Category: Vacuum

Everybody Wants Options II

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Justin Nicholl, I hear you loud and clear about how Everybody Wants Options. I would go so far as to say a lot of people NEED options. This was evident in an application that I had the pleasure of assisting a caller with recently. They make plastic parts for the automotive industry, and manually remove them from a conveyor line, where the operators experience a nuisance static shock. This static charge also presents a problem when the parts are packaged for shipping, so there are two great reasons for getting rid of it right there.

On to the options: they weren’t sure if they wanted to mount something over the conveyor (like a Super Ion Air Knife or Ion Air Cannon,) or if they wanted to have manual, precise control (as with an Ion Air Gun.) I recommended that they try the Ion Air Gun…for ease of setup, it can’t be beat: you can literally go from opening the box to blowing ionized air in a matter of minutes, provided you’ve got a compressed air line and an electrical outlet within reach. If it is indeed successful in eliminating the static charge (and this is a VERY common & successful application,) then the only question is: Will the operator want to have another hand free? If so, they can return the Ion Air Gun for full credit per our 30 Day Unconditional Guarantee, and get either the Super Ion Air Knife or Ion Air Cannon; whichever they choose. In fact, it’s very likely that using the Ion Air Gun for a little while will better inform their decision.

EXAIR Static Eliminators: Mount in place, or hold in your hand.
EXAIR Static Eliminators: Mount in place, or hold in your hand.

EXAIR product lines, across the board, are rife with options. I wrote a while back about a purchasing agent who got a request for “the largest, most powerful air gun they’ve got” and ordered a 6′ Super Blast Safety Air Gun (with a 1-1/4” NPT connection, 6 foot extension, and a whopping 23lbs of force) when they just wanted to blow off some chips from their machine tools. Again, we used the 30 Day Unconditional Guarantee to get them a 6″ Heavy Duty Safety Air Gun (3/8” NPT connection, 6 inch extension, and a very usable 13oz of force.)

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Another user recently tried a Stainless Steel Line Vac – the product they needed to convey was too abrasive for an aluminum Line Vac – but they just weren’t getting the conveyance rate they wanted. No problem…the Model 150200 2” Heavy Duty Line Vac is made of an abrasion resistant hardened alloy, and boosts conveyance performance dramatically. The dimensions were the same, so the new one dropped right in, saving them from exploring the option of re-plumbing their lines.

all lv blog

Regardless of your compressed air product needs, EXAIR is the most likely solution:

*Super Air Knives are available in lengths from 3” to 108”. They come in aluminum, 303 or 316 grade Stainless Steel, and PVDF plastic (with Hastelloy-C fasteners and Teflon shims for the most aggressive installations.) This is, by far, the most options you’ll find in the industry. And they’re all in stock…waiting until next week doesn’t have to be an option.

*Cabinet Cooler Systems come in capacities from 550 BTU/hr to 5,600 BTU/hr. Whether your enclosure needs NEMA 12 (oil tight, dust tight, indoor duty), NEMA 4 (splash resistant) or NEMA 4X (corrosion resistant,) we’ve got it. And yes, they’re in stock.

*If you need to move a lot of air, or draw a vacuum, our Adjustable Air Amplifiers and Adjustable E-Vacs, respectively, offer you infinite options in range of performance with the simple twist of a locking ring.

You want options? We’ve got them. You want help narrowing them down? Call us.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
www.exair.com
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Don’t Waste Money On Your Waste Removal

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

Lately, we have been receiving calls from customers that are looking for a wet/dry vac that they are accustomed to seeing in the form of an electrical vacuum for their home work shop.  They call us wanting a general clean up vacuum for their shop.  The items they are looking to clean up are coolant, dust and chips.  Our solution for this is to run two vacuums, and most people are asking why can’t it do both.  The answer – cost.

Generally, people seeking EXAIR’s pneumatic vacuums already see the value in the durability of a vacuum with no moving parts to maintain or replace when comparing to electric vacuums. It is the simplest of dollar savings,  the longer the product lasts and is maintenance free, the more money you will save from the absence of repair parts or new vacuums. And electric vacuums are notorious for burning up motors and not lasting within tough industrial environments. You can read about additional features/benefits within EXAIR’s pneumatic vacuum line here and here, but I will talk about our products specifications in detail.

EXAIR has two categories of vacuum, wet vacs and dry vacs.  The original wet vac for vacuuming coolant, swarf, or oil is the Reversible Drum Vac (RDV), used to easily empty and fill coolant sumps quickly. The Chip Trapper features a filtration system which removes chips and debris that is within the coolant, keeping the coolant clean, extending the coolant life and minimizing surfaces for bacteria to grow.  The Reversible Drum Vac and the Chip Trapper Systems use 19 SCFM of compressed air at 80 PSIG of and can fill a drum with 55 gallons of water in 90 seconds. These workhorse vacuums will last many years and withstand the rugged treatment found in hardworking manufacturing facilities.

Drum Vac

In the other category of  our industrial vacuums are the “dry” vacuums.  This term “dry” is a little ambiguous, because the vacuums will be able to move some liquid.  For instance, the liquid coating a chip or spills on the shop floor can easily be picked up with the dry vacuums.  We have a number of dry vacuums available:  The Chip Vac is a continuous duty vacuum used for general cleanup around machinery. The Chip Vac drum lid assembly can be used from drum to drum to aid in separating and recycling materials. Our Heavy Duty Dry Vac is best for applications vacuuming heavy materials, abrasive medias or longer distance (20′). And the Heavy Duty HEPA Vac is designed to provide protection from airborne particulate and is suited for dusty environments.

Exair-heavy-duty-HEPA-vacuum

To compare EXAIR products with other pneumatic vacuums, let’s look at the Chip Vac (40 SCFM at 80 PSIG) and the RDV above (19 SCFM at 80 PSIG). Combining the two vacuums you would require (59 SCFM at 80 PSIG. If you search long enough, you could find a pneumatic vacuum that is advertised as wet/dry, but this ability comes at a cost.  The most obvious cost is the upfront purchase price, which is consistently much higher than the combined cost of the (2) EXAIR units.  Also the units range in air use from 68 SCFM to 110 SCFM.  That is up to 86% more air required!

Let’s assume that you did run both constantly.  The wet/dry vac will cost you $0.14 extra an hour to run, assuming that your compressed air cost is $0.25 per 1,000 SCF.  That is really an unfair comparison to our products though, because we could have (2) vacuums operating at different locations in the plant accomplishing twice as much work.  Even still the (2) EXAIR units will save $810 per year with 250 working days in a year and 24 working hours in a day.

$810 per year may not sound like to much to you.  What if we change the scenario? How much air can you save? Let’s say you run a large wet/dry vacuum, which consumes 110 SCFM, everyday for 8 hours over 250 working days. The wet/dry vacuum will use 52,800 SCF per day or 13,200,000 SCF per year.  This compress air will cost you $3,300 just to compress that air. By comparison, the Chip Vac will only cost you $1,200 per year to run in compressed air.  Using the Chip Vac instead of the wet/dry vac, will save you $2,100 per year. in compressed air operating costs.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
Davewoerner@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_DW

Award Winning HEPA Vac

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

Continuing my series of EXAIR award winning products for 2014.  Plant Engineering’s readers voted the Heavy Duty HEPA Vac a silver award for Environmental Health. The HD HEPA Vac differs greatly from most of the EXAIR products.  We often improve a work environment by reducing noise level from compressed air blow offs or limiting the energy usage of a facility by conserving compressed air, but when EXAIR introduced the Heavy Duty HEPA Vac, we entered a new area of environmental health.

hepafam_collection

High Efficiency Particulate Air standards are set by the US Department of Energy. Originally, the standards were created to protect workers, the public and the environment from particulate that may be found in DOE’s nuclear facilities. (For more information on HEPA filtration consult DOE-STD-3020-2005.) The Heavy Duty HEPA Vac filter meets the HEPA standards to filter a minimum 99.97% at 0.3 micron level.  Each filter is tested in strict accordance with IEST-RP-CC-007. After testing the filtration, vacuum and ventilation companies discovered the added benefit of using HEPA filtration is to remove particulate that may inflame allergies or asthmatic symptoms. Pollen, pet dander, and dust are physically too large to pass through the HEPA filter. For instance, most pet dander is 5 microns and will become trapped inside the circuitous air passage route inside the HEPA filter. Also, HEPA filters will even filter airborne pathogens.  Engineering Toolbox list several nominal particle sizes to give you the idea of scope. By meeting these strict standards, EXAIR’s Heavy Duty HEPA Vac can be used in a whole new industry where HEPA filtration is required.

Tries to imitate the late Billy Mays

But wait there’s more!

We haven’t even talked about the HEAVY DUTY DRY VAC component of the Heavy Duty HEPA Vac.  The Heavy Duty HEPA Vac features the same hardened alloy construction of the Heavy Duty Dry Vac.  This alloy holds up to abrasive materials such as garnet, crushed glass, sand or hard materials like stainless steel chips, pipe plugs, or brass piping caps.  We tested the conveying power of the Heavy Duty Dry Vac, it moved 32 pounds per minute of steel shot blasting media, 146% percent more than a standard Chip Vac.  With all this vacuuming power, it still maintains a surprisingly quiet 82 dBA of sound level.

The Heavy Duty HEPA Vac would be the perfect item to clean out that clogged filtration system, or to clean up that spilled kitty litter that will clog up a standard electrical vacuum. It will not blow tiny particulate all over your shop and it can help protect your personnel from airborne particulate.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
Davewoerner@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_DW

The Value Of Free Stuff…Sometimes, It’s Actually Worth The Price

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

I visited my doctor recently for my annual check-up. During the exam, he lamented that a lot of his patients didn’t take the importance of preventive care seriously enough. I joked that I’m actually one of those people, but since my health care insurance covers an annual check-up at no charge to me, I do it simply because I’m a sucker for free stuff. Again, I was JOKING…I firmly believe in the importance of preventive health care, and strongly encourage you, dear reader, to do the same and get annual check-ups.

Well, I was HALF joking, anyway…I AM a sucker for free stuff. In fact, my doctor and I went on to talk about how effective free stuff (like t-shirts) was at getting consumers to sign up for new credit cards, magazine subscriptions, etc. We had a good laugh, and I kept laughing…until I got home and looked in my t-shirt drawer…

Of course, these kinds of promotions can be great advertising – that’s obviously why they’re so popular, and at EXAIR, we’re keenly aware of that. Now, you can’t wear our free stuff for everyone to see, but, in the case of our current seasonal promotion, you can get something very useful for free:

Through May 31st, we’re so intent on helping you get into Spring Cleaning mode that, with the purchase of one of our Industrial Vacuums, we’ll give you a FREE Vac-u-Gun. VACpromo_186x149 How can an efficient, quiet compressed air operated Industrial Vacuum help get your spring cleaning into full swing?  If you need help answering that question, give me a call.  They’re all in stock, and we ship same day (U.S.) with orders received by 3pm EST.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
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