Advantages of EXAIR’s Threaded Line Vacs

EXAIR Line Vacs use a small amount of compressed air to generate a powerful vacuum by a Venturi effect.  The unique design of the generator creates a high velocity of air to create a low pressure on one side and a powerful thrust on the other. The Line Vac can pick up and move solid material from light and fluffy batting to dense, heavy and abrasive material and parts.  They can transfer product horizontally up to 100 feet (30 meters) away and vertically up to 20 feet (6 meters) high.  You can watch a video on the operation of a Line Vac HERE.  Compared to other vacuum or conveying systems, the EXAIR Line Vacs are very quiet, rugged, and powerful. They are exceptionally simple to install and solve many “bucket and ladder”, loading and scrap removal applications. EXAIR manufactures a variety of Line Vacs in different sizes, styles, and materials to best fit your application.

The standard Line Vac is the most versatile product in this family.  EXAIR stocks a wide range of sizes, materials, and styles to target the best solution for moving material.  We have two types of connections, slip-on, hose barb type ends for hose connections and male NPT threaded ends for pipe connection.  EXAIR can swap the connections with a slip-on hose on one end with a threaded connection on the other.  They range in diameters from 3/8” (10mm) up to 5” (127mm).  We manufacture the Line Vacs in aluminum, 303SS, and 316SS; but don’t let that deter you if your need them manufactured in any other type of material.  We have high temperature models that can withstand temperatures up to 900 deg. F (482 deg. C).  These Line Vacs work great in applications for loading plastic pellets in hoppers, discarding scrap pieces, trim removal, and transferring material.  If an operator has to carry a container of dry material and climb stairs, a Line Vac could be a much better alternative.

EXAIR Corporation 3 NPT Heavy Duty Line Vac™ Conveys Plastic Cap Nails.

The Heavy Duty Line Vacs are made from a hardened alloy steel for abrasion resistance.  The generators inside these Line Vacs are more powerful than the standard models; so, that they can also convey heavier materials at higher conveyance rates.  They can reach rates as high as 40 lbs./min. (18.2Kg/min) of material.  With the hardened alloy construction, they are great for sand blasting applications, ceramic, glass and steel shot.  They are manufactured with inlet and outlet connections for ship-on hoses or threaded pipes.  EXAIR stocks the Heavy Duty Line Vacs in the range from ¾” (19mm) to 3” (76mm) for both hose and NPT connections.  These Line Vacs are our most powerful design with great wear resistance.

Both the Standard and Heavy Duty Line vacs can be offered as Threaded Line Vacs which converts the smooth OD for hose slip over to a Male NPT to connect common plumbing fittings to they are both available in a range of different materials: Aluminum, Type 303 Stainless Steel, Type 316 Stainless Steel, and as a Heavy Duty conveyor constructed of a proprietary hardened alloy steel for use in abrasive applications.

Each style of Threaded Line Vac is also available as a High Temperature option. By replacing the traditional o-rings with graphite seals, we’re able to provide a solution capable of withstanding temperatures up to 900 °F!!!

EXAIR Line Vacs are also sold in kit format.  A kit will include a filter, regulator and a bracket.  (A bracket is not sold with the Light Duty Line Vac kits.)  The filter will help keep the compressed air passages inside the Line Vac clean as well as the product that it is conveying.  The regulator is a great tool to increase and decrease pressure as needed to vary the conveyance rates for better control.  The mounting bracket allows the user to securely mount the Line Vac to a sturdy base for support. 

If you have any questions on how our Line Vacs can help save you money give us a call! One of our application engineers will be happy to assist!

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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Golfing with EXAIR Products

Well it’s that time of year again, at the time of writing this blog thousands are lining up in Augusta Georgia ready to see the 87th edition of the Masters Tournament! Some go for the high level of talent and golf that is played over four days. Others go for the cheap Concessions foods! I mean come on $1.50 for an egg salad and Pimento Cheese Sandwich! Sign me up!

Photo by Best of Both on Flicker.com

But here at EXAIR we happen to have a few things that can help you with your Golf Game!

  1. Forgot your Tee? No Worries we have you covered with our E-Vac Vacuum Generators! Check out the video below! (They can also be used to suction cup the ball out of a Gators mouth, RIP Chubbs)

On a serous note, when you’re not using an E-Vac as a golf tee, they are very commonly used in applications for bag and package opening, label placement, vacuum forming, leak testing and pick and place applications.

EXAIR Also has accessories to round out vacuum cup systems including vacuum cups themselves, mufflers, check valves, vacuum tubing and fittings.

2. Stuck in a sand trap and really need to get it with in a foot to knock down that par? Again we have you covered the Line Vacs can convey your ball with in inches of the hole. So all you’ll have to do is just tap it in! (Just below the best clip of Happy Gilmore is the line vac conveying some golf balls!!)

While the line vac could help you take a few strokes off your golf game, they will also help you get rid of your buckets and ladders, for filling and moving product. These small units can move large volumes of material.

They are a perfect solution for moving things like plastic pellets, textiles, food products, pills/tablets, granules and much more. By adding a small amount of compressed air through the directed nozzles on the Line Vac, you will create a vacuum on one end and a high flow of air on the other to lift and or push your material up and over to a new location.

Even though I would love to pull a air compressor behind my cart and see what people say at my local course! Both the Line vacs and E-Vacs have great industry uses. If you have anything you need to move or convey give us a call. We have a team of application engineers here M-F 7AM-4PM!

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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Heavy Duty Line Vacs: Made for Abrasive Materials and/or Higher Throughput

The Heavy Duty Line Vacs are made from a hardened alloy steel for abrasion resistance.  The generators inside these Line Vacs are more powerful than the standard models; so, that they can also convey heavier materials at higher conveyance rates.  They can reach rates as high as 40 lbs./min. (18.2Kg/min) of material.  With the hardened alloy construction, they are great for sand blasting applications, ceramic, glass, garnet, tumbling media and steel shot.  They are manufactured with inlet and outlet connections for ship-on hoses or threaded pipes.  EXAIR stocks the Heavy Duty Line Vacs in the range from ¾” (19mm) to 3” (76mm) for both hose and NPT connections.  These Line Vacs are our most powerful design with great wear resistance.

2″ Heavy Duty Line Vac (left;) the 3″ model (right.)

The table below gives a quick comparison of the EXAIR Light Duty Line VacStandard Line Vac & the Heavy Duty Line Vac models.  The test shows the 2″ size in each model conveying Rock Salt over two different horizontal distances.  As expected the Heavy Duty Line Vac conveys more material in less time!

Heavy Duty Line Vac Distance

The performance of the Heavy Duty Line Vac’s is nothing short of amazing!  With vacuum ratings between -144 to -20 inches of water column, it is more than likely there is a Heavy Duty Line Vac model that will suit your application.

HD Line Vac Performance

Models range from 3/4″ OD to 3″ OD either in smooth bore or NPT threaded models for the ultimate in versatility.  The table below shows the different Heavy Duty Line Vac Models and their respective recommended kit, which includes a pressure regulator for fine tuning performance, filter separator to keep the compressed air supply clean and a mounting bracket.

HD Line Vac Offerings

If you would like to discuss the Heavy Duty Line Vac or any of our quiet and efficient compressed air devices, I would enjoy hearing from you…give me a call.

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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Line Vac Air Operated Conveyors: What to Know When Specifying

So you are thinking about using a Line Vac… Is it time to replace that ladder and bucket, and automate? There are many factors involved when deciding to use a conveyor system such as EXAIR Line Vacs. First of all let’s take a look at your product that needs conveyed. Will the integrity of your media be compromised by adding this much air to it? How heavy is it? What type of (how much) surface area does it have?

You know your media better than most. You should be able to answer most of those questions pretty easily, but what about the weight? For the weight, we work best knowing the bulk density, or pounds per cubic foot. If you do not readily know, this is easily found by finding the weight of your media in a box (or container). Then take the total cubic inches of the box (L x W x H) and divide that by 1728 (cubic inches per cubic foot), this will give you the cubic feet of that box. Then you simply divide the weight by the cubic feet, and you now have the density.

Line Vacs can convey many things.

Next we need to focus on your conveyance run. We would like to know what type of container is your product sitting in? A super sack, a hopper, a drum, a box? And where is it going? How far away is the destination hopper, dumpster, assembly station, etc.? This will help us determine the type of fitting or tools necessary to extract or release the media. How high do you need to go? How far horizontally? Our Line Vacs, are amazing, but they do have their limits. We will also need to know if there are any turns, and at what angles. Turns are many times unavoidable, but will have an adverse effect on the conveyance run as the airflow is halted and or deflected. Is there a way to minimize or eliminate the turns?

The final question is; how many pounds per minute do you need to be conveyed?

With the size, mass, and geometry of your parts, along with the vertical lift length, and the horizontal conveyance length, added to the turns and twists, you are just about ready to call one of our our application engineers for recommendations. We have some comparison materials for conveyance rates, to get you close to your actual needs. Here are some published conveyance rates as well:

There is one more part to this equation. What type and size of Line Vac will you need? EXAIR has many types of Line Vacs to choose from. As with most products, we have options that take into consideration the temperature and the abrasiveness of your product. We also have options to fit the type of conveyance hose or pipe you want to use , such as sanitary fittings, or threaded. And since we manufacture these right here in Cincinnati, OH, we can make custom Line Vacs for customers fairly quickly. We have designed and manufactured them with custom bolt on flanges, special materials or inlet sizes to name a few.

EXAIR Line Vacs: For bulk material conveyance through lines from 3/8″ to 6″, in aluminum, 303SS, 316SS, or abrasion resistant hardened alloy, available from stock with the widest variety of connections in the industry.

Please do not hesitate to call. We will be happy to help you with any technical questions about our products.

Application Engineer

Brian Wages

EXAIR Corporation
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Yellow Ladder pic from OpenClipart-Vectors / 27385 & Bucket Pic from Jazella / 704 images on a Pixabay License