Month: May 2013

Dad, Are You Serious!

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slideIn support of those who used slide rules, comptometers, and bumper jacks…
My son was helping me clean out the basement when we came across my old slide rule. He asked what it was so I demonstrated how it worked. He looked at me with a blank stare and said ” Dad are you serious! Why not just use a calculator!” I told him because calculators were not around until the early 70’s. Then all they could do is add, subtract, multiply, and divide.

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

Recap Of Mother’s Day Week 2013

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

This has been a busy week; here at EXAIR and at home.  Between Mother’s Day on Sunday, EXAIR Softball Practice on Tuesday and Thursday, some new product releases and finally ending tonight with a night of me watching my daughters while my wife enjoys a night out with friends.

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).

20130512_204102

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.

No drip

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

If It’s Not Broke…Or Even If It Is…How Bad Is It?

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

I currently drive a 12-year-old minivan. I’ve been pretty good about keeping up with the preventive maintenance on it, and aside from a little rust on the fenders and stains in the carpet, it’s not too much worse for the wear. In fact, it’s going to have to get a whole lot worse to make me consider a monthly car payment again.

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

Heavy Duty HEPA Vac Used For Walnut Shell Blasting Media Recovery

Published on by Neal RakerLeave a comment

walnut media

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.

HD HEPA

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