Tag: reversible drum vac

Care and Feeding Of Your Reversible Drum Vac

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

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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Video Blog: Chip Trapper Rebuild Kits

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

EXAIR introduces Rebuild Kits for our 30, 55, and 110 Gallon Chip Trapper Systems.

These Rebuild Kits are for standard and High Lift Chip Trapper Systems.

Here are links to two other video blogs that are referenced in this video:

The Importance of Proper Supply Plumbing For Compressed Air Products

How To Rebuild Your Reversible Drum Vac

At EXAIR, we’re here to make sure you get the most out of our products, and your compressed air system. If you have questions, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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Compressed Air Pipe

The Power of Deliquescent Driers in Compressed Air Systems

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

In industrial manufacturing, compressed air is the unsung hero powering tools, machinery, and processes across manufacturing, painting, blasting, and beyond. But here’s the catch: moisture. That sneaky water vapor lurking in your compressed air lines can wreak havoc, causing corrosion, freezing, and contaminating sensitive equipment. Deliquescent driers are low-maintenance systems designed to tackle humidity head-on. In this blog, we’ll dive into what makes these driers tick, their pros and cons.

What Are Deliquescent Driers, Anyway?

Picture this: a simple tank packed with hygroscopic (water-loving) salt tablets that dissolve into a brine as they absorb moisture from compressed air. That’s the 1000-foot view of a deliquescent drier. Unlike refrigerated or desiccant dryers that rely on complex refrigeration cycles or regeneration, deliquescent driers use chemistry to do the heavy lifting. The process is elegantly straightforward:

  • Incoming air enters the bottom of the vessel, preheated from compression and loaded with water vapor.
  • It flows upward through a bed of deliquescent desiccant—typically formulated from salts like calcium chloride, lithium chloride, or potassium chloride.
  • The salts “deliquesce” (hence the name), attracting and dissolving water vapor into a liquid brine that collects at the base.
  • Dry air exits the top, with a pressure dew point suppressed by about 15-20°F below the inlet temperature, depending on conditions.

No electricity, no moving parts—just pure, passive drying. These driers have been a staple since the 1940s, especially in rugged settings like petrochemical plants, outdoor blasting ops, or mobile equipment where reliability is the largest concern.

Why Choose Deliquescent Driers? The Pros (and a Few Cons)

Deliquescent driers aren’t for every scenario, but when they fit, they’re a game-changer. Let’s break it down:

The Advantages:

  • Zero Energy Consumption: No power required means lower operating costs and no electrical hazards in wet or explosive environments. Ideal for remote sites or intermittent use.
  • Rugged and Portable: Mount them indoors or outdoors—they thrive in extreme temps, even subzero conditions, with the right setup. Perfect for mobile contractors in painting or abrasive blasting.
  • Low Maintenance: Just drain the brine every 8-hour shift and top up the desiccant a few times a year. A sight glass lets you monitor levels at a glance.
  • Cost-Effective Upfront: Cheaper to buy and install than high-tech alternatives, with no filters or separators to fuss over.

The Drawbacks:

  • Limited Dew Point Control: They suppress dew point by a fixed amount (e.g., 20°F), so hot inlet air means warmer outlet air—fine for many apps but not ultra-dry needs.
  • Corrosion Potential: The brine is salty and corrosive, so vessels need robust coatings, and downstream lines require after filters to catch salt carryover.
  • Pre-filtration Required: Oil from compressors can foul the desiccant, so a coalescing pre-filter is a must.

In short, if you’re blasting in humid conditions, painting in the field, or running air tools in cold weather, deliquescent driers deliver freeze-proof, reliable performance without the fuss.

At EXAIR Corporation, we’re keen on compressed air efficiency. The attention to detail we pay to our products – from design, to manufacturing & assembly, to availability, and right on through to technical support – bears out our commitment to helping you get the most out of your compressed air system. If you’ve got questions, Give me a call.

Jordan Shouse, CCASS

Application Engineer

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Image courtesy of Brian S. Elliott, Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License

Giovanni Battista Venturi: A Real Renaissance Man

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) was the quintessential Renaissance Man: artist, philosopher, scientist, mathematician, and an inventor ahead of his time. From the 15th to 18th Centuries, though, he was primarily known for his paintings. Then, in 1797, Giovanni Battista Venturi published his “Essai sur les ouvrages physico-mathématiques de Léonard de Vinci”, which brought to light Da Vinci’s immense volume of work in the scientific fields of fluid dynamics and aerodynamics. Curiously, he was only able to do this because of the access he gained to notebooks that had been looted by Napoleon’s troops during their occupation of Milan, Italy, and brought back to France.

To conclude that Venturi was just a writer, though, would be as bad as regrettable as calling Da Vinci just a painter. Born into a rich family in northern Italy, he was a star pupil at the Jesuit seminary in his hometown of Bibbiano. He was such a good student that in 1756 – at the age of ten – he started attending the seminary in Reggio Emilia, studying logic, metaphysics, and mathematics.

As a teenager, he enrolled in the university there, studying physics and biology before returning to the seminary, where he was ordained as a priest in 1769. He taught logic at the seminary for five years, and then went on to “the big city” of Modena to teach philosophy and geometry at the university there. He was 28 when he started there, and by age 30 he was teaching physics as well.

In addition to his service in the priesthood and at the university, he also held the office of official state engineer, mathematician, and auditor, appointed by the Duke of Modena. This meant he was responsible for the construction of bridges, draining of marsh land, and implementing regulations for the building of dams. And, in his spare time, it seems he also completed the town of Modena’s historical memoirs, a task that had been started by the town historian, but had remained dormant since his passing, some 56 years earlier.

All of this would have earned Venturi local, probably regional, and perhaps even national fame…especially the part about making Leonardo Da Vinci famous for more than just his art. But what really sealed his place in the annals of history was his discovery of a particular fluidic effect: namely, that a reduction in fluid pressure results when a fluid flows from one section of a pipe into a narrower section.

The Venturi effect, named after the real Renaissance man who discovered it, Giovanni Battista Venturi who published a paper on it in 1794.

Despite its discovery in the late 18th Century, it was not actually practically applied for almost 100 years, when an American hydraulic engineer named Clemens Herschel patented a water flow meter, in 1889. He named it the Venturi Meter, and they became prolific in water works around the turn of the century. Coincidentally, Mr. Herschel had a background in bridge building too.

Today, there are numerous machines that use the Venturi effect: fluid moving educator pumps, gas inspirators in grills, stoves, & Bunsen burners, paint atomizers, wine aerators, locomotive engine steam injectors, sandblasting nozzles, scuba diving regulators…and vacuum generators.

That last one is where EXAIR gets involved. We incorporate Venturis into our E-Vac Vacuum Generators, which are capable of vacuum levels up to 27″Hg. They’re used for material handling, pick & place systems, bag/package opening, label placement, vacuum forming, and workholding, just to name a few.

The wide throat diameter of the Adjustable E-Vac makes it suitable for applications where small amounts of particulate and/or liquid may be drawn through.

They’re also used in our Reversible Drum Vac and EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac Systems. These are just two selections from our extensive line of compressed air operated Industrial Housekeeping Products.

EXAIR Reversible Drum Vacs (left) can fill a 55 gallon drum with water in 90 seconds, using a powerful Venturi. Our Chip Trapper Systems (middle) incorporate a Reversible Drum Vac to vacuum coolant from machine tool sumps for filtration. The EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac uses a Venturi as well for dry and liquid cleanup applications.

Giovanni Battista Venturi retired in 1813, but continued writing a number of scientific and literary works, including a collection of Galileo’s manuscripts & letters. He died in 1822, at the age of 75.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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