On any large commercial construction job anywhere in the country there are going to be thousands of Dropin Anchors installed. One of the biggest problems however is that there is no great way to inspect the installation afterwards. There are horror stories out there of anchors installed improperly and failing as well as stories of building inspectors having companies redo the whole process because they were not happy with the installation. Typically the installation of a dropin overhead is a very tiring and uncomfortable job and sometimes entrusted to the greenest guy on the job. The Powers Fastener Smart DI+ Dropin System not only takes much of the manual labor out of the process but also clearly marks the anchor for easy inspection later.
The Smart Dropin System is broken into 3 separate parts which when used together ensure proper anchoring and save a significant amount of labor time.
Smart Bit – These SDS-Plus bits are available in 3 sizes, specifically designed for ¼”, 3/8” & ½” dropins. The bits can be used to drill holes for any brand of dropin and feature a large lip which prevents over drilling. Each hole is drilled to the exact diameter and depth specified for correctly setting dropins.
Smart Tool – These setting tools will only work with the corresponding size of Smart Bit and slides over and locks in place. Once in place and the rotary drill is set to hammer mode the Smart Tool can set the dropin with the correct amount of force required. This takes setting time and labor from 10+ overhead hammer swings to a 3 second pull of the trigger. Between labor time savings and ensuring the correct amount of force is applied to the installation this is a very valuable tool.
Smart DI+ Dropins – These new dropins from Powers Fasteners have several features that make them unique in the dropin world. First the new design required 50% less energy to set because of less friction in the anchor itself. The second and probably most compelling feature of the whole system is the safety indication marks. It is a very simple idea, when the anchor is set properly it will wear away the blue rim and leave 4 blue marks to show the correct amount of force was applied to set the anchor. This is critical to ensuring the job was done correctly and we would not be surprised if something similar is required by all inspectors soon enough.
Check out the video below of fellow Coptool editor Mike Powell going over some of the features & details of the system. A paver was used to demonstrate the system which clearly would never be a real life application but it does provide an excellent opportunity to break the paver and show a clear cross section of how the dropins actually function.
If you have any questions about the Powers Fasteners Smart Dropin System do not hesitate to give the pros at Ohio Power Tool a call 800-242-4424. While this is a new system these guys have already had extensive training and assisted in a handful of preliminary installations.