Month: December 2011

Winter is here, but Summer will be back!

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

During the Winter most people aren’t thinking about what problems or issues they had last summer.   Generally during the winter most are concerned and bothered by static charge on their parts or in their process causing big problems.  We talk a lot about static and our full line of static eliminators during these Winter months, but not today.  Today I am going to help everyone think of those warmer times and help jog the memory of those problems that you had and need to fix before next Summer.

The past few days here at EXAIR I have spoke to customers that have been having issues with heat during the Summer months and they want to take advantage of the slower winter month and holiday time to be proactive with their maintenance.  You see, each of these customers have had consistent heat problems on a few pieces of machinery the past few summers.  They have tried dealing with it the traditionally unsafe ways and have limped through the hot Summer months but now they want to solve the problems for the years to come.  This is why they have been contacting us about our Cabinet Cooler Systems.

With our Cabinet Cooler Systems you can very quickly and effectively install a solution and be ready for the hot weather that is sure to ensue in a few months.  So if you have had heat issues the past few Summers give us a call and we’ll walk you through sizing a Cabinet Cooler System for your application.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

One for the books

Published on by Lee EvansLeave a comment

This will be my last blog for 2011, and as I wrote in an earlier post, I’ve been giving the year its due reflection.  One of the personal goals I set for 2011 was for personal health.  Admittedly, I am not yet to where I need to be by the 31st, but I’ve come close, and still have a few days to go!

As the year rolls around, new resolutions will be made, and I intend to approach them better than those I made at this same time last year.  One of the biggest contributors to success in achieving the goals I set out last year has without a doubt been my position at EXAIR.  The structure and guidance of everyone in the engineering department, and the insightful and experienced leadership have made a lasting and overwhelmingly positive impact on me both professionally and personally.

Our production personnel, internal processing department and marketing staff have fielded dozens of questions and no matter who I ask, everyone is always on the same page with the same goal – companywide transparency to provide the best products and service in our industry.  And it shows.

I feel and I know I’m blessed and fortunate to be here.  Thanks to everyone at EXAIR and to all our clients for a great year.

Lee Evans

Application Engineer

leeevans@exair.com

@EXAIR_LE

The Old One-Two

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

I’ve written about comfort zones, and getting out of them, before. Recently, I’ve had a few opportunities to get out of one of my favorites: the Comfort Zone of Absolutes. I’m a big fan of on or off. Hot or cold. Fixed or broke. Right or wrong. Or, for that matter, right or left.

Compressed air blow off applications don’t always work like that, though. I mean, if you want to remove dust & debris from a flat, smooth sheet of material traveling down a conveyor, and you install a Super Air Knife a few inches above it, aimed at about a 45° angle back towards the sheet’s direction of travel, it doesn’t get any better than that…you’re going to have great results.

What do you do, though, when the part isn’t nice and smooth and flat? What if it’s an irregular shaped casting, with bosses, reliefs, blind holes, nooks, crannies, etc? Bad news is, there’s not a one-step, right-out-of-the-box solution. Good news is, even if your part has a few (or more) of these profiles, we’ve got a few (or more) viable solutions: whether it’s Air Knives, Air Amplifiers, Nozzles, Jets, or a mixed array of these – let us help you put together the “one-two” (and “three-four” if needed) punch you need to solve even the trickiest blow off applications.  Our Application Database has some great examples of how we’ve helped others achieve great success in applications just like this, and we’d like to add yours to the list.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
(513)671-3322 local
(800)923-9247 toll free
(513)671-3363 fax
Web: www.exair.com
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Is This What Your Blowing ‘implement’ Looks Like? If So, We Can Help……

Published on by Neal RakerLeave a comment

Does your homemade blow-off “lance” look like something from a 15th century dungeon?

No consideration for excessive noise levels for the operators in the area. No consideration for basic safety regarding dead-end pressure levels that can be achieved with an implement like the one pictured above. Not to mention the fact that the operator has to lean over this moving material in order to hit his target that is 3 meters away! Yikes! Hugely inefficient use of not only compressed air but operator time and company resources! “But this is the way we have always done it.”, replies the person on the other end of the conversation. Not if OSHA has anything to say about it.

Take a look at this application in a plant that produces engine blocks. All of the ‘blow-offs’ are smashed pipes and tubes connected to an un-filtered, un-regulated compressed air supply.

The customer was complaining because when the application was activated to blow off the target motor block, the resulting sound level was 100 dB +. Also, they had a very difficult time with the compressor system being able to keep up with what amounts to the equivalent of 15 open ended 1/2″ tubes just blowing compressed air at the block. Some care was taken to actually hit various features of the target, but in no way does the application begin to define the concept of efficient use of compressed air.

Scenes like the ones pictured above are exactly the kind of situations for which EXAIR has loads of good advice and a huge selection of engineered solutions that we can pick from in helping the customer reduce noise, save compressed air and make the application compliant with safety standards for industry (OSHA). Sometimes, it takes stepping back from the problem, getting a fresh set of eyes on the problem to come up with some pretty cool solutions. Those solutions can be as easy as simply screwing one of our engineered nozzles onto the end of a threaded pipe to reduce noise and air consumption. Or perhaps the solution involves the simple use of strategically placed nozzles controlled by a filtered, regulated, automatic air supply that only comes on when a target is present and ready to be blown off.

I know we keep saying it in just about every blog post, but it is true. If you have situations that are similar to the ones above, give us a chance to help you make your application safer, quieter and more efficient in compressed air use. Who wouldn’t want to spend less money on compressed air?

Neal Raker
Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com