Electric vs EXAIR Industrial Vacuums

Reversible Drum Vac (left) and Chip Vac (right) – two EXAIR Industrial Vacuums

When selecting a vacuum, you want to take into account a variety of things other than the purchase price.  You should consider reliability, safety, and the total cost of ownership.  I had a customer contact me about our Chip Vac System.  They were currently using an electric vacuum to clean up debris around their machine shop.  I gave them the pros of using the Chip Vac System as compared to electric vacuums.  They thought that it was too much money as compared to the electric version.  In less than 6 months, this same customer contacted me again to purchase the Chip Vac System, as they had gone through two more electric vacuums in that time.  I would like to share some of the features and benefits that I shared with the customer above to illustrate how the EXAIR Industrial Housekeeping Products are better than electric vacuums that you could purchase.  

1.  Reliability:  The EXAIR venturi-type vacuum systems do not have any moving parts that can wear; so, they will last for a long time.  We use compressed air to generate a powerful vacuum to pick up liquids and debris.  We do not use electric motors with bearings that could lock up and fail.  EXAIR offers different materials for different applications, like the heavy-duty version, which uses an abrasion-resistant material for sandblasting, glass, and garnet. 

2.  Safety:  We cover two areas in this field.  The first is the potential hazard of liquids and electricity.  Our vacuums only use compressed air to generate a vacuum.  Even though EXAIR products are not certified to be used with explosive materials, we are still able to remove the shock hazard for users when operating electric vacuums for liquids.  The second safety concern is noise.  Electric vacuums can be very loud.  And when the motor bearings start to fail, they can become even louder.  Loud noises can become an OSHA violation and may require hearing protection.  With the EXAIR industrial vacuums, we are near 83 dBA in sound during operations.

3.  Total Cost of Ownership:  It is easy to run to your nearest hardware store to purchase a vacuum for your facility.  The problem, like with the customer above, is that you will have downtime, multiple purchases, and frustration when using inexpensive electric vacuums.  You may decide to go with a bit more expensive electric unit, only to find that it is extremely noisy.  The total cost of ownership takes into account the safety, reliability, and purchase price over the years of operation. 

EXAIR offers a wide range of packages and categories in our Industrial Housekeeping Products.  Here is a short guide to the pneumatic vacuums that we manufacture. 

EasySwitch® Wet-Dry Vac: Our newest vacuum line that can be used for both wet and dry materials.  They come with a standard and a HEPA filter to contain the dry material inside the 55-gallon drum.  The patent-pending lid has quick and easy access to remove or add the filter without tools or removing the lid.  So, transitioning from a dusty to a liquid cleanup is quick and easy.

Chip Vac™ System: Like the name states, it is a great vacuum for cleaning up chips from a machining process.  The vacuum generator uses a small amount of compressed air to create a powerful vacuum to remove the chips from the process or from the machine.  We offer 5-gallon, 30-gallon, 55-gallon, and 110-gallon drum sizes.  The material can be stored for recycling. 

Heavy Duty Dry Vac™ Systems: A “big brother” to the Chip Vac System, it can handle heavy items like sandblasting material, garnet, sand, steel, etc.  The vacuum generator is made from an abrasion-resistant, hardened material that can resist wear from these types of materials. 

Heavy Duty HEPA Vac™ Systems: This vacuum uses the same vacuum generator as the Heavy Duty Dry Vac, but we replace the filter with a HEPA media.  This media stands for High Efficiency Particle Air filter, which can remove particles down to 0.3 micron at a rate of 99.97%.  So, if the material is very small and fine, this vacuum will keep the material inside the drum and not back into the atmosphere. 

Chip Trapper Cut Away

 Chip Trapper™ System: Designed and used by EXAIR.  We are able to clean and change out the coolant system within our CNC machines quickly.  Time is money, and when a CNC machine is not running, it is not making money.  The Chip Trapper has a filtration system to clean the coolant from swarf and tramp oil.  By using compressed air, we are able to aerate the coolant, which reduces bacterial growth and extends the life of your coolant.  With a switch of a lever, you can return the fresh, clean coolant back into the sump.  We offer different micron ratings with the filter bags to accommodate the type of CNC machine and fluid “cleanliness” required. 

High Lift Chip Trapper™ System: Like its cousin above, it has a stronger vacuum generator to move thicker materials or retrieve coolant from sumps below floor level.  It can move fluids up to 15 feet (4.5 meters).  It will come with a longer vacuum hose to reach those distances. 

Reversible Drum Vac™ System: This system is a great tool for transferring liquids.  It has a two-way pump to bring the liquid into a 5-gallon, 30-gallon, 55-gallon, or 110-gallon drum, and with a turn of a knob, you can discharge the liquid from the drum.  It has a safety valve for the drum and a shut-off valve to prevent overfilling.  They can be used with closed-top or open-top steel drums, and they can fill a 55-gallon drum in 90 seconds. 

High Lift Reversible Drum Vac™ System: Like its cousin above, it has a stronger vacuum to lift liquid from a farther distance or for fluids with viscosities up to 1400 CPS. It does come with a longer vacuum hose, which is great for any slip hazards that may occur.  We only offer the 30-Gallon, 55-Gallon, and 110-Gallon versions. 

Vac-u-Gun™:  This is a hand-held vacuum system that works great for small jobs.  The generator can be switched from a vacuum collection system to a blow-off system.  In vacuum applications, we have a transfer hose to move material or a filter bag to capture debris.  Or you can switch the generator around to make it a blow-off system to clean material from tables, electrical panels, or parts. 

Deep Hole Vac-u-Gun™:  EXAIR modified the Vac-u-Gun to do a unique job, clean out chips from blind holes and hidden contours.  We blow a small amount of compressed air through a tube at the same time that we vacuum to draw and extract chips.  We use a vacuum tube to help move the loose debris into a filter bag. 

All the vacuums above only use compressed air for a reason.  They may seem a bit “pricey” to some, but you will not be disappointed.  These vacuums are built and designed for rugged industrial use with longevity, safety, and reliability in mind.  Production is very important for manufacturing plants, and having a dependable vacuum will help keep production running smoothly.  We can help reduce your headaches from purchasing multiple electrical units, like the customer above.  If you would like to discuss your Industrial Housekeeping requirements, an Application Engineer at EXAIR will be happy to help you select the correct product.

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

How to Replace the Muffler Exhaust for the EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac

The muffler for the EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac is a replaceable item; model 902176. The material can capture residual dust material from vacuuming liquid as well as dirty compressed air. In this video, I will show you how to change the muffler material. Watch it here:

If you have any questions about the maintenance process or the various spare parts we have available for the EasySwitch Wet Dry Vacuum System, please let us know. We are quite happy to help you keep your products working at peak effectiveness.

John Ball, International Application Engineer
johnball@exair.com

The EasySwitch™ Wet-Dry Vac won the Silver Award!

EXAIR has been manufacturing Intelligent Compressed Air Products since 1983.  In that time, we have engineered many new products for new and existing markets with better efficiency, versatility, and effectiveness.  To gauge how a new product is received by your peers, we like to send them to different committees for evaluations.  Last year, we sent our EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac to Plant Engineering to compete against other new products in the manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries.  In the Maintenance Tools and Equipment category, the EXAIR EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac won the Silver Award. 

How was EXAIR able to achieve such a prestigious award?  Well, let me tell you how our newest Industrial Housekeeping Product was able to receive this award.  I will discuss the features and benefits, so you can decide for yourself.

We have joined our wet vacuum with our dry vacuum to make the EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac System.  This new addition to our Industrial Housekeeping Products allows your customers to replace their electric wet-dry vacuums that fail prematurely, have potential safety issues, and are very loud.  You can watch a video of the operation HERE.

A wet-dry vacuum is a contained system that can vacuum up liquid or dirt.  The specific design that separates the liquid application from the dry application is a filter element.  The filter will stop the dirt and debris from re-entering the surrounding air during vacuuming.  The EXAIR EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac uses this same function; but we offer two different types of filters; a standard filter and a HEPA filter.  The standard filter is a 3-micron pleated element with a large surface area for long life.  The HEPA filter is a 0.3-micron pleated element for finer filtration.  But what is unique about our design is the patent-pending lid to easily remove or replace the filter elements.  Unlike our competitors, you will have to remove the lid and use a tool to either remove or install the filter.  This is time consuming and a headache.  Our lid design makes an easy transition to go from liquid to dry materials and vice versa.   The EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac is designed to fit on a common 55 gallon open-top drum.  They are ideal for any applications that is wet, dry, light or heavy. 

Like with our other Industrial Housekeeping Products, the EasySwitch does not have any motors to wear or electricity to run which makes it safe for liquid applications.  It only needs filtered compressed air.  They are maintenance free, and the sound level is quiet, only 79 dBA.  The applications include coolant, chips, floor cleanup, drains, shavings, sawdust, absorbents, and mold/allergen removal.  For liquid applications, it has a spill free – auto safety shutoff.  This industrial all-purpose pneumatic vacuum can move 36 GPM (136 LPM) of water, 68 Lbs./min (31 Kg/min) of plastic media, and 54 lbs./min (24 Kg/min) of steel shot at 80 PSIG (5.5 bar).  The specifications at 80 PSIG (5.5 bar) for the EasySwitch is that it will only use 53 SCFM (1,500 SLPM) of compressed air to generate -168” H2O (-314 mmHg) of vacuum and 90 CFM (2,548 LPM) of vacuum flow. 

EXAIR offers three types of systems with the standard filter or the HEPA filter.  We have the basic system, the Deluxe system, and the Premium system.  The basic system will come with the selected filter with a prefilter, 10-foot (3m) vacuum hose, 20-foot (6.1m) compressed air hose, plastic tools, shutoff valve and gauge.  The Deluxe system will include the items in the basic system with an upgraded antistatic vacuum hose, heavy-duty tools, a spill recovery kit, a tool holder, and a drum dolly.  The Premium system will include the items in the Deluxe system plus a 55 Gallon drum.  A quick guide is below. 

Model number selection guide

Not all industrial vacuums are the same.  Electric wet/dry vacuums fail prematurely, generate loud noises, and are cumbersome for filter change-outs.  This is why the EXAIR EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac was awarded the Silver Award by Plant Engineering; longevity, quietness, and ease-of use.  If you are within the U.S. or Canada, we do offer a 30-day unconditional guarantee to try them out.   You will not be disappointed.  If you would like to discuss in more detail, an Application Engineer at EXAIR is here help. 

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

EXAIR has a new product: The EasySwitch™ Wet-Dry Vac

We have joined our wet vacuum with our dry vacuum to make the EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac System.  This new addition to our Industrial Housekeeping Products allows your customers to replace their electric wet-dry vacuums that fail prematurely, have potential safety issues, and are very loud.  Below, I will share the features and benefits of the EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac System as expected from a leader in this industry.  You can watch a video HERE.

A wet-dry vacuum is a contained system that can vacuum up liquid or dirt.  The specific design that separates the liquid application from the dry application is a filter element.  The filter will stop the dirt and debris from re-entering the surrounding air during vacuuming.  The EXAIR EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac uses this same function for dry materials.  But we offer two different types of filters; a standard filter and a HEPA filter.  The standard filter is a 3-micron pleated element with a large surface area for long life.  The HEPA filter is a 0.3-micron pleated element for finer filtration.  But what is unique about our design is the patent pending lid to easily remove or replace the filter elements.  It makes an easy transition to go from liquid to dry materials and vice versa.   The lid is designed to fit on a common 55 gallon open-top drum.  They are ideal for any applications that is wet, dry, light or heavy.

EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac Mode Change Instructions

Like with our other Industrial Housekeeping Products, the EasySwitch does not have any motors to wear or electricity to run which makes it safe for liquid applications.  It only needs filtered compressed air.  They are maintenance free, and the sound level is quiet, only 79 dBA.  The applications include coolant, chips, floor cleanup, drains, shavings, sawdust, absorbents, and mold and allergen removal.  For liquid applications, it has a spill free – auto safety shutoff.  This industrial all-purpose pneumatic vacuum can move 36 GPM (136 LPM) of water, 68 Lbs./min (31 Kg/min) of plastic media, and 54 lbs./min (24 Kg/min) of steel shot at 80 PSIG (5.5 bar).  The specifications at 80 PSIG (5.5 bar) for the EasySwitch is that it will only use 53 SCFM (1,500 SLPM) of compressed air to generate -168” H2O (-314 mmHg) of vacuum and 90 CFM (2,548 LPM) of vacuum flow.

EXAIR offers three types of systems with the standard filter or the HEPA filter.  We have the basic system, the Deluxe system, and the Premium system.  The basic system will come with the selected filter, 10-foot (3m) vacuum hose, 20-foot (6.1m) compressed air hose, plastic tools, shutoff valve and gage.  The HEPA filter models will include a Pre-filter to help protect the HEPA media from premature clogging.  The Deluxe system will include the items in the basic system with an upgraded antistatic vacuum hose, heavy-duty tools, a spill recovery kit, a tool holder, and a drum dolly.  The Premium system will include the items in the Deluxe system and it will include a 55 Gallon drum.  A quick guide is below.EXAIR continues to add new products to expand solutions for our customers.  If you have an application where you need an all-around vacuum system that is long lasting, reliable, and quiet; the EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac is that product for you.  If you need more information, EXAIR has Application Engineers that can help you. Also take advantage of our Industrial Housekeeping Promotion currently running, and receive a free Vac-U-Gun with the purchase of our EasySwitch or any other industrial Vacuum.

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb