Most of us think of the electric-powered device that we clean our carpets at home with when we think of vacuum cleaners. The idea of utilizing vacuum in cleaning applications, however, actually predates the widespread introduction of electric power by a couple of decades. The original idea was to marry a manual vacuum-generating device with an existing carpet sweeper that employed a beater brush which turned as the sweeper was pushed across the floor, collecting debris from the floor in its bristles, and depositing it into an internal reservoir. The first “vacuum cleaners” relied on a bellows, piston cylinder, or other such device that was operated by hand, foot – or, according to one source, a rocking chair – to generate a vacuum. It took one person to operate the vacuum-generating part, and another to push the sweeper, though, so they weren’t very popular at a time when folks were generally looking for labor-SAVING products.

Today, of course, the availability of electric power is a given in any industrial or commercial facility, so these manually driven units have long gone by the wayside. That’s not to say that they’re all electrically driven, though – in fact, the most common alternative – compressed air-operated industrial vacuums – are widely used in a variety of situations. Their popularity is due to several key advantages they have over their electric-powered counterparts:

• No electric motor to burn out.
• No moving parts to wear or break.
• No impeller to clog.

Whether your needs are for a liquid vac, dry vac or both, EXAIR has a comprehensive selection of Industrial Housekeeping Products to choose from. They incorporate a number of features that are quite beneficial in a number of industrial settings:

Filtered exhaust:

• Heavy Duty HEPA Vacs offer powerful vacuum performance, superior resistance to abrasive materials, and High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) cartridge filters that are 100% tested in strict accordance with IEST-RP-CC-007 for a minimum of 99.97% filtration at the 0.3 micron level.
• The EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vacs can likewise be supplied with HEPA Filters as well.

Ease of cleaning:

• Most EXAIR Industrial Housekeeping Products are designed to fit standard size drums (30, 55, or 110 gallons). The lids for the 30 & 55 gallon models have a simple hand-operated latch ring to facilitate drum removal. The 110-gallon ones have a bolt ring, so you do need a wrench for those.
• The particulate filter for the EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac is accessed with a rubber-handled latch to lift the hatch & remove the filter.

Cross-contamination prevention:

• Since they’re made to fit standard-size drums, you can simply remove the lid assembly from any EXAIR drum-mounted Industrial Housekeeping Product and put it on another drum.
• Drum liners can also be used for different materials. These are readily available from a number of industrial equipment suppliers, and even most hardware stores.

Additionally, EXAIR compressed air-operated Industrial Housekeeping Products have no moving parts to wear, or electrical components to burn out. As long as you supply them with clean air, they’re going to run darn near indefinitely, maintenance free. And since they don’t use impellers, there’s nothing in the way, from the suction tool to the drum, for debris to clog or nest.

Whether you’re looking for a liquid vacuuming system, or something for picking up solid particulate – or both – EXAIR has a comprehensive line of Industrial Housekeeping Products to choose from. If you’d like to find out more, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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