Designing for Reliability: The Advantage of No Moving Parts

In industrial environments, reliability often starts with simplicity. Every motor, bearing, belt, blade, or other moving part added to a system introduces another potential point of wear or failure. When engineers are designing equipment for long-term operation, one of the simplest ways to improve reliability is to reduce the number of moving parts.

That is a major advantage of EXAIR compressed air products.

Fewer Moving Parts, Fewer Failure Points

Traditional industrial equipment often relies on electric motors, fans, pumps, or mechanical components to create airflow, cooling, conveying, or vacuum. These solutions can work well, but they also introduce components that eventually require attention.

Bearings wear. Motors can overheat. Belts stretch or break. Filters clog. Mechanical components require lubrication and preventive maintenance.

Many EXAIR products accomplish similar industrial tasks using compressed air with no moving parts.

With no motor to burn out and no bearings or belts to replace, maintenance requirements can be dramatically reduced.

Reliability Across the Plant

The no-moving-parts design can be found throughout the EXAIR product line.

Super Air Knives and Air Nozzles provide engineered airflow for blow off, drying and cooling without fans or rotating blades.

Proper position on Super Air Knives

Vortex Tubes and Cabinet Coolers provide cold air for spot cooling and electrical enclosure cooling without refrigerants, compressors at the point of use, or moving components inside the cooling device.

Sub-zero air flow with no moving parts. 3400 Series Vortex Tubes from EXAIR.

Air Amplifiers entrain large volumes of surrounding air using a small amount of compressed air, providing high-volume airflow without an electric fan.

Model 120024 4″ Super Air Amplifiers are commonly used to exhaust welding smoke and fumes.

Line Vacs convert ordinary pipe or hose into a material conveying system without motors, bearings or mechanical pumps.

The Line Vac conveys scrap trim quickly and easily, and can be sized for most any product.

E-Vacs generate vacuum directly from compressed air with no moving components, making them well suited for applications where dependable vacuum generation is important.


Designing Maintenance Out of the Process

Maintenance teams spend a significant amount of time responding to equipment that has worn down, overheated, become contaminated, or simply reached the end of its service life.

Instead of asking, “How easy will this equipment be to maintain?”, engineers can sometimes ask a better question:

“Can we design the maintenance requirement out of the application?”

A compressed air product with no moving parts doesn’t eliminate every maintenance consideration. Compressed air still needs to be properly filtered and supplied at the appropriate pressure. But eliminating mechanical components can remove several common failure modes from the process entirely.

Reliability Isn’t Just About the Product

Unexpected equipment failure can mean much more than replacing a component. It can result in production downtime, lost product, emergency maintenance labor and missed delivery schedules.

That makes reliability a design consideration—not simply a maintenance consideration.

When evaluating a new blow off, cooling, conveying or vacuum application, consider not only whether a solution can perform the job today, but also what will be required to keep it performing years from now.

Sometimes the most reliable moving part is the one you never needed in the first place.

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer
E: JordanShouse@exair.com
O: (513) 671‑3322
F: (513) 671‑3363
A: 11510 Goldcoast Dr Cincinnati OH 45249
www.exair.com

Find time on my calendar by scheduling a meeting here.

Cabinet Cooler Systems Protect Against Heat Related Failure

Electricity generates heat — there’s no way around it — and heat is bad for electrical and electronic components. Studies show that an 18°F (10°C) rise in operating temperature will cut the average reliability of typical modern electronic components in half. If you’re concerned about the reliability of your equipment, it stands to reason that you should have that same level of concern for what’s protecting it.

Fans in the panel walls that pull outside air through are a cheap & easy way to provide a cooling airflow for the components inside. They work just fine as long as the fan is properly sized, AND the environment is clean enough (remember, anything in the air is going to get inside your panel), AND the ambient temperature doesn’t get too high. Filtering the air being pulled in can help with contamination, but you have to keep an eye on the filter to make sure it doesn’t get clogged. And, in humid areas, fans will draw that humidity (and the potential for condensation) right past all those current carrying devices.

Panel air conditioners are one of the most common methods when fan cooling won’t cut it for any of the above reasons. They solve the problem of humidity, but their cooling capacity is reduced by elevated ambient temperatures. Environmental contaminants can clog the filters and foul the coils, so keeping up on their cleaning & maintenance is crucial.

Heat exchanger type (air-to-air or air-to-water) panel coolers are also subject to failure if they’re not properly maintained. Air-to-water types rely on a refrigerant powered chiller for the water, which has the same drawbacks as a panel air conditioner. It just may not be in proximity to the panel.

Vortex Tube products, like EXAIR’s Cabinet Cooler Systems, have no moving parts to wear or electric motors to burn out. They just need a source of clean compressed air, and they’ll run darn near indefinitely, maintenance free. That’s really all you have to do to prevent their failure — and the failure of the electrical and electronic components in the panel they’re installed on.

Inside, outdoors, high temperature, dirt/dust/humidity, corrosive and classified environments are no problem for EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Systems

If you have an electrical panel with critical equipment in it, you’ve got a lot of options for heat protection. If you want the most durable & reliable method, you’re looking for an EXAIR Cabinet Cooler System. We can help get you the one you need with just a few key pieces of data. You can even use that data to select the right one yourself. If you’d like to find out more, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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Press Release: New Air Holster Safety Air Gun Mount

EXAIR has introduced the Model 5930 Air Holster, which offers a practical solution for securely storing Safety Air Guns at various workstations within a facility. This innovative product ensures that operators have a designated spot for their airguns when not in use, thereby reducing the likelihood of misplaced tools and promoting a more organized and efficient work environment. Its thoughtful design makes it particularly suitable for manufacturing, assembly, maintenance, and other industrial settings where Safety Air Guns are commonly utilized.

The Air Holster is designed to firmly attach to any robust magnetic surface, enabling users to swiftly access their tools during the workday. With its full-length front opening, it allows for the easy retrieval and replacement of longer tools and air guns after use. This holster offers reliable storage solutions for demanding industrial settings, presenting an effective method to enhance organization and efficiency in proximity to machinery such as mills, lathes, and cutoff saws.

EXAIR has expanded its range of accessories with the introduction of the Air Holster, enhancing the versatility and convenience of its Safety Air Guns. This new accessory complements existing offerings such as extension pipes for accessing hard-to-reach areas, Chip Shields that safeguard operators from debris, and flexible Stay Set Hoses designed for applications needing frequent adjustments. Additionally, EXAIR provides service kits and replacement parts to ensure the optimal performance of Safety Air Guns. The Air Holster is available for $38.

If you have any inquiries about the Air Holster, or any other EXAIR products, please feel free to contact us.

Jason Kirby
Application Engineer
Email: jasonkirby@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jk

Resources for Finding the Right Cabinet Cooler System

From right to left: Small NEMA 12, Large NEMA 12, Large NEMA 4X

During the warmer weather, electrical panels will start to feel the “heat.”  Freon-based coolers can be less effective in higher ambient conditions; and opening the electrical panels to have a fan blowing air inside creates a dangerous hazard.  To reduce loss in production and premature equipment failures, it is important to keep electrical components cool.  The EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Systems are an easy choice for consistent, long-lasting results. 

Cabinet Coolers are powered by Vortex technology, which uses compressed air to generate cold air flow.  They do not have any moving parts to wear.  They do not require any Freon or a refrigerant compressor that can fail.  They require very little to no maintenance to keep them operating for a long time.  EXAIR offers a variety of types and cooling capacities to work inside some of the toughest of conditions.  We range from 275 to 5,600 BTU/hr (80 – 1641 Watts) of cooling power.  They are easy to install, and EXAIR has several ways that can help you start using our Cabinet Cooler Systems. 

At the start, we do have a Cabinet Cooler Sizing Guide to help determine the total heat load.  This can be sent to us for calculations and recommendations.  We also have a Cabinet Cooler System Calculator on our website if you wish to tackle this yourself. 

EXAIR does an excellent job of helping our customers purchase a Cabinet Cooler System.  We use multiple methods to make sure that you are getting the correct information and the best out of our system.  So, if it is your first time ordering a system, here are some areas to help you quickly and easily install your new unit. 

We have our Installation Guides on our website for instructions and troubleshooting.  If you are more visual, like I am, we also have informal videos to give some tips and tricks.  Here is a list: 

How to install a Cold Air Distribution Kit

How to install Side Mount Kit

The Electronic Temperature Controller upgrade

Using the Cabinet Cooler Sizing Guide

Measuring internal and external air temperatures

Installing the Dual Hardware Kit for Dual Cabinet Coolers

Installing NEMA 4/4X Cabinet Coolers

Connecting the Thermostat to the Solenoid Valve

Resetting the thermostat

If you still have any questions, you can reach us by phone at 800-903-9247 or contact us through Chat.  An Application Engineer is waiting to help you.  For our U.S. customers from now until the end of August 2026 with qualified purchases, you will receive an AC Sensor for free, a $77.50 value, as a promotional item.  As I mentioned above, EXAIR has a number of ways to assist you from start to finish.

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb