Month: March 2010

Transfer of Glass beads With Heavy Duty Line Vac Improve Road Marking Application

Published on by Neal RakerLeave a comment

I’m sure we have all had the chance to drive down a newly paved stretch of road which has just received its lane markings in yellow and white paint. While you are driving you can’t help but notice that the lines on the road almost seem to glow as if they were back-lit by some lighting source embedded within the paved surface because it is so bright. The lane markings are made in such a highly reflective way to insure visibility during heavy rain and fog conditions.

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

Staying Sharp…and Ahead of the Competition

Published on by Kirk Edwards1 Comment

Whilst sitting down to do my taxes the other night, the lead on my No. 2 pencil broke.  I immediately remembered that the electric pencil sharpener we used had become quite dull, and being non-repairable, had made it’s way to the garbage can.  So I went to the garage to use the trusty hand crank style.  This too proved to be in less than prime condition.  It was one of those cheap plastic kind that only has one blade inside and never gets the point as sharp as I want it.  And when it does get barely sharp enough to use, the unbalanced design of the low-cost sharpener usually winds up snapping off the point.  Having had enough, I pulled out the Swiss Army Knife and sharpened it ‘carpenter’ style.

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

The Importance of Maintaining Pressure, Reducing Pressure Loss.

Published on by Kirk EdwardsLeave a comment

Compressed air is necessary for many applications. The pressure behind the air is an important part of producing the desired effect from the compressed air. Reducing pressure drops and keeping the end use pressure to a minimum both conserve energy and keep your system operating efficiently.

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

You wouldn’t Steal A Car, Would You?

Published on by Neal RakerLeave a comment

You have probably seen the preview video on a recently rented DVD or perhaps on YouTube. The slogan says, “You Wouldn’t Steal A Car, would you?” 
The video basically makes the parallel between downloading illegal videos and music to stealing a car a handbag or a television set. I have to say that I never really paid much attention to that little video until now.

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