A drum lid vacuum takes the idea a step further than a drum top head. Instead of sitting on the drum, the pneumatic power unit is bolted through a galvanised steel lid with stainless socket bolts, and that lid replaces the one the drum came with. Clamp the lock ring and the drum is the vacuum vessel.
The gain over a drum top head is capacity and function. A full lid gives room for a larger intake, a proper dry filter cartridge with its retaining springs, float valves for wet work, an internal drop pipe for pump-out and separate control valves for each mode — all on the one assembly.
Modes, and the order they are used in
Both control valves stay closed until the air line is on the coupling and the lock ring is closed. From there:
- Wet recovery — float valves on their threaded tubes, screw handle up, open the vacuum valve. The floats rise with the fluid and cut the vacuum at full.
- Reverse pump-out — fit the drop pipe, move the hose to the delivery point, close the vacuum valve, handle down, open the reverse valve.
- Dry recovery — fit the filter cartridge on its springs, handle up, open the vacuum valve.
- Reverse filter clean — handle down with the reverse valve open drives air back through the cartridge and knocks the cake off the media.
Where the sizes sit
| 60 CFM, 60 litre drum | Vacuum flow around 80 CFM, 15" Hg, twin venturi, fluid duty, 5–10 m of 38 mm hose |
|---|---|
| 120 CFM | 20–25 m of 38 mm hose, wet and dry |
| 180 CFM, 205 litre drum | Vacuum flow around 240 CFM, 16" Hg, twin super reverse venturi, 20–25 m of 38 mm hose |
| Fill or pump out | Around 75 seconds for a 44 / 55 / 205 drum |
| Air fitting | 3/4" universal claw coupling |
| Lid | Galvanised steel, stainless socket bolts, bonded to the drum by the lock ring |
| Build time | Built to order, typically shipped within a few business days |
On explosion proof units the lid and lock ring create the bond between head and drum, so the drum must be steel and must be able to reach earth. A drum standing on matting, a timber pallet or a bed of collected waste is not grounded, whatever is stamped on the head.
The 180 CFM cyclone build
The heaviest configuration pairs the 180 CFM lid with an anti-static cyclonic separator. Dust drops out in the cyclone before it reaches the filter, which changes the working pattern entirely: instead of stopping to clear a blinded cartridge every twenty minutes, the machine runs through the job and the cyclone drum is emptied at the end of it.
Supplied ATEX certified, with anti-static hose and EX fittings, and a choice of dry cartridge or washable filter bag depending on whether the dust is being disposed of or reclaimed.
What a lid assembly includes
- Pneumatic power unit on a galvanised lid, with vacuum and reverse control valves.
- 3 m heavy-duty suction hose and all lid-to-hose connections.
- Two-piece chrome wand set and a 450 mm floor squeegee.
- Auto shut-off float valves and the drum lid locking ring.
- Internal drop pipe for reverse pump-out.
- Dry filter cartridge where the unit is specified for dry work.
Drums are normally supplied by the customer on the larger sizes and included on the 60 litre unit. If you want the machine to arrive complete on castors, say so when you enquire and we will quote it that way.