With spring-cleaning right around the corner, stop buying the plastic electric vacuums you throw away and have to replace every year. Get a system that is built to be tough and rugged and will hold up in your industrial environment.
EXAIR’s Heavy Duty Dry Vacs turn ordinary drums into high-powered, rugged industrial vacuum systems.
EXAIR has a pneumatic Heavy Duty Dry Vac that is engineered with the power to vacuum heavy materials. The Heavy Duty Dry Vac is constructed from a hardened alloy that resists abrasion from the harshest debris, like garnet, glass, tumbling media and steel shot. This system has no moving parts, which means no motors or bearings that can fail on you.
The Heavy Duty Dry Vac requires only 68 SCFM at 80 psig of compressed air to operate. Using a hardened alloy construction for the vacuum generator gives the system an increased resistance to abrasive material including sand and blasting material. Depending on your application and the volume of material you need to vacuum, we provide 3 different sizes; 30-gal, 55-gal, and 110-gal.
Our Heavy Duty Dry Vac is the perfect solution for cleaning dry media such as abrasive media, sand blasting, absorbents and gravel from your shop floors and work surfaces. The possibility of electric shock you experience with electric motors is virtually eliminated as the source of power is compressed air. The use of an anti-static hose also prevents shocks when vacuuming dry materials.
EXAIR Heavy Duty Dry Vac Family
EXAIR‘s Heavy Duty Dry Vacs come in 30, 55 and 110 gallon options with several accessories available to help your cleanup and specific needs. These are stock items and can generally be shipped the same day with orders received before 2:00 PM EST. If you have questions regarding our Heady Duty Dry Vac or any of our Industrial Housekeeping Products, please give us a call.
Have you ever pulled the shop vac from the cleaning closet and went to vacuum some fine material only to have that material come right back out of the air exhaust? Not only does it make the situation even harder to clean up, it can be dangerous depending on what’s in that dust. This is where the EXAIR Heavy Duty HEPA Vac comes into play!
EXAIR’s Heavy Duty HEPA Vac has NO moving parts to wear out, doesn’t require maintenance, and needs nothing but a source of compressed air to operate. A static resistant hose also prevents painful shocks when working with dry, dusty materials.
The vacuum generator is constructed of a hardened steel alloy designed to be resistant to abrasion and delivers a powerful vacuum level of -60” H2O at 80 PSIG. The lever lock drum lid fits any open-top 30, 55, or 110 gallon drum. Moving the system from one drum to another can be done quickly, allowing you to keep different materials separate for recycling. Recycling companies will pay a premium for pre-sorted materials, allowing you to get more out of your otherwise scrapped material. It can be used with any open-head, steel, fiber, or plastic drum in good condition.
If you don’t have a spare drum available, EXAIR also sells a Premium Heavy Duty HEPA Vac System that will include either a 30, 55, or 110 gallon drum and dolly as part of the system.
The HEPA Vac works by injecting compressed air at 80-100 PSIG through the air inlet (1) and into an annular plenum chamber (2). It is then injected into the throat through precisely directed nozzles (3). These jets of air create a vacuum at the intake (4) which draws in material through the generator itself (5), directing it into the bottom of the drum. The airflow is passed first through a pre-filter to trap larger particles, and then through the 0.3 micron HEPA filter, trapping any airborne particles. It is then exhausted through the vent in the top of the drum lid (6).
You wouldn’t use a hammer to try and drive in a screw, so don’t try and force a shop vac or electric vacuum to deal with these harsh materials. Get yourself the right tool for the job and give an EXAIR Vac a try. With a 5 Year Built to Last Warranty, there really is no comparison.
If you need to move liquid into – or out of – a drum, you’ve got options. There are many types of pumps with electric motors that you can hook a suction hose up to, insert it through the bung connection on the drum lid (or even take the lid off if it’s removable), and turn the pump on. They even make pumps that look like long wands with motors on top that’ll actually insert through, and thread into that bung connection.
No electricity? No problem…you can hook a suction hose to an air-operated double diaphragm pump, and it’ll work an awful lot like the aforementioned electric-motor driven pump. You can even get one of those drum pumps that fit the bung in the lid that runs on compressed air.
Thing is, those electric motors are going to burn out sooner or later. Sooner if you let them get dirty & wet; later, if you’re disciplined about taking the great pains it requires to keep them clean & well maintained. And they ALL have moving parts that’ll wear out (especially those loud and GROSSLY inefficient air motors)…nothing, it seems, lasts forever. You might come close, though, if only you had something that didn’t run on electricity and had no moving parts…
With a simple turn of the knob, the Reversible Drum Vac can fill or empty a 55 gallon drum in 90 seconds!
Dear reader, allow me to introduce you to the EXAIR Reversible Drum Vac. Instead of using a motor (electric or air) to turn a pump shaft, or using air to move diaphragms back & forth, the Reversible Drum Vac has a venturi inside that uses compressed air to pull a vacuum on the drum. With a simple turn of the knob, the compressed air supply reverses (as advertised) and lightly pressurizes the drum to empty it. The Reversible Drum Vac has a float in the bottom that keeps you from overfilling the drum (while pumping in) and a light spring poppet that keeps you from over-pressurizing the drum (while pumping out).
EXAIR Reversible Drum Vac Systems come in a variety of sizes and configurations to meet the needs of most any application.
Laboratory operators in a chemical processing facility use Model 6296-5 Deluxe Mini Reversible Drum Vac Systems to pump out the waste tanks under the lab tables. They’re then wheeled to the main reclamation tanks for safe disposal.
Many machine shops use them to pump old coolant out of sumps for disposal. Some even use them to vacuum oil out of the collection trays when cutting oil is used for the machining process.
A civil engineering firm that makes small scale models of dams & bridges uses one to de-water caissons…the watertight retaining structures that allow them to install the foundations. They can’t be used to move the thousands of gallons of water from the actual caissons, but they work well for the smaller volumes in their scale models.
Foundries and other facilities that operate sand casting molds use them to clean up water leaks & spills around the molds. The ability to pick up the sand and the water, without any wear to the system, makes them preferable to electric shop vacuums.
A meat processing facility uses one to clean up myoglobin – the reddish liquid that many folks think is blood in their medium rare steaks (it’s actually a combination of water & the protein that carries oxygen to the cells, and starts to form quickly as the meat is butchered) – so the cuts of meat are as free from it as possible prior to packaging.
The Reversible Drum Vac generates a suction head of -96″H2O when supplied with compressed air at 80psig, which is more than enough vacuum for applications like those listed above. Some applications require higher vacuum; for those, we offer the High Lift Reversible Drum Vac Systems, which generate suction head of -180″H2O. Here are some examples of those applications:
EXAIR High Lift Reversible Drum Vac Systems come in different configurations for 30, 55, or 110 gallon drums.
A maker of bottled condiments (think barbecue sauce- or ketchup-like consistency) uses them to clean up accidents when bottles are overfilled, or a conveyor malfunction results in dispensing a bottle’s worth of condiment when there’s not a bottle under the nozzle. The 20ft hose gives them the reach to service several production lines from one centrally located drum, and the two-way pumping action allows them to easily pump the drum into their waste collection system.
A precast concrete company uses one for various cleanup applications. The High Lift RDV‘s suction head is needed, in particular for their hydraulic oil leaks & spills.
A ferry operator uses one to clean out the engine room bilge. They put the High Lift RDV on a deck above the engine room…the 20ft hose extends down to the bilge to pump it out, and when the drum is full, it reaches to the main deck so the drum can be emptied into their waste recycling company’s receptacle.
A construction company uses one to clean up the slurry created during concrete cutting operations. The High Lift RDV is able to keep up with the slurry from even their largest saws, and the 20ft hose allows them to keep the drum conveniently out of the cutting area.
Whenever spring rolls around, spring-cleaning comes to mind. It’s the time of year that we are reminded, or perhaps motivated, to start cleaning and de-cluttering. We experience this here at EXAIR with an increase in inquiries about our Industrial Housekeeping Products. We have a great line of drum vacs designed for use with dry materials (Chip Vac and Heavy Duty Dry Vacs) or liquids (Reversible Drum Vacs – RDVs, and Chip Trappers), or both (EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac). What we don’t often think about are cleaning or maintenance routines for our cleaning products.
As long as you supply our intelligent compressed air-operated products with clean, moisture-free compressed air, they can run near indefinitely with little to no maintenance. Due to the nature of the kinds of jobs drum vacs are being used in, even with the cleanest compressed air systems, there is some need for preventative maintenance to keep them working like new. In this blog I review some basic cleaning routines to keep your RDV or Chip Trapper working as new:
Ensure you are supplying enough compressed air. We recommend 80-100psig. This will consume at least 19scfm. If your supply line is too long, or too small in diameter, you will suffer line loss. This will lead to poor performance. It is also important to avoid any restrictive fittings like quick connects.
Ensure there are no vacuum leaks. A loose vacuum hose, leaky hose cuff or a loose fitting drum adapter will prevent the pump from being able to evacuate enough air from the drum. Even small hairline cracks in the drum can allow air in and cause vacuum performance to suffer. A visual inspection of these areas is a great first step. We stock all replacement parts if you need to replace a gasket, or quick connect fitting.
Ensure your compressed air supply is clean. The tight passages in the venturi chamber can become contaminated, limiting the RDVs’ ability to draw a vacuum. We recommend the use of a 5-micron automatic drain filter (EXAIR Model 9001) to prevent this. If the RDV has become dirty inside, it is relatively straight forward to clean it. This video takes you through the steps.
Ensure the safety shutoff valve float is moving freely. The plastic float provides overflow protection. It will rise when the drum is full, which will break the vacuum. If the float becomes stuck, it will impede vacuum performance. Cleaning out this chamber and the float, allowing it to move freely will ensure that RDV can function properly.
Finally, for Chip Trappers, ensuring that the directional valve is clean and clear of chips. With frequent use or when filtering out long stringy chips, the liquid flow passageways of the EXAIR Chip Trapper may become blocked with swarf. The following video walks you through cleaning this valve:
All of these steps will keep your RDV and Chip Trapper running like new. If you would like to learn more about our other Industrial Housekeeping Products, feel free to give us a call!
