One of my favorite things to do is tackle problems and troubleshoot. Problem-solving is a key skill when working with compressed air, and is something we do daily at EXAIR.
Most of our products are simple to set up and install, requiring minimal maintenance. Still, there are times when various factors can affect performance. The ability to pinpoint these issues and carefully work through each one will yield better outcomes and help them last longer.
One of the first and most crucial things to check is the air pressure that you are operating the device. When we ask users what pressure they’re using, we often hear about the pressure coming from the compressor. However, this is usually not the pressure you’ll find at the point of use. A great way to confirm this is by placing a pressure gauge along with a pipe-tee at the inlet. There are several reasons you might notice pressure drops, such as restrictive fittings, undersized lines, or lack of proper maintenance. If the pressure you see at the inlet is lower than the header pressure, that’s a clear indication that the product is not getting enough compressed air.
If you’ve figured out that there’s a problem with your compressed air supply, the next thing to do is find and fix those restrictions. Common culprits are restrictive fittings like quick connects or push-to-connects. Our 24″ Super Air Knife uses 69.6 SCFM at 80 psig. A 1/2″ quick connect might look big enough, but its smaller ID can throttle the airflow down to 50 SCFM, which would starve the Knife and hurt its performance. Switching this out with a straight fitting would fix this.
Once you’ve taken care of any restrictive fittings, the next step is to replace any undersized lines. Sticking with our 24″ Super Air Knife example, the minimum size for the in feed pipe is 1/2″ for runs of 10′ or less. If the run is longer than 10′ but shorter than 50′, you’ll need to upgrade to a 3/4″ pipe, and for runs up to 100′, you should double the initial pipe size to 1″ to achieve the same results.
The final best practice would be to make sure the compressed air is clean and moisture free. Even the cleanest compressed air systems will accumulate contaminants over time, which can build up and clog the precisely machined EXAIR product. Ensuring that you have point of use filtration with a Filter Separator will keep your products running maintenance free for longer.
If you would like to discuss your application, and see if we can identify any problems that may be impacting your product’s performance, then give us a call at 1-800-903-9247. We’d love to help you get the best out of our products.
Al Wooffitt
Application Engineer
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