The Living Datavac Thread

[mkawa]

Pretty much everyone swears by the datavac

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=datavac

series of blowers and vacuums for light duty electronics cleaning usage for both high pressure air out and high pressure air in cleaning situations. So, after trying to borrow reaper's datavac blower for a while (it's in storage), I gave in and bought my own; in particular, the MDV-1BA vacuum and blower combination unit. It's a little less powerful than the ED500 blower that everyone swears by, but the price was right, and I plan on abusing it somewhat as an ad hoc dry-only shop vac as well for light duty metal machining. THAT SAID, it just arrived and so far, the best thing i've gotten out of it is the following picture:

[mkawa]

clearly these guys take blowin and sucking VERY seriously

[Halverson]

I gotta stop saying I need one, and hit the 'buy' button.

[mkawa]

if that picture doesn't convince you to 1-click it, nothing will.

[AKIMbO]

Datavacs are amazing...stop wasting money on compressed air. 

[mkawa]

it just happily cleaned the dust out of a heatsink and fine rubber pieces off my workspace. so far, gold.

[The_Ed]

I just use my huge ass compressor. I have all the pressure and CFM I could ever want.

[SmallFry]

Has anyone measured how much air it outputs per minute?

[mkawa]

enough to blow the girl out of the shark

[Halverson]

enough to blow the girl out of the shark

:|

[habitualapse]

I've got a buddy who swears by his datavac, too. I think it does a good job, but I got a 3M SV497A JM
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/363830-REG/3M_497AJM_SV_497AJM_Electronic_Service_Vacuum.html
a few years back (before I knew about metro), and it's done right by me. The filters might seem a bit pricey ~15-20ish dollars, but do last a while (I use mine to clean out about once every other month to clean out 30 desktops and their peripherals and have swapped them out maybe five times in just over two years. It may be worth noting that I do a once over with a shop vac on the filthiest parts of the larger printers outside first.)

[mkawa]

woah, that 3M unit is pretty serious. there's a much more serious metro unit as well

http://www.amazon.com/Metro-Vacuum-MDV3TCA-DataVac-Carrying/dp/B000OVUH30/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1368592799&sr=8-4&keywords=datavac

1.7hp is a freaking riding lawnmower.

basically the 1BA can be described as thus: take a cylinder and taper it at both ends. put a big ass motor that moves air at about 0.6-0.75hp in the middle. on one end put a gas permeable bag of some kind (standard is paper, but they sell a permanent cloth bag as well that i'll probably buy for metalwork). the other end is just an exhaust. you can increase the velocity of the air by reducing the inlet or outlet diameters, but the motor heats up quickly because it's a big ass motor in a cylinder and relies on air volume, not velocity to keep temps down.

[mkawa]

enough to blow the girl out of the shark

:|

i can actually do this in free-air by attaching a big bag to the outlet, but i'm guessing it'll be basically the theoretical maximum implied by air's density and the power rating of the motor, given no bag in the middle. seriously though, the motor's rated at 0.75hp, it's a lot of air.

[dndlmx]

clearly these guys take blowin and sucking VERY seriously

Show Image

I like how they included, what I'm guessing is a painting of the dead founder, in their group picture.

[alaricljs]

BTW, these should include ear protection in the box.

[habitualapse]

BTW, these should include ear protection in the box.

Very true. I've seen both the 3M and the 0.75hp Metro in operation and they're both quite loud. You will undoubtedly disturb anyone working around you when using one of these indoors.

[mkawa]

how to use a datavac 1BA as a shop vac:

double up on the paper filters it comes with. you don't want sharp bits of metal making it through the chamber to the motor and blower. then, suck the clap out of all the little and bit metal particles. finally, consider the tiny suction chamber to be like a real shop vac's waste tube. turn the vac over the trash can and immediately dump as much of the crap you just sucked up as possible into the garbage. you will need to do this periodically as things come loose from the filter. STORE DATAVAC SUCTION SIDE UP <-- IMPORTANT

[Yzeets]

Just recived my datavac today, best thing I've ever purchased blew the keys right off my keyboard. So much money wasted on cans of air that don't even get the compact dust off CPU cooler, this took it off like a pressure washer

[mkawa]

seriously, up there with my knives and drivers in my most-used-tools