps prior to my time here at EXAIR, I have become quite familiar with many different  abbreviations used in the selection of a motor for a particular process. Terms like ODP – Open Drip Proof or TENV – Totally Enclosed Non-Vented all refer to the NEMA rating of an electrical motor. Since all of the products we manufacture here at EXAIR are compressed air operated and don’t require any electricity or motors to operate, these terms haven’t been as frequent in my day to day conversations with our customers.

However, last week that changed when I took a call from an industrial motor manufacturer looking for a way to draw cast iron chips out of the fan covers used on their “TEFC” motors or Totally Enclosed Fan Cooled. A TEFC motor,  the most commonly used motor in general duty, industrial processes, has an external fan on the back of the motor and provides cooling by moving air over the outside of the motor housing. After the fan covers are formed, they are sent to a mill where the vent holes are cut, which creates small chips that settle on the inside and outside of the cover. They have been using an air gun to blow the chips away but some of the chips have made their way behind the fan blades and settled on the shaft, resulting in damage to some fans and motors themselves during testing. They wanted some type of small, handheld device that would allow them to treat the individual opening and grooves on the cover to vacuum the chips away and carry them to a scrap recovery bin.

Example of a TEFC fan cover on the back of an industrial motor.

Once again, EXAIR had the perfect solution, the Model # 6292 Vac-u-Gun Transfer System. The Model # 6292 Transfer System includes the Vac-u-Gun, a 10′ transfer hose, extension wands and additional crevice, brush and skimmer tools. A Vac-u-Gun is an air gun which can used as both a blow gun to blow away debris or a hand held vacuum to suck debris into a filter bag or moved through a hose into a collection vessel (drum, tote, garbage can). This would provide them with the desired handheld device that would easily allow them to transfer the scrap chips the to their scrap recovery bin.

Model 6292 Transfer System

The Vac-u-Gun, like most of our products, are IN STOCK, ready to ship. Give me a call for help with product selection or to discuss your particular process.

Justin Nicholl
Application Engineer
justinnicholl@exair.com
@EXAIR_JN
Back of Motor image courtesy of Shane Gorski via Creative Commons license.

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