Mixing Tricks

 

Save your BACK!

Bags of material are heavy and very difficult to lift off the ground.  It is much easier to split the bags in two, put 1/2 the bag into a 5 gallon pail, and then pour it into the mixer.  It may seem like this method takes longer, however, when you load and mix for a few hours this method is faster!  You save your body, there's less mess, and mix ratio's are very consistent.

  1. Lay the bag flat and cut across the middle of the top
  2. Next lift under the middle of the bag and the 2 halves will lstand up by themselves.  Then run your knife underneath the half of the bag that hasn't been cut through (be careful)
  3. Now that you have 2 equal bag halves pour 1 into a 5 gallon bucket
  4. Now load your mixer!  Using a 5 gallon pail is easy on you and the mixer!

Before You Plug It In!

Before you start operating an electric piece of equipment make sure of the following:

  1. Read your manual thoroughly
  2. Use at least 10 guage cord and do not remove the ground plug end. 
  3. Verify that your power supply has the current you need. 110v/120v or 208v/220v single or three phase.
  4. Verify that the amperage supplied by the voltage is sufficent.  For example, if you have a 15amp 110v machine, then it would be best to operate it on at least a 20amp circuit.
  5. Remember a machine that operates on 18amps will draw 2 to 3 times that amperage at start up.  This draw is only  for a few milliseconds, however, if your machine will not start up smoothly or the low voltage system does not energize, then your machine is not receiving sufficient current to startup.
  6. The longer your extention cord, the less efficient the current will arrive to your machine.  To calculate voltage drop over the length of an extention cord go to: www.csgnetwork.com and go to the voltage drop link.
  7. If your machine operates for a period of time and then shuts off, one of these situations is probably the cause:
  • insufficient current supply, i.e. your cord is too small or too long.
  • you are exceeding the duty cycle of the tool
  • your electric motor is worn and no longer functioning properly

If you are having an electrical problem that you do not understand give us a call at 650-369-2992