By Lynne Sherwin
Conair’s new PowerFill Pro is a compact, portable vacuum conveying system for customers who want the benefits of a central system without the infrastructure of long tubing runs or in-depth wiring and terminations, according to Justin Carter, product manager for conveying.
The PowerFill Pro combines a powerful vacuum pump, dust collector and intelligent touch-screen control in a cabinet that can be rapidly installed to serve up to eight receivers. Compared to its predecessor, the PowerFill 8, the new model offers more power, more configurability and new pump options to deliver throughputs up to 7,000 pounds per hour over distances up to 300 feet.
Those pump options include a 6.2 horsepower (hp) (4.6 kW) single-stage pump, and three higher-capacity, dual-stage pumps: 6.2 hp (4.6 kW), 11.5 hp (8.6 kW), or 16.9 hp (12.6 kW), to meet greater throughput and distance requirements.
All are driven by three-phase direct-drive, brushless motors that require no oiling and have no belts for easier maintenance. An optional idle-mode valve allows the vacuum pump to continue running at idle speed between loading cycles to reduce the number of stop-start cycles and prolong pump life.
The system works with flexible or rigid ducting in sizes from 1.5 to 3 inches, depending on the model and pump size.
The new 4-inch touch screen features Conair’s common control interface, which provides an identical user experience across a growing range of the company’s computerized auxiliaries, such as blenders, dryers and temperature control units, making training and operations easier.
The menu of configurable loading functions includes ratio, volume-fill, purge and positive discharge, and help information available with every screen simplifies setup, operation and troubleshooting.
Enlarged dust filters can be removed without tools for easy cleaning or filter replacement. Optional Cyclone or DC1 Dust Collectors offer bolt-on additional dust-control solutions.
The steel base can function as a mounting bracket to anchor the unit directly to the floor, or can be equipped with caster wheels for easy movement and repositioning.
Carter said the system is ideal for smaller processors, or for larger processors with specialized needs addressed by advantages that include:
- Rapid expansion or supplementation ofplant conveying capacity. The user can roll the PowerFill Pro into place and configure flexible hoses or rigid conveying lines to auxiliaries, injection molding machines or extruders, linking the receivers to the control I/O panel using snap-together cabled connections.
- Theoption of an alternative to press-side or press-mounted motorized loaders. PowerFill Pro offers greater capacity with lower maintenance requirements, and longer conveying distances thanks to the onboard vacuum pump, which draws deeper vacuum than motorized loaders.
- Quickconfiguration of central vacuum power for material conveying to dedicated work cells or machine clusters.
“One customer for the PowerFill Pro used it to provide material to small groups of extruders. This customer once used motor loaders for this task, but felt the cost and time of replacing the motors/brushes was too high so they used the PowerFill to run at least two extruders and a blender with minimal piping and field wiring,” Carter said.
