As a safety precaution, the European Union established a standard that requires the use of two independent vacuum circuits on below-the-hook vacuum lifters used on all construction sites where CE requirements apply. Nine months after they published this decision in July of 2003, Wood’s Powr-Grip shipped its first below-the-hook vacuum lifter equipped with a Dual Vacuum System that complies with the new standard. Why go to all that trouble? Because Wood’s Powr-Grip strives to meet the needs of ALL of our customers, and that includes international buyers. As a result, we are now providing the option of a Dual Vacuum System on many DC-powered below-the-hook vacuum lifters to anyone who wants it.

In the Dual Vacuum System, vacuum pads are divided up between two different vacuum circuits that are separated by check valves. If one circuit experiences vacuum loss—maybe the material breaks across a pad, a hose is cut, etc.—the other half of the pads still maintains the sufficient vacuum. There is a vacuum gauge on each vacuum circuit to allow monitoring and troubleshooting of the circuits. To avoid confusion, the two circuits are made with different color hoses. Also, the vacuum pump will run if either of the two circuits falls below the required vacuum level.

Vacuum lifters with a Dual Vacuum System offer additional assurance to operators with loads that could break easily, such as glass. Also, multipurpose lifters that are used every day on production floors have a higher propensity to experience wear and tear, which may lead to a loss of vacuum on a certain pad. If you feel the Dual Vacuum System would be beneficial for you or your employees but the lifter you need does not come standard with a DC-power system, check to see if DC power is available as an option, since this is the case with many of our lifters.

Here at Wood’s Powr-Grip, we not only want to satisfy all safety standards but we also want to make buying and using our products easy for everyone. Our Dual Vacuum System is evidence of this effort, as well as a feature that can bring peace of mind to users of Wood's Powr-Grip equipment around the world.

Jessica Smith is a Staff Writer on the Wood’s Powr-Grip Marketing team. She is responsible for editing, researching and writing articles for Wood's Powr-Grip's many instructions, publications and newsletters.