Over the years EXAIR has grown and added to our in-house compressed air system. Little by little the length of compressed air pipe has increased, the diameters have increased, the number of fittings have increased and the number of connections have increased. Simply adding a new pipe drop from the header or another tool to the compressed air system seems harmless.

Needless to say, if everything about the compressed air system was working fine, we paid little attention.

In the same way, over the years I have grown, little by little a pound here a pound there. I am still able to get the job done, keeping up with my kids (they are still young) and generally move around OK so there is really no issue. As long as I was doing alright, I paid little attention.

Then the doctor told me to lose weight, eat better, exercise etc… So I started counting my calories using a nifty app on an I Touch. It provides feedback about the number of calories in foods and has given me a target caloric intake per day in order to lose weight. What I found was I had no problem eating twice what this app recommended for someone my size and age. I was shocked, but the simple feedback set me down the right path.

Much is the same about gathering feedback from our compressed air system. Once  EXAIR installed some digital flow meters we were provided with good feedback about our air consumption habits. We first learned that when we stopped working, the compressed air system was still consuming air!? Realizing it was leaks in the system, we began to identify and fix them.

Flow meters can also help you identify the largest air consuming processes in the plant when they are installed at multiple branches of the system. They will also help to identify the air savings once the process has been optimized with efficient blow off products, leaks are fixed and pressure is reduced.

Flow meters can also keep general awareness of the compressed air consumption at the forefront. If air flow values change significantly from one day to the next it may point to a broken component or leaking valve etc…

It is the feedback provided by the flow mater which allows you to have a starting point to reduce air consumption, it also allows you to put a value on the air you have saved after you have put forth the efforts necessary. A flow meter keeps the subject of air consumption relative to the process on an ongoing basis and helps people understand the importance of keeping the system efficient.

That is also the case with the my feedback about calories – It helps keep me in line, know where I stand, and pay attention to an important subject which is easily overlooked.

Kirk Edwards
Application Engineer
kirkedwards@exair.com

Hearing conservation is serious business. OSHA has specific directives governing noise exposure (Standards -29 CFR) which persons in the workplace can be exposed to. When noise exposures average 85 dB or greater during an 8 hour workday, monitoring is required.

EXAIR has an economical  digital sound level meter   that can  help monitor the sound levels around your facility. The source of loud noises can be quickly identified and isolated so corrective measures can be taken to reduce or eliminate the problem. For compressed air noise, it is often as simple as replacing the existing inefficient blow-offs with EXAIR’s engineered compressed air products such as the super air knife, super air amplifier, or super air nozzles.

Feel welcome to contact me if you have any questions

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair.com

In a manner of speaking, the source of the light is embedded within the painted surface itself. When these lines are painted, the paint actually has thousands of small glass beads mixed in with the paint as it is applied to the road. Glass beads have the physical property that they can refract and reflect light back to its source, your headlights. And so the glowing effect is achieved.

What does this have to do with EXAIR? Our 2″ Heavy Duty Line Vac Model 150200 is used to replenish the glass bead hopper on the painting truck from a larger bulk holding tank on another truck. Plenty of compressed air is available on the bulk truck as a 185 CFM compressor is also on board. So, it made perfect sense to be able to use the conveyor. The hopper on the paint truck can easily be re-loaded with about 300 lbs. of bead in less than 10 minutes time. Before, the implementation of the Heavy Duty Line Vac, the customer had to purchase their glass bead in 40 lb. bags and load the hopper manually. A process that took every bit of 1/2 hour with all the climbing and handling of the bags. Model 150200 2″ Heavy Duty Line Vac was selected for its highest available conveying capacity and also for its ability to resist abrasion from product running through the inside and from regular handling during use on the road.

With the new set up, the feed truck can easily pull up along side the painting vehicle, throw the hose into the hopper, turn on the compressed air and it is that easy. No more bags to deal with, no more spillage, no more risking operators climbing up and down from the feed hopper to load it.

Neal Raker
Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com

Learning from my past mistakes, I stopped in an office supply store over the weekend and began looking at the various sharpeners available.  I immediately passed up another non-repairable electric style, which, I might add cost twice as much as the hand crank versions.  I found that this particular store had two brands of the hand cranked style I liked.  Both claimed all metal construction, and looked very similar from the outside.  But I was determined I would not waste my money on another cheap pencil sharpener.  I kneeled down on the floor and opened the two units up.  Although this got some strange looks from other customers as well as staff of the store, I was glad I did it.  The lower cost of the two units was a single blade.  The slightly higher priced unit ($2 more to be exact) had the two-blade style I was after.  I took it home, installed it and immediately ran around the house looking for any pencil in need of sharpening.  After 5 minutes of pure pencil sharpening joy accompanied by that glorious sawdust/graphite smell, I finally let my son have a turn.  He was super excited because 1) this was a pencil sharpener just like the one he used in school and 2) mounting the new sharpener gave me a chance to position lower, so that he could more easily use it. 

So, what does this have to do with EXAIR?  Just as spending a little extra time researching the pencil sharpener paid off, so too will evaluating the next compressed air product you buy.  You might find a lower cost imitator out there, but when you compare apples to apples, you’ll find that any marginal cost savings is soon lost due to poor engineering and manufacturing techniques.  And as an added bonus, our engineers often find they can help customers not only find the best product for their application, but show them a more efficient way to install and use it.

There’s an old familiar saying that rings true here:  You get what you pay for.  Speaking of paying, think I’ll stop and buy a few packs of No. 2 pencils on the way home…

Dan Preston
Mechanical Engineer 
EXAIR Corporation

Pressure drops are the loss of pressure from your compressor outlet to the end use application. You can lose pressure through the compressed air piping, fittings, filters and regulators if they are not properly sized. A goal of less than 10 PSI pressure loss from you compressor to the end use is valiant, but a 5 psi loss would be much better.

Properly sized air distribution pipe, hose, fittings and components will decrease pressure loss. Many time we see customers use fittings with inside diameters half the size of the pipe or hose, this will create a pressure loss. We recommend a simple hose barb to NPT fitting because they generally have the largest inside diameters and reduce losses.

Proper maintenance of the filters, dryers, coolers and other system components will also keep the pressure up to its maximum because they will reduce moisture which can cause pipe corrosion that creates more friction and pressure loss.

Keeping the air supply lines as short as possible will also minimize pressure loss. You may choose to place receiver tanks closer to the end use application or drop your supply line from the main header closer to the point of use. Pay attention to these simple things and you will keep your supply pressure efficient.

You will also want to install a pressure regulator at the point of use. Just because you are keeping your pressure efficient and high, does not mean you have to use full pressure at every end use. A pressure regulator will allow you to reduce the end use  pressure to the lowest pressure possible while still getting the desired result.

You may even find that you lower the pressure at enough points of use that your overall system pressure can be reduced, which equals straight energy and dollar savings.

If you need any assistance in proper pipe sizes or fittings, and experienced technical help who recognize the best pressures for applications – let us know.

Kirk Edwards
Application Engineer
kirkedwards@exair.com

I can now say that I know how those in the film and music industry feel about the subject. Basically, a “low-cost” imitator has been found ripping off my work. For us, blogs are a fairly informal communication tool meant to get the “meat and potatoes” details of a good application out there so you can benefit. Harmless enough, right?

Since our “low-cost” imitator can’t seem to muster up an original thought or design for that matter, they had to come knocking and stealing content from my blog last week not even 20 minutes after I posted my blog.

All I can say is you’re welcome. It would have been nice to have been asked to use the content first though.

So, if you want to read some good blogs with decent and original content, keep reading EXAIR’s blog. If you want to read a poor copy 20 minutes later, you can check out the “low-cost” imitation.

Back to the movie theme; if you have ever seen the movie “Multiplicity” with  Doug Kinney, played by Michael Keaton,  who finds he doesn’t have enough time to split between his wife, job and family, until he meets a scientist who offers to clone him. The problem was that each of the “copies” were not as good as the original. Unfortunately, for our imitators, that is what you as the customer will find as well. And with the “low cost” imitator being at least a 3rd  level copy providing “me too” product because they could not do a good enough job providing material for the 2nd level copy, it is everything they can do to buy the business by attempting to be the “low cost” guys.

If having top-notch service from knowledgable Application Engineers with an average of  13 years of experience in this industry and with this specific kind of product is important to you when considering your application needs, please contact us. We will go over your application with you. We’ll share our rich industrial experience and brainstorm with you about the options you have and determine together how best to proceed for your solution.

The low-cost guys battle on price because that is all they can do. They have no depth of experience to have the original thoughts necessary to write a unique blog or be a true asset you to you and your company.

Neal Raker
Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com

Having an inventory of tools may be a guy thing, and I plead guilty. Whenever the wife adds a honey- do to my list, it’s an excuse to go out and buy “the proper tools” for the job. Over the years my workshop has become fairly complete.  I would think this would be a coveted inheritance for my son but then that would spoil the sport of his putting together his own collection.

So what have I collected so far; Lawn tractor, roto tiller, wood chipper, rolling chest full of wrenches. You know the bare necessities of manly life. My most fun tool is a power auger that I bought last spring.

I look forward to spring but not the countless flats of flowers the wife brings home for me to plant. This must be universal because the men in the neighborhood share the same angst. Knowing there had to be a better way, I bought the power auger. I used it to drill a hole, throw the flower in, tamp in the dirt and finish long before the rest of the neighbor guys. Then just for a little male competitiveness, I popped a brew and wandered over to my neighbor to see how he was doing. Being the clear winner, I offered him the use of my power auger which seemed to have made its way around the neighborhood.

In our places of business, productivity is the name of the game. It’s not how hard you work but how much you get done. With the proper tools more can be accomplished with fewer man hours. That’s how you become competitive globally. Everyday I work with automation systems integrators. I am amazed at the ingenious concepts they come up with. Although EXAIR products make up only a small part of the overall project, I get excited being part of the specification process.

The latest opportunity was with an automated inspection and reject station.

The traditional method was to magnaflux the parts for internal fractures. This is an age-old process of flushing the part with a special fluid and holding it under a black light. Time consuming and the parts have to be cleaned.

The proposed method is to fixture the parts into a rotating table. They go under a proprietary detecting device that examines the part for internal fractures. If a fracture is detected, we used an EXAIR model 6013 high velocity air jet  to blow it out of the fixture and over to an EXAIR model 120024 Air amplifier to be vacuumed away to a quarantined area. No operator, no fluids, no added cleaning operation. That’s progress.

Until next week,
Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair.com

In this scenario, the customer has to empty the bottles and get the product back into their packaging machine hopper. Besides being a real pain to have to open each bottle and empty, the customer also has to get these tablets back up into the packaging machine. The tool they decided to use was our 1-1/4″ 316 Stainless Steel Line Vac. The Line Vac had to be made of 316 stainless in order to be considered a normally accepted material for use in applications dealing with medications. The FDA regulates this.

The facts that the 316 stainless Line Vac was a normally stocked item for us and also that it was meant exactly for this type of “bucket and ladder” type conveying application made it a perfect fit for this particular application.

If you are in the pharmaceutical packaging business and can recall where you may have had similar applications for packaging, let us know.

Neal Raker
Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com

The manufacturer assembles and machines the parts and then runs them through a mineral spirits bath to remove any cutting fluids and oil.

Now they need to remove the mineral spirits from the cylinder to prepare it for a label. They currently do it by hand with an air gun. The air gun generally move the mineral spirits around the cylinder until it evaporates. The coverage area of the air gun they use is small and it takes too much time to remove the mineral spirits. They were trying to reduce the time necessary to remove the mineral spirits.

After consulting with the customer, EXAIR recommended a 3″ Air Wipe, which covers the product range diameters from 1″-2-1/2″ diameters. The operator is still picking up the cylinders but then simply running them through the Air Wipe which provides a one time 360 degree blow off.

I did also recommend some strategically positioned air nozzles to remove liquid from the holes and mounting features because the Air Wipe will not reach those areas on its own, but the customers needs were only to prepare the cylinder surface for a label.

The reduction in blow off time allows the operator to do additional tasks. Additional tasks which have become necessary to remain competitive today.

Kirk Edwards
Application Engineer
kirkedwards@exair.com

When we were kids, Mom reused jelly jars for juice glasses. Grandma recycled flour sacks into pillow cases. Anything headed for the dump Dad stripped of its nuts and bolts and saved them in recycled baby food jars. As we outgrew our clothes, we recycled them down to our smaller siblings.

Then there came the era of “planned obsolescence“.  The idea was not to make products designed to last, but they should be made cheaply and simply discarded and replaced. This would create jobs and stimulate a robust economy. So we became a wasteful, consuming, throwaway society.

Today we have come full circle. Catch phrases such as sustainability, recycle, and conserve are the rage. Oh really! That’s what we used to do. So is this really new or simply recycled from the past with a new coat of paint?

EXAIR does not subscribe to planned obsolescence. For 27 years we have built our products to last and back it up with a 5 year built to last warranty. Nozzles, jets, and air knives have been around forever. So their basic concept is not new. What is new is what EXAIR has done to design them to conserve compressed air, operate at low sound levels, and be compliant to OSHA directives without sacrificing performance.

If you need help in retrofitting your inefficient nozzles or have an application that requires the use of compressed air call one of our application engineers at 1-800-903-9247

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair.com