Necessity Is The Mother of Invention

Necessity is the mother of invention, or something like that. My garage is riddled with “tools” that have come from necessity at any specific point in time.

Things like a socket that has been ground down around the outer wall to fit into a space that was too tight for anything else. Maybe it is a combination line wrench that has been torch-heated and bent to go around another hard line. Eventually, it will need to be reheated and bent back to near straight. I even have some special ground screwdrivers and punches that have been used on various projects. At the moment, I can’t remember whether one was for installing a retaining ring in a master cylinder on a brake system or for removing a key from a shaft. The unique purpose eventually fades from memory after you do it so many times.

The one that I have used most recently is a mason jar that has some fittings attached to the lid and has some tubing coiled up inside. If you have ever worked on car or motorcycle brakes with me, then there is a very good chance we have used this tool at some point.

This tool started as it was purchased, with a hand pump and a small fluid container. After starting at EXAIR and bleeding several motorcycle brake systems, I recognized the need for something easier and less back-and-forth than the hand pump. So I placed a small E-Vac onto the system instead of the hand pump. I blogged about this back in April 2010. That was one of my first blogs here at EXAIR as an Application and ever for that matter. After the addition of the E-Vac, and working on some larger systems, I realized the small container was not sufficient and needed to be emptied too frequently. I needed a chamber that would handle vacuum and not degrade with brake fluid exposure. I just happened to have been canning some tomatoes and saw an extra mason jar sitting there. A couple of fittings later and I now have a 1-qt capacity pneumatic brake bleeder system.

Fast-forward to last week, and I was using the same mason jar vacuum system to draw all the power steering fluid out of two vehicles and perform a fluid change on them. This system has been loaned out to many of my friends over the past decade and always comes back to sit on the shelf until it is needed again. I may even be using it this weekend to help with a new clutch install with a friend.

At EXAIR we have a fairly extensive listing of products available in stock configurations. However, we also love to talk about how we can modify them to suit special circumstances. Please let us know if you want to discuss how we can help you create a purpose-built system or tool to suit your needs.

    

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

My Take on EXAIR’s Adjustable E-Vacs: Wear-Free Vacuum Technology

When it comes to innovative solutions for industrial applications using compressed air, EXAIR has long been a trusted name, and our Evac vacuum generators are no exception. These compressed air-powered devices are designed to create a powerful vacuum with remarkable efficiency, making them ideal for a wide range of tasks—from pick-and-place operations to bag opening and even vessel evacuation. Whether you’re lifting parts, opening bags, or clamping materials, EXAIR’s E-Vacs offer a versatile, maintenance-free solution that optimizes performance while having ZERO moving parts to wear or breakdown, and let’s be honest, mechanical vacuum pumps are always breaking down. Let’s dive into what makes these vacuum generators stand out and explore some of their key variants.

EXAIR E-Vac Vacuum Generator

Our Adjustable E-Vac Vacuum Generators are the ones that typically fall into the “number of other applications” category above. While the In-Line E-Vacs are compact and reliably generate rated vacuum on demand, the Adjustable E-Vacs have some distinct advantages in certain cases:

Larger throat diameter. In-Line E-Vacs have a very tight throat, which generally doesn’t matter if they’re just hooked to Vacuum Cups that’ll be placed on a relatively clean surface. The wider throat of the Adjustable E-Vacs means that they can pass small debris from less-than-pristine surfaces that a Vacuum Cup might lift, or shavings that might fall into a work holding fixture on a machine tool. They can even pass liquids, so they’re sometimes used for small spill cleanup.

Adjustable E-Vac: How it works

Adjustability. It’s right in the name, of course, but it IS a big deal. While you can regulate the supply pressure of almost any compressed air operated device to vary the performance level, you can thread the plug into, or out of, the body of an Adjustable E-Vac to literally put it in a whole new performance band. This is beneficial if you’re picking up, or holding down, pieces of different sizes, shapes, and weights. Just loosen the locking collar, make the adjustment, tighten it back up, and it’s ready for use.

If you have questions regarding our Adjustable E-Vacs, or how to solve any issue with an EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air® Product, feel free to contact EXAIR . One of our Application Engineers would be pleased to help you determine your best solution.

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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E-Vac Porous vs Non-Porous

The E-Vac by EXAIR is an efficient compressed air-powered vacuum pump designed for rapid and reliable pick and place operations, offering instantaneous response times for improved productivity and versatility in various industrial applications. The E-Vac vacuum generators are designed with advanced technology to optimize performance and reduce air consumption. This contributes to lower operational costs by minimizing energy use, ultimately enhancing productivity in processes requiring vacuum handling.

When determining which E-Vac type, you have to consider the material you will be lifting is porous or non-porous. An example of a porous material would be wood, which will allow some air to move through the material. An example of a non-porous material would be glass, which will not allow air to move through the material.

Porous low vacuum generators max. vacuum= 21″Hg (71 kPa).

Non-porous high vacuum generators max. vacuum= 27″ Hg (91 kPa)

Low vacuum units up to 21″ Hg (71 kPa) with vacuum flows up to 18.5 SCFM are typically used for porus materials such as cardboard and delicate materials. The relatively lower level vacuum prevents warping, marring, dimpling or disfiguring of the surface due to excessive vacuum. This style generates more vacuum flow to overcome porosity and leakage through the target material.

High vacuum units up to 27″ Hg (91 kPa) with vacuum flows up to 15.8 SCFM are typically used for non-orous materials such as glass, steel sheet, and plastic. There are 7 In-Line models that vary by flow to accommodate larger and more vacuum cups in an application.

For additional information on the E-Vac by EXAIR, or any of our EXAIR compressed air products, please feel free to contact our Application Engineers. We are always happy to assist you with your product or application questions.

Jason Kirby
Application Engineer
Email: jasonkirby@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jk

“Other” Uses For Vacuum Generators

Okay. Throughout our catalog and most of my training, many moons ago, we always stuck to using the E Vac Vacuum Generators as pick and place type units. Hook them up with some suction cups and you can have some fun. However, this isn’t all they can be used for. In fact, I blogged about it over a decade ago not being used for a pick and place operation. Rather, I used it to pull a steady vacuum on a hydraulic brake system in order to pull the fluid through the lines.

My E-Vac Brake Bleeder Setup

Today, I want to show you another trick that I am almost certain I saw when I was a kid on Mr. Wizard. I saw this in High School, learning from one of my amazing educators in the Science department, and then again in college taking basic Chemistry courses. The trick is maybe not something that you would use regularly, but it is a great visualization for something that may help some DIY’ers and even some industrial engineers. So what is the process exactly? Well, it is using a vacuum to “boil” water, except we aren’t really boiling the water, it just appears that way.

That’s right, in this video you can see I have a very small E-Vac Vacuum Generator connected to a glass jar with some water in it. Now there is some condensation in the jar from the water being warmer than the environment we were in. As I energize the E-Vac, you will see the operating pressure go up on the gauge to the right, and you will see the pressure in the jar go down on the vacuum gauge to the left. You can also see just how quickly the small E-Vac removes all the air from the chamber and then begins to build the vacuum, effectively pulling the gas from water, making it appear as though it is boiling due to a temperature increase. Instead, it is actually “de-gassing” the water and removing the oxygen.

This same process can be used in molding operations, epoxy resin processes, and even off-gassing operations. If you can get the surface or container into a vacuum condition, then an Inline E Vac or Adjustable E Vac can be used to evacuate the gases from the fluid within the chamber or area. This makes them more conducive for use without bubbles forming during the curing phase. The size of the E Vac needed for this will be determined by the size of the area and that is exactly what our Application Engineers are here to help with.

If you would like to discuss an off-the-wall idea or de-gassing, feel free to contact an Application Engineer today.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF