Cheap to buy; expensive to operate. And it’s loud, to boot.
Precision VariBlast Safety Air Gun offers strong blow off while reducing air use & noise levels.
You can go to almost any hardware store and buy a $10-$20 air blow gun. It’s going to be loud when you pull the trigger, it’s not likely to be compliant with OSHA standards. AND, it’s going to cost more to operate than an engineered product like an EXAIR Safety Air Gun. I actually performed an Efficiency Lab test on such a blow gun recently. First thing I did was look for the manufacturer’s published data on air usage – there was none. Testing with our calibrated rotameter showed that it used 13.5 SCFM @80psig. This same customer had purchased a Model 1809SS-CS VariBlast Precision Safety Air Gun with our Pico Super Air Nozzle installed (and a Chip Shield, which made me really respect their safety game), which uses only 4.9 SCFM @80psig.
The VariBlast Precision Safety Air Guns cost them $136.00 each (2023 pricing). We used a US Department of Energy thumb rule which states that compressed air costs an average of $0.25 per 1,000 Standard Cubic Feet, and calculated that the blow guns they were using cost $158 annually, each, to operate 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year, with 3 hours of ‘trigger time’ a day:
13.5 SCFM X 60 min/hr X 3 hrs/day X 5 days/week X 52 weeks/year X $0.25/1,000 SCF = $157.95
Using the same math and substituting the 1809SS-CS’ air use, we see they only cost $58 per year to run:
4.9 SCFM X 60 min/hr X 3 hrs/day X 5 days/week X 52 weeks/year X $0.25/1,000 SCF = $57.33
And, again, since there are 14 of them, the customer is realizing an annual operating cost saving of over $800.00 a year!
At EXAIR, we’re in the business of making sure you get the most out of our products, and your compressed air system. If you’d like to find out what that might mean for you, give me a call.
Russ Bowman, CCASS
Application Engineer Visit us on the Web Follow me on Twitter Like us on Facebook
Here at EXAIR we are very proud of our Intelligent Compressed Air Products. We can spend a lot of time talking about our favorites (mine is the Vortex Tube). We have written many blogs about the advantages – no moving parts, little to no maintenance, meeting or exceeding OSHA safety standards for noise or dead end pressure. One thing we don’t talk as much about are the accessories that go along with and complement our products.
From left to right; a few value added accessories for your Vortex Tube: Hot Muffler, Cold Muffler, Automatic Drain Filter Separator, Oil Removal Filter, and Solenoid Valve/Thermostat Kit.
Some of the most commonly used accessories are our compressed air Filters and Regulators. We would recommend the use of these with all of our products (or even with products that aren’t even ours). The Filter Separator will remove water, dirt and rust from your compressed air system. The 5-micron filter element will keep contaminants from plugging or damaging your compressed air product. An Oil Removal Filter (always placed downstream of our Filter Separator) will provide even finer filtration by removing oil and solid particulate using a 0.03-micron element. Our Pressure Regulators will enable you to select the operating pressure. At EXAIR we always recommend operating at the minimum pressure required to get the job done. Pressure Regulators allow you to do that, saving on unnecessary air consumption and allowing for dialing in the performance of EXAIR products within an application.
For some of our products, we have accessories made specifically for them. For use with our Line Vacs we have Line Vac Hose. We have Thermostats and Solenoid Valves to pair with our Cabinet Coolers, and for our Vortex Tubes we would recommend our Mufflers. For our Air Knives we have several great offerings: If you need an easy and reliable way to mount your Air Knife, then our Universal Air Knife Mounting System is what you are looking for. If your application requires something longer than our stock Knives, or perhaps you need to control certain sections of the air flow independently, then our Coupling Bracket Kits are the perfect fit. If you want to make plumbing your Air Knife easy, take a look at our Air Knife Plumbing Kits. They can be used for all Air Knives longer than 24″.
If you need to plumb many of our other Intelligent Compressed Air Products, then we have a selection of compressed air hoses and fittings that will make life easier. Our Coiled Hoses pair well with our Safety Air Guns, allowing you to move more freely while operating. Our Compressed Air Hoses are commonly used with our Industrial Housekeeping products to give the drum and dolly the reach needed.
Whatever your application’s need is, or the product you’re looking for, we certainly have a range of complimentary accessory products that will make installation and adjustment easier. If you have any questions about these, or any other EXAIR product, feel free to contact us.
There’s an old adage we say quite often, “A photo is worth a thousand words”. This is something we really believe in. We can have an hour-long conversation about your application, and we may think we understand it. But when you send a photo, we see something that wasn’t mentioned, will cause a problem or make implementing our solution easier. Or, we simply don’t get the chance to talk about it.
So sending a photo, troubleshooting or specifying a part of an application can be a bigger help than a conversation! And that works in reverse too! Our team of application engineers are well versed in how our products work and the best installation to get the most out of them! But sometimes it is hard to get across in a conversation! So fairly often I open up MS Paint and quickly put together a rudimentary sketch of the installation of the product! I have two examples below!
Model 9055 EFC controls a Model SF9010SS No Drip Siphon Fed Flat Fan Pattern Atomizing Spray Nozzle
A customer wanted to spray a fine coat of oil on the surface of a part to keep the surface from corroding. The liquid was in a bucket, and they didn’t want to invest in a pump, so we chose a Siphon Fed nozzle. There was one issue. After picking the nozzle, we learned the parts were not equally spaced on the conveyor belt. The problem was if they ran the nozzle constantly they would create a large mess and waste a lot of expensive oil. So, opting to select the No Drip version of the nozzle and implementing an EFC was the best option to get him up and running! The nozzle would close the liquid valve when the compressed air went under 20 PSIG. And that was the job of the EFC. It sensed the parts with the photoelectric sensor and told the integrated solenoid valve to open, turning the nozzle on and spraying the part. Then the logic inside would close the valve, turning the nozzle off after a set timed delay!
This customer wanted to see how everything would go together, so I inserted some images in MS Paint and sent a sketch over! While it’s not the prettiest of sketches, it got the point across. They bought the system and got it up and running with great success!
Model 6084 2″ Alum. Line Vac
This one is more of a troubleshooting sketch. The customer bought a 2″ line vac to attach to the bottom of a hopper and convey plastic pellets to a screw injector hopper. They installed the line vac right to the bottom of the hopper, turned the air on and…. it didn’t work. So they gave us a call and asked for an Application Engineer! During the normal “How is it set up” conversation, we started talking about how the material is presented to the inlet of the Line Vac. Which is when he said it was just coming straight off the bottom of a hopper. If you know how our line vacs work, you know right away what the problem was! The line vacs need to pull in ambient air with the product to provide a good conveyance. So, typically they work the best when the inlet can be vented somewhat to allow for dynamic airflow. However, that doesn’t mean it can be used on a hopper bottom. Another option is that you can make a “Snorkel” of sorts. I threw the photo above together real fast to show my customer how they could use a simple tee fitting to allow the line vac to pull ambient air and the product through the conveyance hose! As a result, the customer made some simple changes using parts they had lying around the shop, and it’s working great now!
As you can see, it’s definitely beneficial to see the application, even in a crude drawing! So, if you have an application where you need a little help visualizing how an EXAIR product can be set up and used, please reach out! We have a full office of Application Engineers waiting to take your phone call, email or online chat to help you get the most out of our products!
When I hear “Built to Last” ads come to mind such as Ford Trucks and Craftsman tools. Advertising promoting product integrity will always get my attention. Although I have not owned a Ford truck, I have many friends that have and swear by them, so I’m thinking my next truck might be a Ford. I have owned a lot of Craftsman tools and put them through rigorous use and I never had to use the “Lifetime Warranty“. They were designed and built to last and this is how EXAIR designs and manufactures their Intelligent Compressed Air Tooling.
EXAIR Design and Engineering team designs our items with performance and repeat manufacture ability in mind.EXAIR products have no moving parts so very little maintenance is required. As long as a source of clean dry compressed air is supplied to the product and following our recommended Installation instructions not much can go wrong,
EXAIR NEMA 4X 316SS Cabinet Cooler System with Electronic Temperature Control installed on control panel in a pharmaceutical plant.
EXAIR has a “5 Year Built to Last” Warranty against defects in workmanship and materials on all compressed air products. This warranty applies under conditions of normal use, but does not apply to defects that result from intentional damage, negligence, unreasonable use, wear or exposure. An example of a non warranty situation would be using an abrasive material such as sand with our Aluminum Line Vacs. The abrasive nature of the sand will wear the aluminum Line Vac out well before the 5 years. Our application engineers will discuss your application and recommend products that fit your project and our 5 Year Built to Last Warranty.
EXAIR also has a 30-Day Guarantee that allows you to make a purchase and run trials to see the effectiveness of our product and how they meet your expectations. If the item provides desired results then great we are both happy but if you do not see the desired results then you have 30 Days from purchase to return the product. An Application Engineer can discuss your findings and issue a “Return Authorization” if needed. You will receive a full credit without any restocking fees.
EXAIR has confidence in our products to last and perform standing behind our products. Our confidence is why we offer both 5 Year Built to Last Warranty and the 30-Day Unconditional Guarantee. If you have any questions as to what EXAIR product will provide the best result for your application, please contact one of our qualified Application Engineers, so we can review this with you and make the best recommendation for your project(s).
