Here at EXAIR, we are always trying to get better at helping our customers.  You can see that in our award winning products, and you can see it in our never-ending quest to improve our service levels.  We are always testing, measuring and verifying our performance, whether it’s our products or our service.  We always want to know how we are doing and that we are delivering what we promise to our customers. 

And, of course, we always want to know how we stack up against our competition.  We constantly benchmark ourselves against others.  In that spirit, we test a LOT of products from other companies and compare them both with our own products and against the specifications promised by the manufacturer.  One recent test was eye-opening, and should point out the perils of trusting in “Fool’s Gold”…

Well, it LOOKED pretty good coming out of the box.  It was shiny.  It had a decent finish, despite some questionable design choices.  It had the appearance of a tool with some utility.  The manufacturer had chosen to publish specifications for this product that were, not coincidentally, slightly better than our specs for that sort of product.  This isn’t surprising – other companies are always trying to match EXAIR, although most fail in that regard.  An unsuspecting buyer who chose to purchase this product based on those specifications would be terribly disappointed once they put this particular item into service, however.  You see, as often happens, this product of inferior design and substandard workmanship couldn’t deliver what its manufacturer had promised.  That is not to say that it delivered LESS than the manufacturer said it would.  No, it delivered much, much MORE than advertised…

At an inlet pressure of 80 PSIG, this product consumed 49.6% more compressed air than its manufacturer claimed.  And the noise level?  It was 13.7 dBA louder than promised.  To put that in perspective, the increase in noise level would make the product seem more than twice as loud as one that performs as promised.

Over promising and under delivering are a common problem in many industries.  In this case, the broken promises are bad enough, but these unrealistic performance claims carry along with them very real costs.  This product consumed about 67 SCFM more than advertised.  That means it was wasting 67 cubic feet of compressed air every minute it was in operation.  This equates to over 160,000 cubic feet of compressed air wasted each week by just one unit running during an eight hour shift, five days per week.  That’s over 8 million cubic feet of compressed air wasted each year for every one of these units that are put into operation. 

To put that into monetary terms, an unsuspecting buyer of this sort of inferior product would be wasting nearly $2100 per year per unit in unexpected operational costs simply because the manufacturer could not deliver what they promised. 

Wasting $2100 per year in order to operate a tool that is supposed to save you money is an unwelcome and unwanted surprise.  Imagine that waste multiplied across a plant-wide installation.  Facility managers would be coming with pitchforks if they knew this was going on in their plants.

Don’t be fooled by Fool’s Gold that isn’t what it seems to be and doesn’t deliver what it claims.

Here are some tips from the History Channel to help identify Fool’s Gold.

Claims are easy, proof is hard.

Bryan Peters
President

On April 2, 2013, I wrote about my big Springtime Project. It is now a month and a half later and I have successfully completed my first “boot job” as they call it. I put the boat in the water last weekend and was so proud………….it didn’t sink!  Admittedly, I did keep it on the trailer while in the water at the ramp for about 15 minutes though and checked all round in the engine compartment to make sure nothing was coming through.   As many of you know, it is always a good feeling of achievement when you dig into something you know little about, research it and are able to make a successful repair. I did check with the repair department at a local marina and found out that it would have cost $1,400.00 to have them do it. Since I was able to do it for less than half of that in parts cost, that just reinforces benefit of doing it myself. I asked a lot of questions before and during the process and received a lot of good advice.

At EXAIR, I have recently fielded some questions about some of our newer products to help dispel any misnomers and bring to light some of the differences between the various models so customers can make an informed decision when they begin to look at our products and aren’t quite sure what to think…….much like me and the boat project.

One customer had asked me, “I have a lot of pneumatic actuators, a couple of Air Knives and some E-vacs on a compressed air line. I would like to mount a Digital Flow Meter to the line to know how much air we are consuming. Is it OK to permanently install the Digital Flow Meter or should I only use it on a temporary basis?”
The answer is that the Digital Flow Meters are intended to be installed permanently on a pipe for continued monitoring of compressed air flow for as long as the line is in service. In fact we have other accessory items such as the Summing Remote Display and the Data Logger which aid in monitoring flow over longer time frames.

Another customer asked, “You have quite a few different Industrial Vacuums for solid material pick-up, how do I know which one will work best for my material?  Is there a specific particle size range that each should be used for?”
The answer is that all of our solid pick –up, Industrial Housekeeping products: Chip Vac, Heavy Duty Dry Vac and Heavy Duty HEPA Vac can pick up most any solid materials as long as they will fit into the hose without clogging it. Think of the Chip Vac as our standard duty unit, the Heavy Duty Dry vac as the Heavy Duty pick-up unit and the Heavy Duty HEPA Vac the one that gives the best all round performance and can also work to filter very fine dust particles down to 0.3 micron at 99.97% efficiency.

In effect, all of our Industrial Vacuums are well suited for shop and industrial type uses. However, if you are the type of person who wants a bit more power, then HD Dry Vac and HD HEPA Vac are for you. If you have a large quantity of a very fine dust you are working with and don’t want to be clogging your filter bag immediately, then the HD HEPA Vac is our newest and best offering.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. We make every effort to allow people to contact us in a variety of ways, so keep them coming. We can walk you through and help you get to a good point in your project.

Neal Raker, Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com

To preserve the legacy of the trusty slide rule, I challenged him to a math problem. He would use the calculator and would I used the slide rule. I won because it took fewer motions than it does with tapping a multitude of buttons on the calculator.

As an engineer, I embrace all new technology. Admittedly though, old technology is not totally useless and should not be regarded as irrelevant. Most new technology is spawned from the old. Wind power is as old as Don Quixote. Today’s wind turbines are simply a more efficient design in harnessing wind to generate electricity. Amateur Radio was a popular way to talk around the world. With the advent of the internet and cellphones  the novelty has waned. That’s not to say Ham Radio should be mothballed. In the case of a natural disaster, or if the internet would be  hacked by enemy forces, a pool of people with radio transmission skills will be called upon.

So in summary, new may be better but it does not make old useless. Preserve the old and glean from it new and improved technologies.

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
Phone (513) 671-3322
Fax (513) 671-3363
Web: http://www.exair.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/exair_jp
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair

First, for Mother’s day I found a project to build a squirrel feeder out of a fence post and glass jar.   So I built the feeder and the present from our daughters is that they get to decorate it with their mom.  (The squirrels are lucky that we don’t own a bedazzler …yet).

Second, as my blog last week mentioned, the Softball team is coming together.  A good number of us went to a local field and hit the ball around for a few hours Thursday. It was nice to leave all the titles behind and just be a group of friends playing ball.  I do have to mention that so far we have had no injuries, other than lots of soreness from unused muscles.

Third on the list is that EXAIR is offering a full line of No Drip Atomizing Liquid Spray Nozzles now,   if you have a precious liquid, or if you can’t have over spray or dripping of the liquid then our No Drip Nozzles are the solution to your problems. The new nozzles don’t require an extra valve or separate air line.  Simply install it just like any other Atomizing Spray Nozzle from our line and then when the air pressure reaches 30 psig the internal valve will open allowing liquid flow.  Simply turn off the compressed air to stop the flow and not a single drip of liquid will escape.

As for tonight, the plans will be determined by a three year old and I will simply be the chauffeur.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

The only real repair issue I’m facing with it right now is a seal leak on the power steering rack & pinion. Although it’s a very slow leak, I’m well aware that it’s probably not going to fix itself. In fact, I know for sure that it’s going to get worse, and the day is coming when I’ll have to do something about it. The last time I changed the oil, I surveyed the situation, and it looks to be a fairly involved repair. For me, anyway…on a scale of 1-10, changing the oil is about an 8 for me. I estimate the seal job as a 13.

Again, though, it’s still a small leak: I’m going through a $3 bottle of power steering fluid every month or so, pouring a few ounces in the reservoir every time I stop to fill the gas tank. It’s another example of something that’s going to have to get a whole lot worse to make me consider the alternative.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with an engineer at a large power tool manufacturing company over the course of the last two years…he’s been replacing open-end blow offs (mostly made by crushing the ends of copper tubing) with 3” Aluminum Super Air Knives throughout their plant…and realizing significant savings in compressed air consumption. In a couple of situations, he’s saving even more air by using an EFC Electronic Flow Control, when they can get away with intermittent blow offs.

There are a couple of production lines, though, where he hasn’t been able to justify the use of the Super Air Knives…these are locations where only one crimped tube is run, and the parts are so small & lightweight that they can only use very low compressed air supply pressure. In those cases, we’ve both done the math, not only on the Super Air Knives, but Air Amplifiers and Super Air Nozzles, and the numbers just don’t bear out much benefit from replacement. And that’s OK: it’s just as important to know where our products aren’t going to work out as it is to know where they will.

I guess the bottom line is this: we don’t need to finagle our products into situations where they’re not needed.  We, and EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Product users everywhere, are doing just fine (better than that, even) by putting them in applications where they’re making a HUGE difference. Give me a call if you want to find out how much we can improve your compressed air applications. I’d love to find out myself!

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
(513)671-3322 local
(800)923-9247 toll free
(513)671-3363 fax
Web: http://www.exair.com
Blog: http://blog.exair.com/
Twitter: twitter.com/exair_rb
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair

I was working recently with a customer who performs a variety of media blasting services. Their services involve cleaning delicate molds, armatures and electric motors prior to being re-wound. They also get into a variety of other applications that involve the need to clean coatings or other foreign matter from delicate surfaces such as jewelry, watches and similar items. They use walnut shell material as it works well without etching or otherwise damaging these surfaces.

The customer contacted EXAIR as they were looking for a reasonable way to clean up this very dusty material after they have used it. In fact, they re-use the material multiple times and needed a good way to collect it back into a central tank without creating huge dust clouds that would present a breathing hazard to their operators.

Our customer contacted us after they saw we had the new Heavy Duty HEPA Vac as part of our Industrial Housekeeping Products offering now. They had a few initial questions regarding how well it actually traps the very fine materials that it vacuums. I had explained to them that we had conducted several tests on a variety of materials including everything from metal chips down to powder the consistency of baking flour. When tested with the very fine materials, we found there were no visible emissions through the filtering system and back into the atmosphere above the drum lid where the exhaust flow is located. That discussion was enough to convince this customer that the Heavy Duty HEPA Vac was the right product for them. Previously, they had been trying to use the typical electric shop vacuums that you get from the local hardware stores. While these work OK for a while, they get clogged up with the fine dust very quickly. Also, the fine dust makes its way into the electric motor causing over heating conditions and eventually failure. The Heavy Duty HEPA Vac has no moving parts to wear out. That was another advantage the customer saw as positive for their purposes.

Since buying model 6199 Heavy Duty HEPA Vac a month ago, our customer has reported back to me their success at using the unit for cleanup and recycling. Having the capability of a large, 55 gallon drum reservoir was another feature that made their job a lot easier.

If you have a rather dusty material that you need to vacuum up and make sure is contained in your operation, give some serious consideration to the EXAIR Heavy Duty HEPA Vac System. You will be glad you did.

Neal Raker, Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com

The initial concept was to use an EXAIR Deep Hole Vac U Gun where compressed air is blown down into the hole with a small compressed air tube. The savings are captured by a soft vinyl tube under vacuum generated by the gun. This worked quite well but would require an operator positioned at that station. The customer wanted to keep the operation unmanned.

They added another station in the transfer line and installed an EXAIR 5 gallon Chip Vac with the end of its hose modified to replicate the Deep Hole Vac U Gun. They moved the modified hose end with a robot from hole to hole. This eliminated tap breakage, line shutdown, and increased uptime by 10%. 

There are a lot of innovative  ways that EXAIR products can be used.

Give our application engineers a call. 1-800-903-9247.  They would be happy to assist you.

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
Phone (513) 671-3322
Fax (513) 671-3363
Web: http://www.exair.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/exair_jp
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair

http://www.exair.com/28/dhvg.htm

As of right now we are still gathering our equipment up and it seems like it is going to turn out to be a combination of The Sandlot, along with The Bad News Bears. (Not the Billy Bob Thorton version.)  The interesting part of the process so far is that we have already started to pull together and help each other out.  Even people who aren’t going to be playing have volunteered to watch us for comedic relief or donate some old equipment to the cause.

So other than being a group of guys that haven’t played sports in a handful of years we have one thing going for us and that is the support from EXAIR.   It really goes to show you what kind company EXAIR is.  We’ll not only help you find what you need, let you try the unit out for 30 days, then stand behind it for 5 years against manufacturer’s defect.  We will also be here to support troubleshooting and any other help you may need with the product by phone, e-mail, live chat or even fax.

If you have a question on any of our products, don’t hesitate to call.   Also, if you are in Cincinnati and want to watch some live entertainment, let us know and we’ll get you the team schedule.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

One of the avenues we offer for our customers to contact us, is by phone.  It almost seems old fashioned considering the number of emails and online IM conversations (chats) we have on a daily basis.  But, its tried and true.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of working with end users of our product in Texas.  They’ve purchased countless items from us over the years and due to an on-site accident needed a replacement item for one of our Safety Air Guns.  We have several styles with various models in each offering, so I felt some doubt we were at exactly the right place.

To erase the doubt and confirm the necessary part to the end user, I took a few photos of the spares and sent them over.  It turns out we were right on the money, but having visual confirmation gave the extra security needed to order without hesitation.  And, of course, we created another again-satisfied customer.

If you have an application or EXAIR related question, the door is always open.

Lee Evans

Application Engineer

LeeEvans@EXAIR.com

@EXAIR_LE

You’re probably thinking of a thousand better ways to spend a birthday, and, a thousand times, you would be right. It wasn’t all bad, though: right before we got into the plumbing project, we had lunch with some of our best friends. Since it was my birthday, I got to choose where we went. After making several fast-food suggestions that I KNEW would be unacceptable to my wife, I picked one of her favorite steak joints, and all was well. Medium well, actually…

Speaking of smart decisions, I had the pleasure of helping a new customer with product selection for a cooling application yesterday. There are many, many situations where an EXAIR product can be used for cooling, but it all comes down to two considerations. Is it better to use:

*A small-to-moderate flow of very cold air (like a Vortex Tube), or
*A high volume flow of ambient temperature air?

In this case, they needed to keep a sensitive component in a vision inspection system relatively cool in a very high temperature environment. For that kind of mass heat removal, the obvious answer was an Air Amplifier:  although a Vortex Tube can produce very cold temperatures, when the temperature of the machinery is more than a few hundred degrees, the relative “cool” of room temperature air will do just fine, especially if you can provide a LOT of it.  What (I hope) sells the customer on it is a video we recently became aware of, showing our Adjustable Air Amplifiers being used to cool the exhaust during the testing of the 2014 Corvette’s 450HP V8 engine:

If you have an application requiring a cooling flow of air and aren’t sure which way to go, give me a call. If the Corvette engine video doesn’t convince you, we can even resort to quantitative analysis of your heat load, which is almost as fun. Almost…

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
(513)671-3322 local
(800)923-9247 toll free
(513)671-3363 fax
Web: http://www.exair.com
Blog: http://blog.exair.com/
Twitter: twitter.com/exair_rb
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair