Category: Air Nozzle

Compressed Air Safety Do’s and Don’t’s

Published on by Al WooffittLeave a comment

DO take compressed air safety seriously. We are all familiar with the importance of safety. Almost every company has some form of annual safety training. One of the common themes of these kinds of training is that it is not just some people’s responsibility, but that it is everyone’s responsibility. Here at EXAIR we take safety seriously. All of our products are engineered with safety in mind – we even have a line of products with ‘safety’ in the name – Safety Air Guns. This is very important, as working with compressed air can present some health risks if not used properly.

OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, is an organization here in the United States that enforces governmental directives for safe and healthy working environments. They can also enforce these directives with heavy fines for violations.  With compressed air, the two most common violations are air guns and blowoff devices are described in 29CFR 1910.242(b) for dead-end pressure/chip shielding and 29CFR 1910.95(a) for maximum allowable noise exposure.

The first regulation – 29CFR 1910.242(b) – references the use of hand-held tools. DON’T use a blowoff device at more than 30psig if the compressed air can be dead-ended. If the compressed air has no other path to escape, it can penetrate the skin, causing an air embolism. A common and simple solution is to cross-drill a hole to allow an alternate path. This could create other safety issues, as we will discuss later. EXAIR’s nozzles are designed with fins which allow the air to escape and not be blocked by your skin.  So, you can safely use the EXAIR Super Air Nozzles above 30psig.

The second regulation – 29CFR 1910.95(a) – references the maximum allowable sounds level an individual should be exposed to. DON’T allow an operator to be exposed to excessive sound levels for too long. This is where the cross-drilled nozzle falls short. Although safe from dead-end pressure, the sound produced by the turbulent airflow is very loud. The engineered design of EXAIR’s nozzles entrain the surrounding air into a laminar flow, which is much quieter. Our Model 1210 Safety Air Gun (which uses our Model 1100 Nozzle) only has a sounds level of 74dBA, which is comfortably under the noise exposure limit for 8 hours.

If you want to take compressed air safety seriously, then DO use EXAIR’s line of safe, quiet and efficient Safety Air Guns and Air Nozzles. If you would like to discuss this, or any of your other compressed air application needs, then give me a call!

Al Wooffitt
Application Engineer

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Banner image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Dead End image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

Utility Rebates – How EXAIR Products Can Save You Money!

Published on by Al WooffittLeave a comment

We love to talk about how our intelligent compressed air products can save you money. This has been the subject of many blogs, emails and phone calls; primarily focusing on how our products will reduce your overall air consumption. This leads to lower energy costs, which over time will save you thousands of dollars. Another way you can save money is through rebate programs.

Many electrical companies offer rebates for efficient products and programs that help reduce energy consumption. The NC Clean Energy Technology Center has created a website that consolidates this information for you on their website: www.dsireusa.org.  “DSIRE is the most comprehensive source of information on incentives and policies that support renewable and energy efficiency in the United States”. Since EXAIR’s products fall into this category, rebates can be applied to the use of our products. If there is a rebate available, you will find it on this site.

It’s easy to find what rebates are available for you by selecting your state from the map on DSIRE, and then filtering down to Technology > Energy Efficiency > Industrial Equipment > Compressed air. As an example, in Michigan there is currently a rebate from Energy Smart for using Engineered Nozzles.

Once you’ve found your rebate, give us a call! We can help you determine which of our products will allow you to take advantage of it, whether it’s one of our engineered nozzles like the above example, or any of our other intelligent compressed air products.

Al Wooffitt
Application Engineer

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Image by Robert Goerman from Pixabay

Tips for Building Your Own Blowoff System

Published on by Al WooffittLeave a comment

One of the most common applications we help with here at EXAIR is where some form of blowoff is needed. Whether it is removing coolant, ejecting a part, or blowing away scrap and debris, we have a product that will help.

EXAIR Blowoff Systems are a combination of EXAIR air Nozzles, Mag Bases and Stay Set Hoses. The Mag Bases are available in single or dual outlets, the Stay Set Hoses come in lengths from 6″ to 36″, and we have a large selection of nozzles. The flexibility of this product comes in handy when an application requires multiple points for blow-off or requires different force values of each nozzle. Customizing allows you to fit the nozzles directly to the needs of your application.

When selecting the right solution for you, there are several things to take into consideration:
How much force do you need?
If you need a large amount of force, then you should consider our 2″ Flat Super Air Nozzle, or possibly our 2″ High Power Super Flat Air Nozzle. These can provide up to 2.2lbs of force.

Sometimes, you DO need the high force of the HP1125 2″ High Power Flat Super Air Nozzle

What area do you need to hit with the airflow?
For application where you are stripping, or sweeping with the airflow, you want to have a low angle, and direct the airflow against the motion of travel. This allows for greater time in contact with the part. If you are trying to eject a part, then having the airflow straight on may be better. Our Stay Set Hoses will allow you to point your nozzles in whatever direction you need, while the hose’s memory will hold it in position, without creeping or bending. Our Swivel Fittings can also be used to position our nozzles. They provide a firm, vibration-resistant mounting.

Are you replacing a pre-existing blow off?
If you are replacing an existing blowoff operation, then you may only need to install the nozzles, or Swivel Fittings. If there is no existing plumbing, then a Mag Base is an easy to set up solution that will attach to any magnetic surface.

Model 9042 Single Outlet Mag Base (left), 9043 Dual Outlet Mag Base (center) and 9029 Swivel Mag Base (right), and some typical uses.

Ultimately, if you’re looking for an efficient, quiet, and safe method of blowing compressed air, EXAIR has you covered with a wide variety of Intelligent Compressed Air Products to choose from. If you have questions about them, or how to mount them for optimal performance, give me a call.

Al Wooffitt
Application Engineer

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Measure and Reduce Your Sound Level!

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

When you walk around a manufacturing facility, one of the things you will notice is they are typically pretty loud. All the processes going on start to add up to an excessive level not safe for personnel.

OSHA Standard 29 CFR – 1910.95(a) identifies the maximum allowable Noise Exposure by hours and sound level. If exposed to excessive levels of sound over a period of time, hearing impairment or even a total loss of hearing are quite possible when not wearing proper hearing protection.

How can you determine if the sound levels in your facility are exceedingly high? EXAIR has a Digital Sound Level Meter Model 9104 system that allows a user to measure sound pressure levels within the environment. This meter is calibrated from EXAIR and is able to measure the sound pressure level in decibels (dB) on either the A scale or the C scale with fast or slow response. This allows the user to identify those areas which are loud enough to require PPE to guard against hearing loss. Or, maybe a true problem that needs repair is identified and the sound is reduced in that way too.

Once you are able to make measurements, you can identify the applications that need to be addressed through repairs, attenuation efforts or through PPE requirements. Following are some of the most common sources of excessive compressed air noise levels:

  • Open pipe blow offs
  • Cross-drilled holes in Safety Air Gun Nozzles
  • Liquid nozzles that are used for air blow offs
  • Poorly designed air nozzles

By simply replacing the open tubes and cross drilled nozzles with an Engineered EXAIR Super Air Nozzle, you can quickly reduce air consumption AND reduce the sound level just like the application below!

 One Case Study I can Share, where a machine shop was blowing off parts they make for the military that are classified in nature. They had crimped copper tubing pointed at the cutting tool, and it worked…it was just loud and wasteful. Our customer zipped the crimped ends off and installed Model 1100 Super Air Nozzles using a simple compression fitting. Sorry, we couldn’t show the machined part in the lathe chuck. It was a proprietary part for the customer:

Replaced open copper tube with a 1100 Super Air Nozzle

This quick and easy change to an EXAIR solution saved 2.7 SCFM per nozzle (over $840.00 a year in compressed air savings), and reduced the sound level from 96dBA to only 76dBA. A 20 dBA reduction!

EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Products have been making things better for compressed air users for almost forty years. If you’d like to find out how MUCH better we can make things for you, give me a call.

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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