Month: June 2010

Keeping Up with the Latest Fads

Published on by Kirk Edwards1 Comment

If you were of a similar demographic as myself, you may have young kids. I have 3 kids from 6-10 years old. They crave time spent with a “DS”, trade Pokemon cards and think Shrek should be a role model without ever having seen a Shrek movie. They are of a new generation of Michael Jackson fan due to his untimely and media saturated death, and play their music on MP3 players with earbuds. Fortunately they never pass up an opportunity to watch Phineas and Ferb which I too would recommend to people of any age.

But the latest fad which causes them to beg, whine or flash puppy dog eyes my way are these crazy Silly Bands…

First there was panic because the local Walgreens was selling out within minutes of receiving the shipment, just like every other store in the greater area. Next came victory in scoring one overpriced pack (split between the three of them) from the zoo gift shop. Shortly afterwards they developed a reliable source and began to stockpile their booty to the extent they could sort them by color, letter, glowing or not glowing, animal or vehicle – you get the picture. As the days go on I see less of their arms and more Silly Bands. I am just waiting for the day they bust out of the house covered in silly bands and scream “I pity the fool without Silly Bands” – if you catch my drift. And then another fad will come along and start the cycle over again.

And we as adults are not immune to similar frenzied products or catch phrases. Optimistically we are seeing this great push for a greener world and more efficient products. It seems that marketing from every company selling everything pitches an earth saving widget, almost to the extent of being a fad. EXAIR is just happy everyone is catching on to how important efficiency is because we have pushed the boundaries of compressed air efficiency since we began.

Originally replacing those ridiculously outdated open blow offs and pipes with drilled holes with our Standard Air Knives. Then  we introduced the second generation Super Air Knife with improved economy. The Super Air Knife continues to be unmatched in the compressed air industry.

EXAIR began by representing an existing line of Air Amplifier but soon realized how to improve on that design as well. We now offer the patented Super Air Amplifier, the most efficient Air Amplifier available. Our original Safety Air Nozzles were the best solution for retrofitting open pipe applications, but now the Super Air Nozzle product line boasts the best compressed air reduction in our industry.

And to continue we began to develop our compressed air optimization product line so our customers can measure and control air usage and find problem areas. The accessories we offer allow for operating products at lower pressure and keep the compressed air clean to keep products working long-term and effectively.

 We have these products on our shelves for quick delivery, you will not experience any panic due to unavailable inventory. We are certainly a reliable source for product, service and technical information so please take advantage of us. You too can soon be stockpiling compressed air for use in other areas, or to eliminate an extra compressor. And if you like you could shout “I pity the fool who isn’t using EXAIR to improve their compressed air efficiency” (OK so it doesn’t have that edgy buzz to it).

And it may very well be that the greening of industry is not exactly a fad (and it should not be) but it certainly is a bandwagon others are choosing to jump upon. And that’s OK with us because in EXAIR’s industry, we are not just on the bandwagon, we are driving it.

Kirk Edwards
Application Engineer
kirkedwards@exair.com

Down in the Dungeon

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Compressed air is the lifeblood of a manufacturing facility. Actuators, vises, sensors, etc. all use the convenient supply of shop air. When it comes to the air compressor that supplies all this power, it is usually relegated to some dark, dank, dirty, non-ventilated dungeon away from the general work area . If you’ve ever been in a compressor room, you know why it is not a popular place to hide from the boss.

I had brick making customer with dirty compressed air getting into our product and fouling it up. A quick visit to their compressor room made it clear why dirt was in the compressed air. Keep in mind the compressor breathes in air from the area it is installed. The quality of air in the room will have an effect on the air being delivered throughout the system. They were storing bags of powdered colorants in the room along with the compressor and it was getting into their air system. They could not move the compressor because they really needed the floor space so they ran ductwork to the outside for fresh air. Problem solved.

Another issue with compressor room environments is temperature. When air is compressed it creates heat warming the air in the room. The compressor breathes in this warm air and heats it up even further. If the room is not fully vented it becomes an endless cycle. When this warm compressed air is sent through the system it cools within the distribution lines. This cooling process causes the humidity to condensate out causing water problems at the point of use.

For a healthy compressed air system, your first line of defense is the compressor’s environment. Then a second line of defense is to install an EXAIR filter separators at the point of use. These will filter out dirt to 5 micron and separate out any condensate that has formed in your air lines.

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair

The Proof Of The Pudding Is In The Eating

Published on by Neal RakerLeave a comment

 

Flaming Pudding

The title of this blog is actually the correct version of what may be the more popular but incorrect version, “The Proof Is In The Pudding”. The meaning of these statements pretty much hold true though; to fully test something, you need to experience it yourself.

And so, I wanted to tell you a short story about a customer who contacted with me recently about our Heavy Duty Dry Vac. The company that contacted me specialized in preparing and painting die-cast, metal parts. Part of the preparation process was to blast the parts with an Aluminum Oxide blast media to remove all foreign material and contaminants from the parts.

The customer had found our Heavy Duty Dry Vac on-line. They were interested in using it to pick up the Aluminum Oxide blast media after they had run a batch of parts through the blasting booth. The customer had a real concern about the ability of the Heavy Duty Dry Vac to effectively pick up the blasting media. Once I understood their concern, I brought up the fact that all stocked EXAIR products come with a 30 day guarantee and that meant the customer could return the Heavy Duty Dry Vac if they were un-happy about the performance of the product.

The customer appreciated that we had such a generous program to get the tool out in the field so they could test with their own hands. But their hands were tied due to their own internal regulations. So, we did the next best thing.

The customer arranged to send a bucket full of their blasting media to EXAIR for a trial run here at our demonstration facility. We made a short video of the performance with the Aluminum Oxide material which you can view below.

The customer could not believe that we would actually produce a short but effective video to prove to them that the EXAIR Heavy Duty Dry Vac actually worked very well to move their material. They were satisfied with the result achieved on the video and placed the order for the system that very same day.

Neal Raker
Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com

Flaming Pudding image courtesy of James Petts  Creative commons license.

Have A Dirty Super Air Knife Or Reversible Drum Vac?

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

             I get a fair number of calls from customers asking for model numbers that they ordered years ago and now the product is dirty or what they think is worn out and bad so they just want to know how they can clean it or get it back within operating specifications.   For instance if you have a Super Air Knife that looks like the one shown below we can let you know the proper ways to clean and inspect the knife to get it back to operating like new.  

 

            In some cases your facility may not be staffed or equipped properly to handle the cleaning and refurbish of a Super Air Knife or a Reversible Drum Vac for instance.  This is a service that we can provide to you here at EXAIR Corp.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

            Take the Reversible Drum Vac  (RDV) that is shown above.   It was thought that this RDV was beyond repair.  The float could not even move because of all of the buildup.  The first step we took was to send the customer a PDF file we have on the process to clean a RDV.  One of the slides is shown below. 

 

             While this customer was not comfortable trying to return the product back to new, working condition we offered to have them send it to us for refurbish.  If you have a Reversible Drum Vac and are in need of cleaning please contact us, and we’ll get this slide show to you.

            This unit was in bad shape.  When we checked the flow rates on the RDV it was off the charts bad. After we refurbished the unit and replaced a single O-Ring, (also put new stickers on it to make it shine like new) the RDV worked just as good as a brand new unit.   It was sent back to the customer to be placed back into service instead of into a scrap bin.

            This is yet another way we are able to prove to you our customer that we want to do what is best for you.  We don’t want to just make a sale but build a relationship where we can not only help you get your application started up and running pristine, but also maintain that system and when it needs a little bit of work we’re here to offer our services.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com