During Bruce’s nearly 40 years at Paxton Products, he has seen all types of causes for premature failure of blowers. The two most common include improper filtration and improper environment. Both manifest in blower head failure due to build-up of contaminants inside the head. When the head gets “gunked up,” air flow is reduced, the build-up results in imbalance, the impeller may not spin freely, and ultimately, the vibration of the blower increases and bearing failure results. Let’s examine these two causes of failure.
Improper Filtration: Your Paxton blower is equipped with a two stage inlet filter. The first phase is foam mesh and traps large particles. The second phase is a 5 micron pleated synthetic filter, which traps dust, dirt and particulates and prevents them from entering the blower. This two-stage inlet filtration is critical to blower performance, and it is important to ensure that the filter is changed frequently, as a dirty filter will not only let dirt and particulates enter the blower head, but the pressure drop across the filter increases, resulting in reduced blower performance. Bruce recommends that the filter be checked at least quarterly, and if operating three shifts per day, replaced quarterly. Semi-annual filter replacement is usually adequate for one or two shift per day operation.
Improper environment: Paxton’s two stage filtration protects the blower from airborne dust and dirt, however, it will not protect the blower from fine droplets of airborne oils, cutting fluids and syrups, such as are found in industrial machining operation or soda production facilities, respectively. If atomized liquids are present, it is critical to remove the blower from the environment, and place it in a different room, or high above the operations (if the airborne contaminant is heavier than air), or alternatively pipe the inlet to a clean area.
Either improper filtration or improper environment can cause the blower head to become “gunked up” inside the head causing:
- Dirt, oils or syrups create a layer within the blower head
- Because the contaminants don’t build up uniformly, the blower head becomes imbalanced, causing vibration
- With heavy build up, the impeller may not spin freely
- Both situations result in higher stress on the bearings and higher temperatures
- Ultimately, the bearings will fail
Paxton recommends that you check your filter frequently, and if you do suspect atomized liquids in the air, contact Paxton Products for further recommendations.