A customer who produces bags of grass seed were experiencing a large amount of lost product due to spillage during the bagging process. Any spillage they would typically sweep up and throw away. This sweeping would take a good amount of time. Their goal was to determine a way to speed it up the cleaning and see if it was possible to reclaim the seed that was currently scrapped.
EXAIR has a broad line of industrial vacuums for a variety of jobs. In this case we recommended our Chip Vac.
EXAIR’sChip Vac is a compressed air operated industrial duty vacuum designed for vacuuming up dry (or mostly dry) products. The powerful vacuum is suitable for use with metal, wood, or plastic chips and is designed to thread into the 2” NPT bung on standard drum lids. The Chip Vac can handle dry or coolant soaked chips from fixtures, floors and work surfaces of machining centers, lathes, saws, mills, and a variety of other industrial equipment. It was also very suitable for this grass seed application.
Electrically powered vacuums or shop vacs are not designed to be operated in a rugged industrial environment. Filters clog, motors wear out, and you find yourself frequently replacing them. EXAIR’s Chip vac has NO moving parts to wear out, doesn’t require maintenance, and needs nothing but a source of compressed air to operate. In addition, the sound level produced is half of that produced by an electric vacuum.
From left to right: 5 gallon, 30 gallon, 55 gallon, and 110 gallon Chip Vacs are sized for any cleanup need.
Using the Model 6193 Chip Vac System they were able to reclaim lost product in and around the machines in less time and more efficiently. While the recovered seed could not be used in their certified premium product, they were able to add it to the “contractors” blend. Saving them around $2,500 annually!
Don’t waste your time, get yourself a vacuum designed for the job. One that’ll last year after year! With these systems in stock, ready to ship with an order by 3:00 ET, a unconditional 30 day guarantee and backed up by our 5-Year Warranty, there’s no reason not to give one a try!
March brings with it the first day of spring and April seems to have brought that first day where I believe spring could actually be here consistently. I don’t know about you, but boy am I ready for some warmer temperatures!! Naturally, spring is the time of year that we roll up our sleeves and do some of the deep-cleaning we’ve been putting off all winter.
Though, for any manufacturer or processor, “spring cleaning” is a year round affair.
Lucky for you, EXAIR has an entire line of Industrial Housekeeping Products that’ll get your shop tidied up for spring. In this blog, I’d like to dive into the Chip Vac. With its powerful suction, it’s an ideal solution for fast and efficient cleaning.
Chip Vac cleaning up a floor spill
EXAIR’s Chip Vac is a compressed air operated industrial duty vacuum designed specifically for vacuuming up chips and shavings. The powerful vacuum is suitable for use with metal, wood, or plastic chips and is designed to thread into the 2” NPT bung on standard drum lids. The Chip Vac can handle dry or wet chips from fixtures, floors and work surfaces of machining centers, lathes, saws, mills, and a variety of other industrial equipment.
Electrically powered vacuums or shop vacs are not designed to be operated in a rugged industrial environment. Filters clog, motors wear out, and you find yourself frequently replacing them. EXAIR’s Chip Vac has NO moving parts to wear out, doesn’t require maintenance, and needs nothing but a source of compressed air to operate. In addition, the sound level produced is half of that produced by an electric vacuum.
The Chip Vac is sold in systems both with and without the drum. EXAIR has 5, 30, 55, and 110 gallon systems available for a wide range of applications. If you already have spare drums in your facility, the Chip Vac is also available with just the lid assembly, Chip Vac, 10’ hose, tools, and filter bag to attach to the top of your own drums.
All systems will include a drum lid with a locking ring that easily fits onto the top of a standard open top drum. It’s easy to remove and place onto another drum so that different materials can be easily kept separate for recycling. Recycling companies will pay a premium price for pre-sorted chips and shavings. With the Chip Vac, it’s as easy as removing the lid and placing it onto a new drum in between jobs.
Don’t waste your time this spring fooling with and replacing electrical vacuums. Get yourself a vacuum designed for the job. One that’ll last year after year! With these systems in stock, ready to ship with an order by 3:00 ET, an unconditional 30 day guarantee and backed up by our 5-Year Warranty, there’s no reason not to give one a try!
Vacuum cleaners…most of us think of the electric-powered devices that we clean our carpets at home with. The idea of utilizing vacuum in cleaning applications, however, predates the widespread introduction of electric power by a couple of decades. The original idea was to marry a manual vacuum generating device to a carpet sweeper. These had been around for some time, and they’re still seen today: the beater brush turns as the sweeper is pushed across the floor; it picks up dirt in the brush bristles, and deposits it in an internal receptacle. You’ve probably seen them used in restaurants to tidy up small messes on the floor, in lieu of dragging out the noisy vacuum cleaner while folks are eating.
Anyway, these first vacuum cleaners relied on a bellows, piston cylinder, or other such device that was operated by hand, foot – or, according to one source, a rocking chair – to generate a vacuum. Since it took one person to operate the vacuum generating part, and another to push the sweeper, they weren’t very popular at a time when folks were generally looking for labor SAVING products.
The proliferation of electric power around the turn of the 19th/20th century brought about electric vacuum cleaners. Most homes have one…including the ‘shop vac’ in my garage, my home actually has three. These are great for home use; many have long cords that allow you to clean the floors in adjacent rooms without unplugging & re-plugging, and most come with a convenient set of tools for baseboards, furniture, HVAC vents, etc. For carpet & upholstery, they can’t be beat.
In industrial settings, though, the electric-powered models can find themselves at a disadvantage. The impellers can clog or break, and the electric motors will, in time, burn out. If used in wet environments, great care must be used (as with any electric products) or there can be a very real shock hazard.
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.
We have a variety of products to meet most any need. Our Chip Vacs and Heavy Duty Dry Vacs are made for dry material cleanup. They install (in minutes) on an open top drum, and are available with a variety of accessories…tools, drum dollies, tool holders…even the drum itself if you need one. The Chip Vac is specified for most ‘general purpose’ jobs; the Heavy Duty Dry Vac is more powerful, and abrasion resistant, for more aggressive needs. Both exhaust the vacuum air flow through a Filter Bag to contain the particulate in the drum.
The Heavy Duty HEPA Vac features the same high power and rugged construction as the Heavy Duty Dry Vac, but replaces the Filter Bag with a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) Filter for maximum dust containment. These are used where critical dust removal, mold & allergen containment, or trapping airborne irritants are called for.
(Left to right) Chip Vac, Heavy Duty Dry Vac, Heavy Duty HEPA VacReversible Drum Vac Family
The Reversible Drum Vac is a two-way liquid pumping system, also made for mounting on standard steel drums…closed top drums, in this case. They can fill or empty a 55 gallon drum in 90 seconds. Options include 5, 30, and 110 gallon drum sizes, and a High Lift model – increased suction head for deep wells, underground tanks, or higher viscosity liquids, up to 1,400 cP.
Chip Trapper Systems come complete, ready to go, right out of the box.
The Reversible Drum Vac is also at the heart of our popular and award-winning coolant filtration system: the EXAIR Chip Trapper. A Filter Bag in the “fill” line traps chips, swarf, and shavings. The liquid passes through, and is able to be immediately pumped back out. Not only is coolant life extended, regular cleaning of the coolant sump prevents loss of coolant flow due to clogging of the supply lines. The Chip Trapper is available in 30, 55, and 110 gallon sizes, and also in the High Lift version.
Speaking of two-way operation, the EXAIR Vac-u-Gun is both a vacuum AND blow gun…simply reverse the orientation of the nozzle insert to reverse the operation:
EXAIR’s Vac-u-Gun transforms in seconds from powerful vacuum to efficient blow gun.
The Vac-u-Gun is an efficient, quiet, and versatile tool with numerous applications, from vacuuming sawdust or shavings, to conveying small parts or pellets, to blowing off chips, water, coolant, or scrap. And, just in time for Spring Cleaning season, we’re letting you find out just how handy it is, for free – by including one with any qualifying Industrial Vacuum purchase, now through April 30, 2019.
EXAIR‘s line of Industrial Housekeeping Products consist of liquid and dry vacuums that utilize compressed air to operate. They do not have electric motors which most ‘all purpose’ vacuums rely on. In industrial settings with harsh conditions and rugged use, the Industrial Housekeeping Products are ideally suited for the everyday wear and tear.
The heart of the EXAIR liquid type vacuums, like the Reversible Drum Vac, the High Lift Reversible Drum Vac, and the same range in the Chip Trappers is shown here. Installing onto an any closed head, 30, 55, or 110 gallon drum creates a high powered vacuum. It can fill a 55 gallon drum in less than 2 minutes. Then, with the turn of a knob, the the same pump quickly empties the drum. Useful for refilling coolant sumps, vacuuming floor spills, or transferring contaminated liquids to filtration tanks in minutes. Flow rate can be controlled with the knob. The Chip Trapper has an internal filtration system to separate the chips from the coolant, allowing for disposal of the solids, and for pumping of the clean coolant back into the sump.
5, 30, 55, and 110 Gallon Reversible Drum Vacs – A size to Meet Most Any Requirement
The EXAIR Chip Vac and Heavy Duty Dry Vac is a powerful industrial vacuum for use on wet or dry chips. Both are for use with 30, 55, or 110 gallon drums, and the Chip Vac can also be used on a 5 gallon drum. The Heavy Duty HEPA Vac has the added benefit of the HEPA quality filter system. Filtration per IEST-RP-CC-007 to 99.97% minimum filtration at the 0.3 micron level ensures performance meets the needed criteria.
5, 30, 55, and 110 Gallon Chip Vacs
When you look at the vacuum producing units, you’ll notice there is not an electrical cord. Because the EXAIR Industrial Housekeeping Products utilize compressed air for operation, they do not have the same issues with wear, breakdown and failures as electrical type vacuums. There are no moving parts in the vacuum units to wear out or break. They are maintenance free, just supply clean, dry air, and they will operate for a long time. For the the liquid type systems, there is a built in pressure/vacuum relief device and auto safety shut-off to prevent overfilling.
There are no motors and bearings to wear out and no impellers to clog. The Chip Vac is 50% quieter than a comparable electric vacuum. Safety is a top priority, and the use of the unit on wet floor and spills is not an issue.
If you would like to talk about Industrial Housekeeping products or any of the EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air® Products, feel free to contact EXAIR and myself or one of our Application Engineers can help you determine the best solution.
