We occasionally get calls from folks who are looking for “more power” – and it always brings that classic 1990’s sitcom “Home Improvement’s” Tim “the Tool Man” Taylor to mind. Well, not so much Tim’s “more power” mantra, but the ubiquitous response from his long-suffering sidekick, Al Borland:
Al knows it. George Foreman knows it. Lisa knows it. Even Tim knows it, this time.
Sometimes, they’re looking for a product to replace what they’re currently using…something they’re not getting desirable results from. Other times, they have an EXAIR product in place, and it’s just not getting the job done.
Our first response is, of course, to make sure they’re getting a sufficient supply of air to their product, no matter whether it’s ours or not. If you’re familiar at all with our blogs, you know we write about this frequently:
The Importance of Proper Compressed Air Supply Lines
Video Blog: Proper Supply Plumbing for Compressed Air Products
Improper Installation and Associated Problems
3 Common Mistakes in Your Compressed Air System
Once we’ve made sure that the product is indeed receiving appropriate air supply, we can look at adding to the flow rate and force of the air stream. We’ve made it easy to do that with a variety of blow off products by designing them with a replaceable shim.
All of our Air Knife products (Super, Standard, and Full Flow) will ship with a 0.002” thick shim installed. These will perform superbly in a wide variety of general industrial blow off applications. If this doesn’t provide the force needed for your application, we carry Shim Sets for any Air Knife that will allow you to double, triple, or even quadruple the air flow for amplified thrust. Some common examples are stubborn debris in tight spaces (like the fins of a fin-and-tube heat exchanger) or removing oil from a corrugated surface.
Like the Air Knives, our Air Wipes (Super and Standard) are built with 0.002” thick shims, which can be easily replaced for additional flow and force. Like when the Air Wipe is getting all the coolant off an extruded & machined part, but some stubborn, hair-like fibers need a little more “oomph” to remove.
Yes, those were real calls I took. Yes, they had sufficient air flow. Yes, the extra shims worked like a champ.
Similar to our Air Knife products, our Flat Super Air Nozzles also incorporate a replaceable shim. In fact, you have your choice of standard Models with a 0.015” thick shim installed, or High Power Models with a 0.025” thick shim. Shim Sets with a variety of thicknesses from 0.005” to 0.030” are available for either of these.
Our Super Air Amplifiers and High Velocity Air Jets incorporate patented shims that make for the highest amplification flows available, anywhere. These are available, from stock, in Shim Sets or individually.
If you have an air blowing application that you’d like to get a little (or a lot) more out of, give us a call. Prepare for a discussion on proper air supply first (of course,) but we’ll be more than happy to help in any way that we can.
Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
(513)671-3322 local
(800)923-9247 toll free
(513)671-3363 fax
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