EXAIR’s Industrial Housekeeping Wet Vacs: The Reliable Alternative to Electric Vacuums

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

EXAIR manufactures a variety of Industrial Housekeeping pneumatic vacuum systems for a range of applications with dry or wet materials. We have systems suitable for use with dry materials only, wet materials only, as well as one capable of handling both wet and dry. For the purposes of this blog, I’m going to focus on EXAIR’s systems designed for use with liquids.

The Reversible Drum Vac is a compressed air operated vacuum system designed to quickly attach to any closed head 30, 55, or 110 gallon steel drum. The high-powered vacuum allows you to fill a 55 gallon drum in less than two minutes. With the simple turn of a knob, the stainless steel pump quickly empties the drum as well.

For thicker more viscous liquids (up to 1400 cP) or for when the application requires lifting the liquid from below-grade sumps, our High Lift Reversible Drum Vac is the best option. Operating in the same manner as the Standard Reversible Drum Vac, the High Lift RDV provides the extra power you need to move liquids from below grade work areas, sumps, or tanks up to 15’ deep. Both the Reversible Drum Vac and High Lift Reversible Drum Vac are offered in a variety of different systems both with and without the drum included.

Another system designed to be used with liquids is the EXAIR Chip Trapper. The Chip Trapper solves one of the most dreaded tasks in any machine shop: cleaning out the CNC coolant sumps. Over time, chips and shavings can make their way up into the coolant lines resulting in a clog. The coolant flow slows down or stops entirely, resulting in premature wear of expensive cutting tools, imperfections in the parts, or unacceptable product finish. When this occurs, if it is even noticed right away, the machine has to be stopped and valuable production time must be spent identifying the location of the clog and removing it. Another problem, one anyone working around CNC machines can attest to, is the rancid coolant smell that is a result of bacteria building up in the stagnant cutting fluid. Regularly cleaning this oil can reduce this smell, prevent premature tool wear or costly shutdowns, as well as extend the overall life of your coolant.

EXAIR’s Chip Trapper makes cleaning out your CNC machine coolant quick and easy!

Using either a standard or High Lift Reversible Drum Vac to provide the vacuum source, the Chip Trapper and High Lift Chip Trapper are capable of filling or emptying a 55 gallon drum in less than two minutes. It is able to pick up both the liquid coolant as well as any chips or shavings that are suspended in the coolant. The liquid is forced through a filter bag inside of the drum which contains any solid materials while allowing the coolant to filter out into the drum. Switching the knob on the Reversible Drum Vac and the directional flow valve to empty will allow the clean coolant to be pumped back out of the drum and reused.

The Chip Trapper is available in either 30, 55, or 110 gallon systems. It’ll also come with (2) 5 micron filter bags, other filter bags are also available ranging from 1 micron up to 200 micron filtration. Using a simple detergent, the filter bags can be washed out, cleaned, and reused multiple times. With no motors or impellers to clog or wear out, as well as no electricity requirement or shock hazard, the Chip Trapper comes with our standard 5-year Built to Last Warranty.

If you’re looking for a system that can handle both wet and dry materials, look no further than the EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac. The EasySwitch is designed to handle the toughest of industrial cleanup jobs with ease. Available with a standard or HEPA certified filter for dry material, the system quickly and easily converts from vacuum mode to dry mode. Simply lift the latch and remove the filter element when vacuuming liquids. When you’re done, just place the filter insert into the lid and you’re ready to vacuum your dry materials.

Using only compressed air, EXAIR’s Industrial Housekeeping vacuums require no electricity. Without electricity and moving parts to wear out, there is no concern for failed parts, motor failure, or personnel safety associated with the use of electric vacuums in wet environments. All systems are available to ship same day from stock and are backed by our 5 Year Built to Last Guarantee. If you’re tired of replacing electric shop vacuums, EXAIR has the solution you need. Feel free to give us a call and we’ll be happy to help you select the best system for your application.

Tyler Daniel
Application Engineer
E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_TD

EXAIR’s Super Air Amplifier Amplification Ratio’s, Explained

Published on by EricKuhnash@EXAIR.comLeave a comment

Much like the popular song from decades ago that was about “money for nothing”,  EXAIR can provide you with “air for free”.  What we mean by this is that when you choose to use our Super Air Amplifiers, you will produce a large volume of air while only requiring a small amount of compressed air. This is because Air Amplifiers amplify total output flow up to 25 times by entraining (pulling in) ambient air.

So just how does the EXAIR’s Super Air Amplifier do this?   By utilizing our patented design (Patent # 5402938) that incorporates a special shim to maintain the air slots precisely.  The compressed air is released toward the center of the Super Air Amplifier  which creates a constant, high velocity outlet flow across the entire cross sectional area.  This

SAA How It Works

The amplification occurs by entraining most of the ambient air from the back of the Super Air Amplifier. Another small volume of air is added again as the air exits the Super Air Amplifier further increasing the amplification.

SAA Blog 1Super Air Amplifiers that have outlet diameter’s of 3/4″ (19mm), 1 1/4″ (32mm), 2” (51mm) and 4” (102mm) are supplied with a .003” (0.08mm) shim which is ideal for most applications, however there is the optional .006” (.15mm) and .009” (.23mm) if more air volume and force is needed. The 8” (203mm) Super Air Amplifier comes standard with a .009” (.23mm) shim and for increased performance we offer an optional .015” (.39mm).  The chart below explains how to determine the total output flow and air consumption at different operating pressures for each Super Air Amplifier model.

SAA Blog 2

When you need “air for free” or more accurately stated, to get all you can from every SCFM of compressed air you produce, put the EXAIR Super Air Amplifier to work in your facility!

If you would like to discuss the EXAIR Super Air Amplifier or any of EXAIR’s Intelligent Compressed Air® products, give us a call as we would enjoy hearing from you.

Erik Kuhnash
Application Engineer
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Industrial Housekeeping Overview: The Vac-u-Guns

Published on by codybiehleLeave a comment

Manufacturing product can be a very dirty process that can generate large amounts of biproduct, trash, and loose material that is lying around or has been spilled. Especially when it comes to spilled material you might not want get rid of the material because it is still good. Well, EXAIR has the solution for you! Introducing the Vac-U-Gun systems! The Vac-U-Gun system is just as it sounds; a hand-held vacuum cleaner that can be turned on and off by simply pulling back the trigger. This system can allow one to easily clean up messes such as metal chips, plastic pellets, nuts, bolts, paper scraps, and much more. Altogether this gives you and easy way to keep your work space clean. Best of all the Vac-U-Gun isn’t just a vacuum system it can also work as a blower to blow air or transfer material.

EXAIR’s Vac-U-Gun System

The Vac-U-Gun system works off of the same principle of Entrainment as EXAIR’s Air Amplifiers and Line Vacs which can produce a strong suction for moving material. The removable generator located in the back of the Vac-U-Gun can be easily taken out and reoriented in order to create a strong blowing force that can be used for either blowing surfaces off or transferring material.

Vac-U-Gun Kits

The Vac-U-Gun can be purchased in three different kits to help get you started:

6192 – Collection System: Vac-U-gun, reusable bag, brush, crevice tool, skimmer tool, (2) extension wands

6292 – Transfer System: Vac-U-gun, 10’ Vacuum hose, brush, crevice tool, skimmer tool, (2) extension wands

6392 – All Purpose System: Vac-U-gun, 10’ Vacuum hose, reusable bag, brush, crevice tool, skimmer tool, (2) extension wands

If you have a blind hole that you just can’t seem to be able to clean out, then look no farther than the Deep Hole Vac-U-Gun. The Deep Hole Vac-U-Gun has all the same features as the Vac-U-Gun but adds a quick blast of air to dislodge anything in the holes so it can be vacuumed up.

The air flow of EXAIR’s Deep Hole Vac-U-Gun

Currently until May 31, 2021 then take full advantage of our promo which adds a free Vac-U-Gun to the purchase of our Industrial Vacuums. Now who doesn’t like free stuff? See the link in the image below to see our promotion page. Of course, they can also be purchased separately.

Industrial Housekeeping Promo

If you have any questions about compressed air systems or want more information on any of EXAIR’s products, give us a call, we have a team of Application Engineers ready to answer your questions and recommend a solution for your applications.

Cody Biehle
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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Don’t Fall Victim To Undersized Piping

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Pressure drops, incorrect plumbing, undersized piping, insufficient flow; if you hear these terms from tech support of your point of use compressed air products or from your maintenance staff when explaining why a process isn’t working then you may be a victim of improper compressed air piping selection.
Often time this is due to a continued expansion of an existing system that was designed around a decade old plan. It could also come from a simple misunderstanding of what size of piping is needed and so to save some costs, smaller was used. Nonetheless, if you can understand a small number of variables and what your system is going to be used for, you can ensure the correct piping is used. The variables that you will want to consider when selecting a piping size that will suit your need and give the ability to expand if needed are shown below.

  • Minimum Operating Pressure Allowed (psig) – Lowest pressure permitted by any demand side point of use product.
  • System Pressure (psig) – Safe operating pressure that will account for pressure drops.
  • Flow Rate (SCFM) of demand side (products needing the supplied compressed air)
  • Total Length of Piping System (feet)
  • Piping Cost ($)
  • Installation Cost ($)
  • Operational Hours ( hr.)
  • Electical Costs ($/kwh)
  • Project Life (years) – Is there a planned expansion?

An equation can be used to calculate the diameter of pipe required for a known flow rate and allowable pressure drop. The equation is shown below.

A = (144 x Q x Pa) / (V x 60 x (Pd + Pa)
Where:
A = Cross-Sectional are of the pipe bore. (sq. in.).
Q = Flow rate (cubic ft. / min of free air)
Pa = Prevailing atmospheric absolute pressure (psia)
Pd  = Compressor discharge gauge pressure (psig)
V = Design pipe velocity ( ft/sec)

If all of these variables are not known, there are also reference charts which will eliminate the variables needed to total flow rate required for the system, as well as the total length of the piping. The chart shown below was taken from EXAIR’s Knowledge Base.

Once the piping size is selected to meet the needs of the system the future potential of expansion should be taken into account and anticipated for. If no expansion is planned, simply take your length of pipe and start looking at your cost per foot and installation costs. If expansions are planned and known, consider supplying the equipment now and accounting for it if the additional capital expenditure is acceptable at this point.

The benefits to having properly sized compressed air lines for the entire facility and for the long-term expansion goals makes life easier. When production is increased, or when new machinery is added there is not a need to re-engineer the entire system in order to get enough capacity to that last machine. If the main compressed air system is undersized then optimal performance for the facility will never be achieved. By not taking the above variables into consideration or just using what is cheapest is simply setting the system up for failure and inefficiencies. All of these considerations lead to an optimized compressed air system which leads to a sustainable utility.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF