FAQs AeroSpreader™ Feed Broadcasters

Q. I want my feed pellets to be broadcast further out over the pen's surface. How do I do this? A. Because of the density of the feed pellet itself, there is a maximum distance feed pellets can travel through the air. While there are ways of insuring that you are maximising your broadcast distance, applying more power to push the pellet out of the feeder's venturi nozzle (i.e. higher air volume) will not result in the pellet going any further. What will occur in this situation is that the pellet will be broadcast out to the same distance but will arrive much faster! Q. How do I insure that I am maximising my broadcast distances? A. You can test to see if you have reached the maximum broadcast distance for the size of pellet by adding a short length of rigid tube to the end of your broadcast hose. The use of a rigid tube section insures that the high volume of air generated by the blower is used most effectively to capture and transfer as much energy as possible to the pellet before it leaves the end of the tube on it's way out over the pen. A bit of experimentation with your particular feeder to determine the maximum length of rigid hose required will be in order. Q. How long an extension tube can I put on the end of my AeroSpreader™ Feeder Broadcaster's flex hose? A. The size of the gas driven feed blower will determine the maximum length of the rigid extension tube. Generally, for a 4 Hp Honda the maximum length is six (6) feet. For a 6.5 Hp Honda the maximum length is ten (10) feet. For a 9.0 Hp Honda the maximum length is twenty (20) feet. Q. Why are there limitations to the length of the broadcast extension tube? A. I.A.S. Products Ltd. blowers are designed to maximise the volume of air for the given size of the motor. A high volume of air, not pressure, is required to move feed pellets and, as such, the longer the flex hose and/or extension tube, the greater the resistance in the pipe. This resistance is called "back pressure". If the feed blower cannot create sufficient pressure to overcome this back pressure, feed pellets can be observed to: 1. Move along the path of least resistance and "geyser"up inside the feed hopper outlet, displaying a waterfall effect of feed pellets and feed dust. 2. Block inside the feed eductor nozzle. 3. Not broadcast any appreciable distance. Q. Why do you use a venturi nozzle to entrain fish feed into the airflow from the blower? A. A venturi nozzle has two inlets (rear and top) and one outlet (front). In our application a continuous flow of high volume air is forced through the main rear inlet port of the venturi. By doing this vacuum is created at the second top inlet port. For I.A.S. Products Ltd. this second inlet port is placed at 90 degrees from the main rear inlet port and as such we use the vacuum from this rear inlet port to draw feed pellets from the hopper above into the fast moving airflow. This process requires no mechanical paddles, augers, or dossers that crush or damage the feed pellets. Q. Why don't you use a dosser meter feed delivery? A. In our experience a dosser or metering chamber can severely damage feed pellets. With the push to insure full feed pellet integrity and minimum feed dust I.A.S. Products Ltd. has continued to develop and refine our vacuum draw feed entrainment process as the most reliable means of insuring soft feed pellet handling. Q. How can I increase the feed rate from your AeroSpreader™ S500 Feed Broadcaster? A. As a result of our latest research and development - you now can! Hours of design flow analysis have resulted in up to a 50% increase in feed pellet delivery rates and, in fact, we are now able to provide feed rates as high as 200 lbs. per minute for AeroSpreader™ Series 2500 and 5500 using a newly designed feed eductor nozzle. Q. Can I fit a new eductor nozzle onto my existing feed hopper and increase my feeding rates? A. Yes, but take note that: 1. To maximise the benefit of the new feed eductor nozzle the latest version of the Aerite™ 9 hp Honda, direct drive blower housing is required. This housing significantly increases inlet air volume, which equates to a higher flow of air through the feed eductor nozzle. 2. You can make a change from your old nozzle to a new nozzle recognising that on all AeroSpreader™; Series 300/400 built from 1995 to 1998 utilise a smaller 4 inch feed hopper outlet and as such are matched to a smaller 4-inch inlet on the feed eductor nozzle. 3. An upgrade of the feed hopper outlet to a 5-inch diameter combined with a new feed chute control gate would assist in maximising the capabilities of the new blower housing and feed eductor nozzle. Q. I see on my AeroSpreader™ Feed Broadcaster that there have been changes made to the Aerite™ blower inlet, why? A. Increasing the size of the air inlet into the Aerite™ blower housing by 40% has allowed us to increase feed broadcast rates by providing higher volumes of air necessary to entrain the feed pellets and broadcast them out over the pen surface. In many cases by simply replacing the housing on your existing AeroSpreader™ Feed Broadcaster you could see a marked increase in blower performance. Q. What are the factors that limit my feed rates and distances? A. Simple things such as kinks in hoses, clumped feed, how smooth the inside of your hose is, all effect the rate and distance feed pellets are delivered and broadcast. The straighter and smoother the feed broadcast hose/tube is, the better your results. Q. You use a special type of stainless flex hose that looks just like exhaust tubing. Why? A. At first glance this stainless steel flex hose does look just like simple exhaust hose. However, the product that we have specified to work with all AeroSpreader™ feeders has a liner inside that insures a smooth inside face. This smooth face is required to insure maximum blower air energy and is used to transport the feed rather than fighting to overcome turbulence and resistance created by the ribs and ridges found in standard hoses. Q. What do I do when feed blocks the eductor nozzle at the base of the feed hopper? How do I stop this from happening? A. Feed clumps for a number of reasons including formulation with the percentage of oil in the feed, weather conditions, and site feed loading conditions. We can only suggest that a bar screen be installed at the top opening of the feed hopper to catch these clumps before they drop into the eductor. IF feed clumps enter the eductor and partially block the feed flow, the best course of action is to: 1. First close the feed chute gate and allow all possible feed to exit the eductor. 2. Then remove the rear air inlet line from the feed blower and attempt to break up the feed clumps with a small bar or screwdriver. On the AeroSpreader™ S2000 (year 2002 and later) and larger model feeders, this service procedure has been further simplified with a quick release feed eductor nozzle fitted with zip cuffs for 30-second removal and cleaning. Q. Since I cleaned out the feed blockage in the eductor nozzle I cannot feed as quickly as I used to. What has happened? A. If you used a small bar or rod you may have damaged the air injection inlet inside the eductor. Do not dent or damage the air inlet injection nozzle directly below the feed pellet inlet port. A misshapen injector face will: 1. Affect vacuum and reduce the amount of feed drawn from the feed hopper 2. Affect the eductor's ability to mix air and feed pellets for a maximum broadcast distance. Q. When I turn on the switch powering, my feed pellet broadcast oscillator the breaker trips and the oscillator stops. This never used to happen, why is it happening now? A. There are several possible reasons why this is occurring including: 1. A lack of lubrication on the rotator head bushing. Insure the interface between the vertical outlet tube and the rotating head is clean of feed fines and properly lubricated using waterproof grease. 2. Check all hardware on the oscillator linkage to insure pivot hardware cannot hit and bind against the control rod. 3. Low power voltage to the oscillator motor will cause a heat build up in the motor and cause the internal thermal protection to trip. 4. Moisture building up inside the electric motor housing increases electrical resistance inside the motor causing the power threshold to increase above the 3-amp limit set with the inline breaker. Q. We have an electric start 9 HP Honda blower with a gel cell battery. We used to be able to electrically start the blower but now we have to use the pull cord. We replaced the battery but after a short time we are back to pull starting the blower. What is happening? A. The battery charge system used on all Honda motors uses two (2) inductive fields on the flywheel. As the motor ages in a wet environment the flywheel and inductive coil surfaces rust. This reduces and eventually stops the ability for this type of electrical generation to recharge the battery, as the battery receives less charging it eventually goes flat. To restore the charging capabilities of the Honda: 1. The flywheel and inductive coil surfaces must be cleaned of all rust and scale. 2. The distance between the flywheel and two inductive coil faces carefully set as per Honda specifications. 3. The battery must be brought back to operating voltage using a separate deep cycle charger before being returned to the Honda. *NOTE: Never remove a battery from an electric start Honda while the motor is running. Damage to the rectifier will occur resulting in failure of the charge system. Q. I don't have good feed pellet control when the feed chute control gate at the base of the feeder hopper is only partially open. It appears like it's all or nothing when it comes to feeding. How do I get better feed control when I want to feed slowly? A. The poor feed control occurrence is a direct result of insufficient feed pellet vacuum draw from the hopper. For the vacuum draw from the feed eductor nozzle to work best, the hopper feed gate must be open at least 50%. A feed gate opening position less than 50% results in the feed bridging and partially locking together with the outcome being feed entering the feed eductor nozzle sporadically. To keep feed pellets moving at a steady rate, even when vacuum draw is low, a feed rotator motor is installed at the exit opening at the bottom of the feed hopper. This 12-volt DC rotator motor is fitted with a rotating "star" wheel designed to lightly agitate the feed pellets. Now, no matter what the feed chute gate opening you set, feed pellets can be regulated and actually counted as they are broadcast out over then pen. Q. When I use by AeroSpreader™ Feed Broadcaster I have difficulty controlling the flow of feed pellets. What can you do to fix this? A. The vacuum draw required to keep the feed pellets from locking together (bridging) works most effectively when the feed chute door is wide open. This requirement does not work well when you wish to finely meter the flow of feed with a partially closed gate. To eliminate this problem a simple agitator motor, using a 12-volt DC power source, is installed at the outlet of the hopper to move the pellet into the feed venturi entrainment nozzle. Careful design has insured that the feed is not crushed or broken with this agitator Q. I need to regulate the flow of feed more accurately. What can IAS do to help? A. I.A.S. Products Ltd has taken the time to develop a feed control index handle. This piece of equipment is easily retrofitted onto existing Series 80, 500, 1000, and 2500 to 5500 Series feed hoppers. It allows the operator to calculate what feed rates/volumes are available at each setting. These index positions can be clearly marked on the side of the feed hopper for quick reference. An understanding of the feed rates combined with a wristwatch will give accurate feeding rates. Q. We are using a stainless steel flex hose but it doesn't last very long - it keeps breaking. Not only this, but we see that the feed pellets are breaking and the feed distance isn't very good. A. You should note that the stainless steel flex hose that we use in all equipment and recommend as replacement is constructed with an inner liner. This liner makes the stainless steel flex hose a tougher constructed hose which lasts many times longer. As well, the use of a liner eliminates the inner flex hose spiral, which causes airs turbulence, and feed tumbling. This ultimately results in broken feed pellets and lost broadcast distance for the feed pellet. Q. I am using your new lined stainless steel flex hose and I am still finding that I am breaking feed pellets and that my broadcast distance is not what I feel it should be. A. Do you know that there is only one (1) way to use lined stainless steel flex hose? The inner hose liner is designed to lap one inner spiral layer over the next. If you reverse the hose direction, air will catch each edge and create air turbulence that will cause: 1. Feed to tumble, hit and break as it moves down the broadcast hose. 2. A loss of energy directed away from broadcast distance. The most important note is to look for the black directional arrows painted on the outside face of each broadcast hose. The arrow points to the direction of air and pellet flow. If the arrows are not visible, then rub you hand along the inside face of the hose, it will be smooth in one direction and slightly rough in the other. Q. We ordered our new stainless steel flex hose but we don’t have the feed broadcast distance that we used to have. What is wrong? A. The stainless steel flex hose with an inner liner is designed to be used in only one direction. Your replacement lined stainless steel flex hose will have arrived with a number of black arrows pointing out the correct air flow direction. Install the hose with the arrows pointing out to the cages. If your hose has no arrows identifying direction then a simple check with your hand will determine if you have installed the hose with the inner liner going in the right direction. Run your fingers over the liner and feel which way the liner spiral ribs sit. They are smooth in one direction but not in the other. You need to have the air pass over the liner in the smooth direction to eliminate turbulence. Q. We now have the new I.A.S. Products Ltd. designed enclosed feed chute that has eliminated feed fines and dust from collecting on the deck beneath the hopper. We are wondering what to do now that we see a small build up of these fines around the feed gate inside the feed chute? A. Complete elimination of fines is impossible. A small portion will always be present in the feed pellet bag or bulk feed tote delivery system. While there is now no need to clean the deck surfaces on a regular basis, we do recommend that a bucket of water be run through the inner feed chute (with the blower running at speed) to remove the fines and flush them out over the pen. Further we recommend that the blower be allowed to run for a minute or two after all water has been expelled from the feed entrainment venturi nozzle beneath the feed chute and gate to insure surfaces are dry. Q. My new AeroSpreader™ has a small motor with a "star" that rotates at the outlet of the hopper. What does this do? Will this rotating star grind feed? A. This rotate motor is designed to eliminate feed bridging at the hopper outlet. When the feed chute feed control gate is not in the full open position there can be insufficient vacuum to pull feed pellets into the feed entrainment venturi nozzle. The result is poor slow speed feed metering. The rotate motor aids in pellet movement at times when the feed vacuum is low due to a partial gate opening. The shape of the rotate motor tines is thin and flat to insure that feed cannot be pinched against one another and crushed. The "star" shaped tines are positioned within 1/8-inch from the face of the blue feed chute to insure feed pellets cannot become caught and crushed by making sure feed rolls over the top of the rotating "star" if the gate is shut.

Support: Technical support on all IAS products is available by telephone between the hours of 08:00 and 17:00 Pacific Standard Time, Monday to Friday by calling
+1 604 924-1844.
Parts and repairs are available from IAS or Authorized Service Providers in your area.

Warranty: IAS Products Ltd. warrants product of its own manufacture against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of twelve (12) months from the date of shipment. This warranty does not apply if the goods have been damaged by accident, abuse, misuse, modification, misapplication, by damage during shipment, or by improper service or storage. Our obligation under this warranty is limited to repairing or replacing, at our option, without charge, F.O.B. our place of business, any part of our own manufacture which is proven to have been defective at the time of shipment provided the Buyer i). provides immediate written notice at the time such defect is discovered. ii). establishes its normal use and service of the product, and iii). returns the defective equipment or product, transportation prepaid, to establish the claim. IAS Products Ltd. shall in no case be responsible for labour charges, lost production, damages or delays as a result of such defects.

Contact: IAS Products Ltd.
1415 Dominion Street
North Vancouver BC
Canada V7J1B3

Telephone: +1 604 924-1844
Facsimile: +1 604 924-1848
Email: info@iasproducts.com
Web Site: www.iasproducts.com

Although IAS Products Ltd. makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of these product specification sheets at the time of publication, specifications for products described in this publication are subject to change without notice. No warrant for customer applications or usage is implied. IAS Products Ltd. makes no representation that the goods comply with any present or future federal, state, provincial, or local ordinance. Compliance is the Buyer’s responsibility.