Tag: compressed air products

Chip Vac: The Blog!

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

EXAIR, has the right industrial vacuum. We have multiple options for you, based upon your facility needs. If dust, dirt, debris, chips, or flakes are a by product of you making your product, you need to keep reading…

5, 30, 55, 110 Gallon Chip Vac’s

Let’s face it, industrial facilities get dirty. Dust, flakes, chips, can get everywhere if not properly managed. Once these dry materials become airborne or on the floor, a clean house can be difficult to maintain, especially if you do not have, or are not using the right equipment.

There is a lot of “wrong” equipment on the market. Let me ask you a simple question. If your facility has a compressed air system, why would you choose to use any equipment that does not optimize the air that you have, increase safety levels, reduce noise, and never break down? I hear story after story of broken down electric vacuums. Some of these, especially in today’s world, take weeks or months to get parts to repair. Oh, wait – to repair?, yeah because the motors get clogged with the same dirt you are trying to clean out of your facility, the motor clogs and performs poorly or simply burns out all together. Filters fail, belts break – sometimes we just have to face the fact that we made a bad decision and went with that undependable electric option.

Electric Vacuums are prone to clogging, wearing out, and motor failure.

Here are a few important features that each product has in common:

  1. 80-100 PSIG is needed for optimal performance with each system
  2. No Electricity needed
  3. No moving parts to break
  4. No motor to repair
  5. 1.5″ vacuum hose (standard is 10 ft long)
    • Inter changeable tools form one system to another
    • Static resistant hose available
  6. Designed to fit on standard 55 gallon drums (5, 30, and 110 gallon drum options are available on certain models).
  7. All have filters for dust / debris – most have options for the level of filtration required.
  8. Quieter than comparable electric vacuums.

The Chip Vac vacuums directly into an open drum. This is primarily a dry vacuum. It is designed to pick up chips from fixtures, floors, lathes, saws, mills, and many other industrial equipment. When I say mostly dry, this will pick up wet chips – but is not the best solution for puddles of liquid (we have other options for this). Designed to run at 80 PSIG. Comes in 5 gallon, 30 gallon, 55 gallon and 110 gallon options.

Pulling debris from a machining operation

Whatever your dry vac needs are, one of these options will be perfect for you. Don’t forget we have several wet options as well, but that is for another blog. Please give myself, or any of the application engineers a call today to discuss your Industrial Housekeeping needs.

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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The Importance Of Preventative Maintenance

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

The first new car I ever bought was a 1995 Ford Escort Wagon. It got GREAT gas mileage (which was important for my 25 mile one-way commute to the day job), and had ample room to haul my keyboards & amplifier rig (which was just as important to my side hustle as a potential rock star). Since it only had four miles on the odometer – and, it was the first purchase I ever financed over a period of YEARS, I decided to follow the owner’s manual’s maintenance schedule religiously. And it paid off: I got eleven years and just shy of 200,000 miles out of one of the least expensive cars ever made. It was actually still running like a top when I sold it to “upgrade” to a minivan, which suited my needs at the time for a vehicle that fitted the car seats for our little boys (who are now a U.S. Marine and a hippie college student, respectively). I actually followed the maintenance schedule for that minivan too, and got 14 years & almost 180,000 miles out of it, without a major breakdown.

Whether you call it “preventive”, “preventative”, “scheduled”, or “planned” maintenance, there’s an old adage that applies in any case:

“If you don’t plan maintenance, it’ll plan itself without regard to your schedule.”

While following the proverbial “owner’s manual’s maintenance schedule” doesn’t guarantee against catastrophic failures, it’s awfully good insurance against them. For your privately owned vehicles, I encourage you to follow the owner’s guide as best you can. For your compressed air system – from the compressor to the devices it provided compressed to (and everything in between) – there’s likely similar documentation to follow, and for good reason. Consider:

  • Air compressor maintenance. Failure to properly maintain a compressor can increase energy consumption by not keeping it operating as efficiently as possible. For example, just like not periodically replacing your car engine’s air filter will impact your gas mileage, failure to do the same for your compressor’s intake air filter will impact its production of compressed air.
  • Air leaks are costly. Not only do they waste the money you spent on running the compressor (a leak that’s equivalent to a 1/16″ diameter hole costs you over $700.00 annually – let me know if you want to do the math on that), your system pressure takes a hit too. Pressure drop caused by those leaks (plural because there’s rarely just one) can create what’s known as “false demand”, which costs you money as well: every 2psi increase in compressor discharge pressure makes for a 1% increase in power consumption. So, it’s really important to stay on top of them. Regularly scheduled surveys with an instrument like EXAIR’s Model 9207 Ultrasonic Leak Detector allows you to quickly find – and then fix – those leaks.
EXAIR Model 9207 Ultrasonic Leak Detector comes with everything you need to find out if you have a leak (with the parabolic disc, lower right) and then zero in on its exact location (with the tubular extension, bottom).
  • Filters, part 1: I already mentioned the compressor intake filter above, but the rest of the filters in the system need attention from time to time as well. Filter manufacturers typically call for replacing the element in a filter when pressure drop reaches a certain point. I’ve seen published values of 2-5psi for that. Of course, that may not occur at a convenient time to shut down everything downstream of that filter, so lots of folks replace those elements as part of planned maintenance evolutions that require depressurization of that particular part of the system anyway. Dirty filters mean you have to increase their inlet pressure to maintain the same outlet pressure you had when they were clean – and the same 1% increase in power consumption for a 2psi pressure increase applies here too.
  • Filters, part 2: most compressed air operated products have small passages that the air has to flow through, and without filtration, those can get clogged with dirt that the intake filter doesn’t catch, solid particulate from compressor ‘wear & tear’, and rust from header pipe corrosion, just to name the “usual suspects”. An argument could be made that installation & upkeep of properly rated Filter Separators at the point of use of these devices is part of those devices’ planned maintenance. In any case, it’s akin to the awfully good insurance against catastrophic failures I mentioned earlier.
Good engineering practice calls for point of use filtration and moisture removal, such as that provided by EXAIR Filter Separators.

Again, many of the components that make up a typical industrial compressed air system will have a manufacturer’s recommended maintenance schedule, but if they don’t, how can you properly plan for it? Monitoring of certain system parameters can be a valuable tool for determining how often some planned maintenance should be performed:

  • Power consumption of the compressor. The benefit of measuring & logging this on a regular basis is, if you see sudden changes, you can start looking for what’s causing them. Maybe a bearing or belt is wearing out, some leaks have popped up, or a filter’s clogged. In any case, it’s an indication that SOMETHING needs attention. Large industrial compressors might even have power monitoring in their control scheme. If not, there ARE other parameters you can measure…like:
  • Pressure and flow. EXAIR’s Pressure Sensing Digital Flowmeters make monitoring these parameters quick and easy. Managing the readings can be done with our USB Data Logger, or you can get it on your computer, via a Zigbee Mesh Gateway, with our Wireless Models.
EXAIR Digital Flowmeters are made for iron, copper, or aluminum compressed air pipe in sizes from 1/2″ to 8″ diameters. Options include Pressure Sensing, Wireless Output, USB Data Logger, Hot Tap, and Metric display.

At EXAIR, we’re committed to helping you get the most out of your compressed air system. If you’d like our help with that, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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Featured image courtesy of Compressor1 – creative commons license

Unplug and Throw your Electric Vacuum in the Trash!

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

EXAIR, has the right industrial vacuum for just about any application. We have multiple options for you, based on your facility needs. If dust, dirt, debris, chips, or flakes are a by product of you making your product we are going to have a system for you! EXAIR Even offers a full line of liquid vacuums, something most electrical vacuums are not rated for because of the electric motors and possibly of becoming a shocking hazard.

Here are some highlights that illustrate how our products are better than any electric vacuum, or motorized vacuum you could purchase. You do not need electricity, There are no moving parts. Ours are quieter than electric alternatives. There is no risk of electrocution, shock, or a motor breakdown.

EXAIR Reversible Drum Vac (left) and Heavy Duty Dry Vac (right) Two Industrial Vacuums – wet AND dry – for less than the purchase AND operating cost of a dual Venturi vacuum.

Which EXAIR Industrial Housekeeping Product is right for you?  It depends on what you’ll be using it for.  Very generally speaking, here’s a brief overview of the product line:

Chip Vac Systems:

  • Pick up dry or wet chips and transfer them into a standard open-top drum.
  • Available in four sizes: 5, 30, 55, or 110 gallon drums.
  • Turns your own 30, 55, or 110 gallon open-top drum into a powerful vacuum system, in minutes, with a standard system.
  • Add portability and flexibility with a Deluxe System, which includes a drum dolly and a tool holder.
  • For a total Industrial Vacuum System, complete & ready to go right out of the box, the Premium Systems add a drum, a compressed air supply hose, an upgrade to Heavy Duty Aluminum Tools & a Static Resistant Vacuum Hose.
  • For smaller jobs or in tight quarters, the Mini Chip Vac System comes with a compact 5 gallon drum.  The Deluxe System adds a drum dolly for portability.

Heavy Duty Dry Vac Systems:

  • Function is similar to the Chip Vacs, but the vacuum itself is made of a hardened alloy, and offers higher vacuum power for dense and/or abrasive material cleanup.
  • Fits your existing 30, or 55 gallon drums for a quick & easy, basic high-powered vacuum solution.
  • Deluxe Systems add Heavy Duty Tools & tool holder, and a Drum Dolly.
  • Premium Systems come with a 30, 55, or 110 Gallon Drum.

Heavy Duty HEPA Vac Systems:

  • All the power, durability, and convenience of the Heavy Duty Dry Vac Systems, but with a HEPA filter for contaminants such as mold, allergens, and other airborne irritants.
  • Fits your existing 30 or 55 gallon drums, or Deluxe & Premium Systems add the same accessories as the Heavy Duty Dry Vac Systems.
EXAIR’s Heavy Duty Dry Vacs turn ordinary drums into high powered, rugged industrial vacuum systems.

Reversible Drum Vac Systems:

  • These are our drum mounted vacuums for liquids.  They’ll fill or empty a 55 gallon drum in 90 seconds (tested with water.)
  • Fits an existing 30, 55, or 110 gallon closed top steel drum in good condition.
  • Deluxe Systems add a drum dolly, a tool holder and a set of plastic tools including a Spill Recovery Kit, for a multitude of cleanup needs.
  • Auto shutoff float prevents overfilling the drum.
  • Premium Systems add a 30, 55, or 110 gallon drum, Heavy Duty Aluminum Tools, and a compressed air supply hose.
  • High Lift Systems are available for higher viscosity (ups to 1400 cP) liquids, or when pumping from below grade (180″H2O suction lift.)
  • This same technology is incorporated into the Chip Trapper Systems, which (as detailed last week) trap incoming solids in a Filter Bag, allowing for instant pumping out of freshly filtered liquid.  They’re available with the High Lift capability as well.

EasySwitch Drum Vac Systems:

  • These are our drum mounted vacuums for liquids and Dry material. 
  • Easy to switch from liquid to dry material.
  • Low sound level coming in at 79 dBA @ 80 PSIG
  • Turns your own 55 gallon open-top drum into a powerful vacuum system, in minutes, with a standard system.
  • Add portability and flexibility with a Deluxe System, which includes a drum dolly and a tool holder.
  • For a total Industrial Vacuum System, complete & ready to go right out of the box, the Premium Systems add a drum, a compressed air supply hose, an upgrade to Heavy Duty Aluminum Tools & a Static Resistant Vacuum Hose.

EXAIR Industrial Housekeeping Products Offer a solution to all of these issues.  With no moving parts or electric motors, they are extremely reliable.  If you supply them with clean air, they can run darn near indefinitely, maintenance free.  And no electric power means no shock hazard.

If you would like to talk about Industrial Housekeeping products or any of the EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air® Products, feel free to contact  myself or one of our Application Engineers we can help you determine the best solution.

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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Twitter: @EXAIR_JS

Volunteering Meets Engineering

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

We’ve shared our experiences of how EXAIR gives each employee the chance to volunteer at an organization they feel close to for an entire workday. This is a great benefit here as we get to see where each person’s interests and passions align and it sometimes gets groups of us out to spend time together doing good for others. While I’ve already used my day for the year by judging my alma maters Senior Design Tech Expo and seeing what the next generation of engineers has to offer, today I have the joy of going even further into the future generations and showcasing some garage engineering of how airflow works.

Today, I am going to be going to a Junior High School, not just any but the one my oldest attends. My best friend and I will be volunteering for their Color Run event which is a fundraiser they put on to end the year. They take a dyed powder and throw it into the air as contestants run around a field and complete various obstacles. At one of the meetings for the event, they were discussing how they went through an excessive amount of dye powder last year. They also mentioned how it didn’t work best as they had filled squeeze bottles that you would see in a restaurant with the powder to disperse as the kids come by. Well, here in Cincinnati it gets to be rather humid this time of year, so dry powder, mixed with humid air, and compression of being squeezed to disperse resulted in lots of clumping and eventually just handfuls of dye powder being dumped on kids. It also doesn’t give the big plume that they want.

1 – The Color Run, Grand Prix Edition (Melbourne 2014)

My friend and I have built a name for ourselves in the PTA as THE DADs. at the meeting, the PTA members looked at my wife who was attending, and asked if she could get THE DADs to show up for this event. Sure enough, there is no better reason to take some time off work than to douse your kid in colored powder, so we were hooked, and then the question came of, can they make this setup better. So the news came to us and we evaluated the old method. The system was simply not adapted to the scale they needed and moisture as well as the fact that some powders brick/cake when compressed wasn’t thought of. So we started brainstorming and our first thought was to take my generator and air compressor from the garage and connect a small Line Vac or even Super Air Amplifier to disperse the powder as we drop it into the entrained airflow. This setup would work, we simply don’t have the time and my generator is so loud the kids would need hearing protection. So then we looked at what we do have. I have a throw bag launcher that was constructed of an old CO2 tank and spring-loaded ball valve to get a weighted bag with a line into trees to help tie off for limb work. That is a single-shot kind of deal though, and we would be like a revolutionary war-fighter on the front line with the kids being the guerilla-like forces that don’t comply with the face-to-face combat style. So that’s out. Next, we laid out what we needed. It’s pretty simple, a large volume of air and a way to put the powder into the airflow.

Well, we both have leaf blowers, they provide a lot of air, but it is a constant flow and you can’t restrict it too much. So what can we do with a large volume of flow? Well, I happen to have a good number of PVC fittings from projects. So a good wye fitting and the leaf blower with continuous flow starts to look like a siphon-fed blow gun.

See the large volume of air will blow across the bottom of the wye fitting which will generate a low pressure on the extra leg of the wye. This gives us a draw of ambient air or in this case, an inlet port for the powder. Then the air and powder mix in the last bit of the discharge tube and voila, a plume of powder in whatever color we have on hand is created! Since I don’t have a good picture of our setup, here’s a video that helps validate our thoughts.

1 – Airbrush Inspired Leaf Blower Ball Shooter

One of the hardest things we had to do is to account for the flow of air being constant since a leaf blower that is powered does not have a quick on-off. This is one of the main benefits of using compressed air in a scenario like this, you can quickly turn it on and off to get rapid movement of air. Blowers tend to take time to spool up, like a gas leaf blower, and they don’t do well with restriction which is why some of these ball launcher designs blow the balls back up the feed tube, restriction of the barrel diameter.

While I didn’t get to use compressed air for this, I still got to use the principles that I have learned through my years here at EXAIR, and I’ll try to tweet out some images of our color plumes when I get a chance so follow my Twitter feed as well, @EXAIR_BF.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

1 – Chris Phutully from Australia, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

2 – Keith’s Test Garage, Airbrush Inspired Leav Blower Ball Shooter – retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz1T70IjG4k