We often talk about hinging solutions for normal fans, and the hinges that accomplish this and their respective qualities. The original Super Hinge adds structure and rigidity to a fan base. The Quick-Fit Super Hinge, with its quick install times, also has the ability to slide onto a fan base that has an overlapping wind band. The Quick-Fit EZ-Clean hinge allows a fan to be rotated on its axis to direct waste water back down the exhaust duct to catch basins set up below during cleaning. I think it’s time to address some of the lesser-known hinging solutions from Omni Containment Systems. The other hinging solutions have more to do with odd-shaped ducts and curbs than the fan base itself. Let’s take a look at Omni’s pivot arms and adjustable hinge mounting systems.

The Omni Pivot Arms are a set of lower hinge arms that are designed to be installed on an angled or tapered duct work where a traditional rigid hinge set up would not normally work. The pivot arm is designed so that the mounting cam is welded to a barrel style hinge, which is welded to a superhinge lower arm. This allows the lower arms to be attached to tapered ductwork securely while the upper arms are attached to the fan base as you would in a normal installation, while still maintaining the important NFPA 96 required service hold open retainer. A normal Super Hinge is mounted at a vertical 90 degrees, the pivot arms will mount on angles from 40-150 degrees. The lower Pivot Arm is built from 2” x 3/8” cold rolled steel in all sizes for extra strength for those tough mounting situations.

The Adjustable Arm set up is extremely useful for large offset situations where just installing longer pivot bolts and spacers not only weakens the hinge, but renders the hinge to be non NFPA 96 compliant because the service hold open pin will not reach from the cam to the upper hinge arm. This solution is best used when offsets are in excess of 3 inches. The adjustable arm solution moves the offset to the lower mounting bolts, thereby keeping the functionality of the service hold open retainer. The twin lower arm bolts are extended and spacers are added to them, rather than on a single pivot bolt. On extreme offsets we will add a third lower arm bolt in a triangulated pattern. This adds the strength of an additional bolt, as well as limits the amount of twisting flex that would normally happen. This solution can be used on both the Super Hinge and Quick-Fit Super Hinge models.

Omni Containment Systems prides itself on having a solution to almost any hinging scenario. Our hinging solutions are all designed with NFPA 96 compliance in mind, as safety is our paramount concern. If you come across a scenario that a normal fan hinge just won’t work on, please give us a call at 847-468-1772. Our team will work shoulder-to-shoulder with you to find optimum solutions for all of your hinging and grease containment needs.