Look out for unsecured Vacs!

[Rudy]

After 15 years in the business, this one almost cost me big bucks...

It turns out, that somehow, the bolts that secure one of my vacs to the island tops came COMPLETELY out. The vac was simply "sitting" and was unsecured. When my manager went to empty the quarters, it almost completely tipped over.

If this had fallen against a customer's car, I can't begin to think how much damage could have occurred.....let alone the potential for personal injury.

We may have to rethink this....but we've used plastic anchors and stainless 1/4" lag screws in the past. I still think this might be the way to go....but we'll need to check them for security when we empty the bags.

 

[MEP001]

I always mounted vacs with stainless wedge anchors and welded the nut to the bolt so it couldn't be stolen easily. It can still be removed if necessary by grinding the top of the nut down to remove the weld. I would also drill deeply into the concrete to push the anchor farther down and reuse the hole.

I can't tell you how many times I stepped up onto a vac island to work on someone's vac and almost tipped it over because one or more anchors had worked loose. More often than not they had been attached with lag bolts and metal sleeves.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Wedge anchors for sure. 3 inch depth. Unless I am pouring concrete in which case I use foundation bolts.

I mess up the exposed threads to prevent unscrewing.

This doesn't totally prevent removal as was graphicaly shown when a 27' truck hit a vac.

 

[Red Baron]

Redhead Anchor bolts 4" x 1/2".