Tag: customer service

Care and Feeding Of Your Reversible Drum Vac

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EXAIR’s Reversible Drum Vac couldn’t be easier to operate. Thread it in to the 3/4 NPT vent connection on your drum lid, install the Standpipe & Hose on the 2 NPT bung, hook up a compressed air line to it, and you’re in business. As long as your compressed air is clean & moisture free, your Reversible Drum Vac will run like new for a long, long time.

Should you start to see a decrease in performance, though, the first thing you’ll want to do is verify the compressed air supply, especially if something’s changed:

  • Did you get a new hose? The Reversible Drum Vac uses 19 SCFM @80psig for rated performance. That’ll require a 3/8″ ID hose, assuming a length of no more than about 20ft.
  • Are there any restrictions in the line? The usual suspects are clogged filters, partially closed valves, or push-to-connect quick-connect fittings.
  • Are there any vacuum leaks in the hose, its cuffs, the drum, or either threaded connection? If the lid’s removable, is that gasket intact?
Pro tip: a pressure gauge, right at the inlet, will give you instant indication of an air supply issue with your RDV (or any compressed air-operated product.)

If you’ve eliminated all of those potential problems, it’s time to take a look at the Reversible Drum Vac itself. The Reversible Drum Vac has tight internal passages that contamination from even the cleanest compressed air systems can build up in, over time. Good news is, we made it super easy to disassemble & clean, and better news: this almost always restores it to as-new performance. We even have a video that walks you through it:

You may be surprised not at how much, but how little contamination you find inside the Reversible Drum Vac. We offer factory refurbishment service for them as well…the procedure in the video is step-by-step what that service consists of, except we also replace the Shim, O-Rings, & Float, and when we reassemble it, we verify performance on the same fixture that every single new Reversible Drum Vac that we build gets tested on. Recently, a customer sent a Reversible Drum Vac in for refurbishment services after we’d spent some time talking on the phone, exchanging emails, and even a brief Engineering Consultation web meeting, troubleshooting their loss of vacuum. I was particularly curious about this one, so when it came in, I tested it (on our calibrated test fixture) for performance, and found it was only generating about 22% of rated vacuum, and only 17% of rated flow. I figured it was clogged (with a capital CLOGGED) so I match marked the body & plug (just like we show in the video) and took it apart:

I was frankly surprised at how little contamination (which appeared to be rust from the customer’s compressed air piping system) caused such a dramatic loss of vacuum.

We then completed the Refurbishment Service and tested it again. Performance was verified to be within specification for a new High Lift Reversible Drum Vac.

I offer to share the Cleaning & Refurbishing video with just about anyone who calls to discuss performance (or lack thereof) of their Reversible Drum Vac. Some still want to send theirs in for Refurbishment Service, and that’s fine. If you have a Reversible Drum Vac that’s not working properly, I’m here to help you get the most out of our products — any of them — give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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The All-Around (Literally) Best Answer For Static Elimination: EXAIR Gen4 Super Ion Air Wipe

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Static charge is a surface phenomenon, which means it has to be addressed on the entire surface that it’s causing a problem on. For sheets, plates, films — anything that’s flat and stacked or rolled, really — EXAIR Gen4 Super Ion Air Knives are a popular solution. They generate a laminar, even curtain of ionized air that’ll dissipate the static charge on a surface up to 9 feet wide quietly, effectively…and quickly. For smaller pieces & parts, we’ve got Ion Air Jets and Ion Air Cannons that create a more focused stream of ionized air. For portability, the Gen4 Ion Air Gun is essentially a handheld version of the Ion Air Jet.

For pipe, hose, tube, wire, cable, extruded or molded continuous strands…anything that needs static elimination on all sides, really…EXAIR Super Ion Air Wipes are a great fit. They generate a uniform 360° ionized airflow to eliminate static on the surface of those kinds of products. They come in two sizes: one with a 2″ inside diameter, and one with a 4″ inside diameter. The split clamp design means you don’t have to ‘thread’ the material through…you simply undo the latch on one side and fit it back around the material or part. 

360° blow off AND fast, efficient static dissipation: EXAIR Super Ion Air Wipe.
Gen4 Super Ion Air Wipe

Both of the photos above show Super Ion Air Wipes used for plastic hose — and that is indeed a VERY popular application for them. They’re also successfully used for tubing, wire, pipe, extrusions, anything that can pass through the 2″ or 4″ inside diameter & needs to have static charge removed from it.

If you have problems with static charge, EXAIR has solutions. Give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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Six Steps To Optimizing Your Compressed Air System — Step 5: Intermediate Storage

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If you use compressed air for ANYTHING, odds are EVERYTHING you use it for has a minimum supply pressure for proper operation. And if the supply pressure drops below that:

  • Blowoff devices won’t develop enough flow & force to effectively clean or dry the object(s) you use them for.
  • Air-operated chucks on CNC machines won’t hold the piece steady enough for proper cutting, and tool changers will operate slowly/sluggishly. This is a bad combination…increasing the time it takes to make something, AND making it poorly.
  • Pneumatic cylinders will actuate slowly…if at all. This can cause a big problem if, for instance, they’re used to lift a lid on a mixing tank for an automated chemical add, which ends up pouring all over the partially closed lid of the tank instead of going inside it.

These are just a few of the problems that inadequate supply pressure can lead to, and I list them specifically because I experienced them all during my storied (and strange) career path before EXAIR made me the compressed air know-it-all expert I am today. It wasn’t my job to fix those problems (I was on site doing field service on a scale, a hydraulic motor, and a chemical pump, respectively), so I had no idea HOW to fix the compressed air-related problems…but I do now.

One quick & easy fix would have been to increase the compressor discharge pressure. That’d work just fine, but it comes with a cost. Every 2psi increase in discharge pressure increases the power consumption of the compressor’s motor by 1%. Let’s say you increased the discharge pressure from 100psig to 120psig – that’s a 10% increase in power consumption…and operating cost. To add insult to injury, that also increases the magnitude of any leaks in your system, making them more costly as well.

EXAIR Model 9500-60 60 Gallon Receiver Tank.

Actually, that probably IS what I’d have done as a scale, hydraulics, or industrial pump technician. The RIGHT answer, though, is intermediate storage. A properly sized Receiver Tank, located close enough to those operations, would have prevented those problems without increasing operating costs. In fact, it could have even brought them down, if the compressed air header pressure was already set to overcome any pressure drops on the way to those air guns, CNC machine, or mixing tank lid cylinders. Every 2% DECREASE in discharge pressure will also decrease the compressor motor’s power consumption by 1%. Which is actually Step 6 in our Six Steps To Optimizing Your Compressed Air System.

You electrical-types out there could also think of it as a capacitor – absorbing demand spikes & helping the circuit run more evenly.

Sizing a Receiver Tank is fairly straightforward, and we’ve written about it here, here, and here. You can, of course, always contact an Application Engineer to do (or check) the math…give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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Physics and the Tank Cleaning Nozzle

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After boot camp, the Navy sent me to Machinist’s Mate A-School to learn about shipboard steam propulsion plants. The first week was a course called Propulsion Engineering Basics. Since we were learning about how to use steam to move something (turbine blades), the class started off with a lesson on Hero’s Engine:

1,500 years before Isaac Newton put his Third Law of Motion in writing, Hero (or Heron) of Alexandria described this device that would demonstrate that, for every action (in this case, steam discharging from the tubes’ nozzles) there is an equal and opposite reaction (rotary motion of the apparatus), just like Newton said. Some say Hero made one and displayed it for public amusement, but evidence of that is sketchy. In any case, it DOES work.

Another demonstration of Newton’s Third Law is familiar to golfers & lawn care enthusiasts: the rotating sprinkler:

The action of the water exiting the nozzles at an angle causes a reaction, in the form of rotary motion of the sprinkler head.

Another practical application of Newton’s Third Law is an industrial one: tank cleaning. Some tanks have access ports or utility holes, so personnel can physically enter, or at least stick a sprayer inside to clean the walls. Oftentimes, though, they might contain materials that are toxic, harmful, or just plain messy, and any penetrations in the tank that need to be covered or sealed off are potential leak points. So, instead of manually sticking a spraying device inside & moving it around, you need something that’ll fit through a small opening and sprays in every direction.

BETE Spray Performance Engineering (a division of EXAIR) offers a number of solutions for tank cleaning/washing, in both stationary (sprays in all directions all the time) and rotating (kind of like the rotating sprinkler in the video above). If you want to know more about the stationary ones, my buddy Jordan Shouse wrote a detailed blog about The Power of the BETE HydroClaw recently.

If you want to know about the rotating types, you’re in luck because I’m going to get to those RIGHT NOW. The BETE HydroWhirl® series come in a variety of configurations and materials of construction. We’re going to look at four of them specifically:

HydroWhirl Stinger — these compact, rotating tank cleaning nozzles are made of 316L Stainless Steel with a 32 Ra surface finish, so they’re FDA compliant. They’ve got Zirconia ceramic bearings, so they’re made for long service life and extreme chemical corrosion resistance.

HydroWhirl Mini — like the Stingers, they’re FDA compliant, with 316L Stainless Steel construction with a 32 Ra finish. They have PEEK slide bearings for longevity and minimal maintenance. They’re suitable for small tanks (up to 6.5 feet in diameter.)

HydroWhirl Poseidon — these are made of FDA compliant, corrosion resistant PTFE, these are ideal for CIP (Clean-In-Place) applications commonly encountered in food, beverage, and pharmaceutical facilities. The slower spinning design makes for longer dwell times for the spray, for greater cleaning impact.

HydroWhirl Disc — this one’s made of 316L Stainless Steel with a PTFE slide bearing. It’s fully submersible, self-flushing, and suitable for small-to-medium size tanks. The rotating, high impact spray produces a pattern with consistent repetition for highly efficient & effective tank cleaning.

Lastly, since we’ve been watching videos, here’s one that shows a HydroWhirl Stinger in action:

If you’d like to find out more, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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