Month: May 2015

Big TV’s and Big Compressed Air Savings

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

My great big TV bit the dust recently. It was a 65” rear projection, high definition…quite an upgrade over the 32” tube set that it replaced, a decade ago. One thing I remember from the day I bought it: the seller said to me as we were loading it up, “A warning: you’ll never be able to watch anything smaller.” The other thing I remember from that day was getting it back to the house and set up before my wife got home. She walked in, looked at its huge awesomeness in our modestly sized living room and said, “That’s almost embarrassing!” To which I replied, “I KNOW!!!”  Now, it WAS a little big for the room, but we acclimated quickly.

Until last month, when the display started to malfunction. I looked it up, and it was a fatal flaw: the parts would cost almost as much as a new 65” flat screen. Which we’re saving our money for…for now, though, we’re “getting by” with a 42” plasma TV that we “repurposed” from the back room. And the seller’s warning proved mostly true, although I’ve almost adjusted to the smaller screen. First world problems; I know.

One benefit of the smaller screen and advanced technology (plasma vs. those three big light bulbs in the rear projection) was decreased operating cost. Turns out, the 42” plasma uses less than 1/3 the power of the 65” rear projection (91 Watts vs. 283 Watts, respectively.) When my next electric bill comes, I’m wondering if I’m going to be pleased with the reduction, or if it’s going to put into perspective just how much TV I really watch. Stay tuned for more on that…

I recently had the pleasure of helping a customer realize a similar “a-ha” moment, with the amount of compressed air they were using throughout their plant. They were running (40) production machines, turning out custom plastic parts. Each machine had a ¼” crimped-end copper tube, which blows off the part as it’s being machined.

Each of the crimped copper lines uses approximately 30 SCFM when supplied at 80psig. These are being replaced with our Model 1100 Super Air Nozzles. They were able to quickly and easily adapt these by simply cutting off the crimped end, and installing a compression adapter fitting:

EXAIR Model 1100 Super Air Nozzle installs easily on copper lines, with a simple compression adapter.
EXAIR Model 1100 Super Air Nozzle installs easily on copper lines, with a simple compression adapter.

The Super Air Nozzle consumes just 14 SCFM @80psig, so we should be looking at around a 50% reduction in their compressed air usage in the operation, across their (40) machines. While all the data is still not compiled to determine their actual savings, the noise reduction alone has made a noticeable difference in the plant, which they’re getting used to a LOT quicker (and more agreeably) than I am to the smaller TV screen. But enough about that…I’ll be all right; really.

So that’s two of us, waiting for the next electric bill to see just how happy we can be with our energy savings. I don’t know what they’re going to do with their savings, but mine’s going into the 65” (energy efficient) TV fund.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
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Video Blog: Meet Brian Farno

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

In case you haven’t seen or heard enough of me through the informal videos, here is a brief video that tells a little about myself, my background, and what I like to do outside of work.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Taking Professional Advice

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

I have an old house, turn of the last century, plaster and lath walls, remnants of knob and tube wiring, blocked over fireplaces in every room – old! Wiring in houses this old can be brittle which can make installing new ceiling fans tricky. First the ceiling is ten feet so you may be high on the ladder, and every time you need something from below you have to get a helper, carry a tool belt or climb down the ladder. Now if you are an experienced electrician, you have a tool belt filled with exactly what you need and a little extra. Cooks call this Mise en Place. My old man called it having your stuff together.

I don’t do it very well, so I have to climb down the ladder often. I tried to get a helper, but my nine month old son had trouble differentiating between a flat head screw driver and chew toy and wire nuts are clearly a choking hazard. Speaking of wire nuts. They seem to be such an innocuous widget. A wire nut is a wire nut. I have never thought much about them. Well it turns out that after the brittle wire has broken inside the wall. And then you drop the fifteenth wire nut, because it wouldn’t grab your old brittle wire. You spend some time thinking about the wire nuts as you are writing the check to the electrician. He might recommend an expensive brand of wire nuts that he uses that work great in these old houses. He gave me about twenty extra for my next attempt at electrical work, so I have a start on my electrical Mise en Place, but the next problem will probably involve plumbing…

Ceiling fan
Not my house, but similar.

Wire nuts remind me of air nozzles to some degree. They are such simple products but provide tremendous protection, and utility. There is also an incredible amount of brands, styles, and sizes. It is easy to think that the nozzle that comes installed on the thumb gun works great for home use, why should you spend time or money in investing in an upgrade. For the professional electrician, the expensive wire nuts made his day easier, more productive and his final installation safe. If you need to use compressed air to clean, dry or cool your parts, investing in an intelligent compressed air product will make the application quieter, more efficient and more effective.

Nozzle Lineup
EXAIR Engineered Solutions

EXAIR Super Air Nozzles are engineered solutions that meet OSHA requirements for dead end pressure – this makes them safe. The air nozzles utilize the Coanda effect to amplify compressed air flow up to 25 times – this makes them more effective. The small orifices build up pressure inside the supply the line in order to produce higher velocities – this makes the engineered air nozzles more efficient. Stop using cheap inefficient nozzles, think about your tools, and use what the professionals use.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
@EXAIR_DW
DaveWoerner@EXAIR.com

 

Ceiling Fan Photo Courtesy of Kevin Galens, Creative Commons License

EXAIR Ultrasonic Leak Detector

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

I was in Australia to train our distributors there.  When I covered the Ultrasonic Leak Detector, many success stories were told.  I would like to discuss one in particular.  A customer had a 50 horsepower compressor that started to overwork.  He thought that he would need to purchase a larger compressor to keep his equipment running.  In discussing his problems and requirements, the distributor decided to check for leaks as a cause.  He used the Ultrasonic Leak Detector to check every fitting and connection.

Compressed air leaks can be as much as 30% of your compressed air usage.  Even small leaks will cost you in performance and money.  When you have a small air leak, the turbulent flow will emit an ultrasonic sound.  With the EXAIR Ultrasonic Leak Detector, it can pick up these high frequencies in the range of 20 Khz to 100 Khz.  This device makes the inaudible leaks, audible.  With three sensitivity ranges and LED display, you can find very minute leaks.  It has two attachments; the parabola attachment to locate leaks up to 20 feet (6.1 meters) away, and the tube attachment to define the exact location of a leak.

9061 Ultrasonic Leak Detector
9061 Ultrasonic Leak Detector

When the distributor checked the compressed air system, he found 91 leaks with the Ultrasonic Leak Detector.  He marked each one for the customer to fix.  The fittings were repaired, and the compressor was back to normal operations.  There was no need to purchase a larger air compressor, and the customer noticed the energy savings on his electric bill.  It is important to check the compressed air system for leaks on new and old fittings periodically.  Then you can enjoy the full capacity of your compressed air system.  If you would like to discuss this detector in further detail, you can contact our Application Engineers.

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb