According to CE directive EN 13155, it is required in all countries of the European Union to use secondary safety devices when a vacuum lifter is used on a construction site. This can be achieved in two different ways:

• 1 (single) vacuum circuit and using secondary safety devices.
• 2 (dual) independent vacuum circuits.

1 (single) vacuum circuit

All suction cups are connected in one vacuum circuit. The lifting capacity is the sum of all connected suction cups. The use of a secondary safety device is required, which is achieved with VIAVAC vacuum lifters by means of safety straps.

2 (dual) independant vacuum circuits

Here, two completely separate vacuum circuits work independently of each other. Each circuit (set of suction cups) is capable of holding the maximum lift capacity with double security. If one circuit fails, the other circuit will hold the load. In this event, both visual and audio alarms will alert the user.

The use of secondary safety devices with a double vacuum circuit is therefore not required.

Advantages:
+ Cannot be forgotten
+ Saves extra actions for the installation.

Disadvantages:

– Double number or larger suction cups needed to achieve the same lifting capacity.
– More expensive because many vacuum components and installed redundantly.

Our recommendation:

For sandwich panels:
As a rule, it is a manageable task with sandwich panels to apply safety straps. You can therefore choose to use a single-circuit device and use the falling safety straps. We recommend, however, vacuum lifters with a double circuit because we believe this is the future.

With glass:
Because of the wide diversity in the dimensions and installation positions, it is often practically impossible to apply the falling safety straps. We therefore always recommend the use of vacuum lifters with a dual vacuum circuit here.