Tag: exair

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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Always Learning Through Experience

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

So last week I blogged about how I was using my leaf blower to disperse colored powders at a Color Fun Run for a school event. Well, while it did work, the outcome was not our desired effect. Instead of getting a nice plume, we got a considerable cloud/smoke screen of colored dust. It looks like a pollen tornado. So we had to scrap it. Were still able to make the event a blast and my ruck is still covered in purple powder from a reloading mishap. We learned a tremendous amount though. We also built a nine-square game for the first time and learned how not do put it together as well.

During the testing, we tried several introduction methods for the powder and where we ultimately landed was, we need way less air and intermittent bursts. Much like a Line Vac with an Electronic Flow Control set to a few seconds of cycle time. Then fill the breech of the powder cannon with a charge of colored powder. The trick is just enough of a blast of air to entrain the powder and discharge it, not a ton of air like a leaf blower gives off.

Not the leaf blower plume but not far off.

The best part of this process is the number of middle schoolers that got involved throughout the process of us testing it before the event. The ideas, the questions, the shock and awe that we would try something like this, and then the disgust when we told them they weren’t allowed to use it because we didn’t like the performance. What it did give me the chance to discuss with them each though is one of my favorite sayings, “You can’t teach experience.” They didn’t all get it. So we would share with them how we thought it would work, we tested, we changed variables, and ultimately, it didn’t work. What did work though is our ability to recognize what changed and to come up with a plan for next year that will give us some more time and testing and what didn’t work.

Experience is what EXAIR brings to the table with all of our Application Engineers. We all have different backgrounds, and we all have experienced a lot of things throughout life. Some of us have also found out that we can be somewhat of a slow learner sometimes too and that’s okay. If I don’t have experience and confidence in an application here, I may discuss it with one of the other AE’s, or I may just go and test the closest setup I can get. The point is, we put the effort in, we try, and we do it all to help our customer’s experience improve. This also gives us a chance to grow.

If you would like to discuss an application or experience you have and need help with, contact an Application Engineer today!

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

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

Send me an Email
Find us on the Web 
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Twitter: @EXAIR_JS