Tag: Accessories

Here We Go Again, Making Your Life Easier

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

If you’ve seen our latest E-NEWS, you know what I’m talking about. If you don’t get our E-NEWS (and you’re reading this blog on purpose,) you should…sign up here:

This is all it takes to subscribe to our E-NEWS.
This is all it takes to subscribe to our E-NEWS.

But I’ll tell you what the “headline story” is about anyway, right now. EXAIR has been making Air Knives for about 30 years now, and if the front covers of our catalogs for at least the last 6 years mean anything, the Super Air Knife is our unofficial “flagship product.” It IS the most efficient and quietest blow off product on the market, as well as the most versatile. They come in lengths from 3″ to 108″, and can be coupled together for much longer uninterrupted curtains of high velocity laminar air flow. You can regulate the pressure supply to produce however strong, or light, of an air flow that you need to solve your application. We make them in aluminum, 303SS, 316SS, and even PVDF for whatever environment you may need to expose them to. And they’re all in stock, available for immediate shipment. We even have a variety of useful accessories to help you get the most out of our Air Knives…making them easy to install, position (or reposition,) plumb, operate, etc.

EXAIR has a comprehensive line of beneficial accessories for our Engineered Compressed Air Products.
EXAIR has a comprehensive line of beneficial accessories for our Engineered Compressed Air Products.

We didn’t start off with all this, back in the 1980’s, though. Some of them were developed by our Engineering folks (Design AND Applications) based on our collective experience and knowledge, and they’ve proven to be valuable additions to the product line. I’m proud to be a part of this team…after all it was one of my heroes, Henry Ford, who said “If I’d asked people what they wanted, they’d have said ‘faster horses.'”

Not that we discount the value of what users want…we actually keep a running list, informally called the “Can’t Do It List,” on which we record inquiries for product applications that we don’t have a solution for…yet.  We meet and review this list twice a month, so it’s always on the “front burner,” so to speak.

I won’t lie; not everything that goes on that list makes it into our catalog. Nor does everything proposed organically by Engineering folks here. But when it does, it’s kind of a big deal to us, and we get excited. Like the introduction of the Stainless Steel Plumbing Kits for our Stainless Steel Air Knives that are the highlight (again, for the Engineering folks here anyway) of the latest E-NEWS. Which I hope you’ve subscribed to by now. If you haven’t, go ahead…I’ll wait.

But seriously, I hope you do take advantage of our E-NEWS as a way to keep on top of the latest developments in compressed air product technology from EXAIR. And if you ever want to talk about an application or a particular product, give me a call. If we’ve got something, that’s great. If not, maybe you’ll see it in an upcoming E-NEWS. I promise that you’ll find that just as cool as we do.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
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Oil And Water Don’t Mix, But Oil And Air Sure Do

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Do you have oil in your compressed air system? It may be there on purpose…air operated tools require it, and there are a number of devices on the market that provide a precise amount of oil to keep the moving parts in these tools well lubricated and properly operating.

If it’s not there on purpose, it’s not necessarily a problem, though, and it’s hardly uncommon. Many air compressors are oil lubricated, which means there’s oil being pumped at a constant rate, directly towards the piston rings, and a little bit is always going to end up in the air. As the rings wear, even more makes it past…this is impossible to prevent, but, with proper maintenance, it’s kept to a very minimal amount. There are, of course, oil-less compressor designs, which can eliminate this entirely, but they’ve been known to carry a little heavier price tag. Some situations, though, make them worth every penny.

Trace amounts of oil like this don’t affect a lot of compressed air applications, including the performance of most of our products. There are times, however, when oil needs to be addressed…for instance:

*Blow off prior to painting or coating. Even trace amounts of oil on a surface to be painted can cause big problems.
*Electrical enclosure cooling. Oil won’t affect the heat removal performance of an EXAIR Cabinet Cooler System, but it can indeed cause serious issues with electrical/electronic components and devices if it’s present in the cold air that’s blowing on them.
*Air operated conveyors. Likewise, oil won’t hurt the performance of a Line Vac, but keep in mind that anything in the air supply will get on the material or product you’re conveying.
*Static Eliminators. Here’s a situation where oil in the air WILL have an effect on product performance…the emitter points of your EXAIR Static Eliminator need to be kept clean (including oil free) for proper operation. And, again, anything in your air is going to get onto your product.

This is where proper filtration comes in: properly installed downstream of a Filter Separator, EXAIR’s coalescing Oil Removal Filters take out even trace amounts of oil from the air flow, ensuring your process doesn’t see anything but clean, dry air.

EXAIR Model 9027 Oil Removal Filter, installed between Model 9004 Filter Separator and 9008 Pressure Regulator, using our Modular Coupling Kits
EXAIR Model 9027 Oil Removal Filter, installed between Model 9004 Automatic Drain Filter Separator and 9008 Pressure Regulator, using our Modular Coupling Kits.

Again, oil in your air isn’t always a problem. If you have questions about your application, though, give us a call…if it IS a problem, we’ve got a solution.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
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Compressed Air Accessories – Filters and Regulators – The Rest of the Solution

Published on by Neal RakerLeave a comment
IMG_5696
EXAIR Regulator with gauge and Filter/Separator

Many times in the stories that are written in our daily blogs, we espouse the many benefits of installing and using EXAIR made products into our many customers’ compressed air-based applications. From the guy who has a small shop in his home garage using our Atto Super Air Nozzle to much larger applications where customers use our 84” Long Super Air Knives to do such things as drying cast Acrylic Sheets used in tub and shower surrounds, the message is a very consistent one. Customers benefit by saving money, increasing the safety level of an application, reducing sound levels and improving productivity.  There’s no doubt that our customers will excel in these areas.

Knowing there is much more to a compressed air system than just point of use products, lets shed a little light on the other “parts” of a typical system set-up. Those would be the compressed air filter / separators and the pressure regulators that are a highly recommended part of a good installation. But why are they so highly recommended? What exactly is their role and why would anyone want or need to install them?

First, the blunt realities of compressed air and its relative “un-clean” condition once it arrives at the point of use. Since compressed air a utility that is produced in-house, the quality and quantity available will vary widely from facility to facility. And since it is not a regulated utility such as gas or electricity are, there are no universal minimums of quality that compressed air must meet before sent out to the distribution system. Yes, of course, companies are all the time getting better at this part, but many still operate with older, iron pipe systems that produce rust and scale which wreak havoc on the components within mechanical products that use compressed air as their power source. The point is that you are never sure of the quality of the air you will get at the point of use, so install a compressed air filter near that point to keep the debris out of your Air Knife, Nozzle, Line Vac or even other components like solenoid valves, air motors and the like. Believe me when I say it is much easier to un-screw a bowl from a filter housing and change an element than it is to disassemble an air motor or an 84” long Super Air Knife because rust migrated in from the pipes. So it is quite safe to say that an ounce of prevention in this case is worth a pound of cure!

Second, the discussion turns to the Regulator part of the equation. As many know, our products and those of other pneumatic product manufacturers have a certain set of specifications regarding performance at stated input pressures. But what if your application doesn’t require that “full, rated performance”? Maybe instead of needing two pounds of force, you only need one pound? In fact, if you provided two pounds of blowing force, you would end up “over-blowing” your target. By that, I mean you cause damage to the target or other surrounding items in the application. Or, perhaps blowing to hard (or sucking too hard in the case of a Line Vac or E-vac) might cause the vessel or the material you are picking up to collapse or deform (due to too much power).  There is also the concern about using more energy than one really needs to in order to achieve the desired effect in an application. In other words, if you can achieve your goals with only 40 PSIG, then why would you ever use 80 PSIG to accomplish the goal? By reducing your compressed air from 80 down to 40 PSIG, you can easily reduce the air consumption of the “engineered” solution by another 40% + …………that’s the cherry on top of the cake when you compare the benefits of simply “bolting on” the solution of an engineered air nozzle vs. an open pipe in the first place. Then there is the issue of taking advantage of the pressure differential (from 80 down to 40 PSIG) that creates a little bit more air volume capacity. At 80 PSIG, your compressed air to free air volume ratio is 6.4:1. At 40 PSIG, it is only 3.7:1. The net effect is you effectively have an overall larger volume of air at the disposal of the application which is always a good thing.

Regulating pressure is definitely warranted given the benefits that compliment the operation of the core EXAIR products.

If you need a deeper understanding about how EXAIR’s products can help your application, feel free to contact us and we will do our best to give you a clear understanding of all the benefits that can be had by our products’ use as well as proper implementation of accessory items such as compressed air filters and regulators.

Neal Raker, International Sales Manager
nealraker@exair.com
@EXAIR_NR
www.EXAIR.com 

Use The Force…Or Not…It’s Up To You, Really

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

The month of May, in 1977, was a great time to be ten years old. I was finishing up my fifth grade year, a pivotal one, thanks to Miss Walker, who ended up being my favorite teacher ever. She had a pet rat named A.J. that we took turns taking home for the weekend. She rewarded us for class performance by taking us outside to play softball on warm & sunny spring afternoons. I trace my love for math (and hence, my inspiration for a career in engineering) to the excitement she instilled in me for the subject…I was among the first to master the multiplication tables.

And then there was Star Wars. There were commercials for the movie and the toys and the merchandise on TV; I swear they ran every five minutes. A fast food chain released a series of posters (free with purchase) and every time a new one came out, Miss Walker promptly hung it on the classroom wall. None of us, her included, could hardly wait until the premiere. I could go on (and on and on and on,) but suffice it to say (for the purposes of this blog,) I’ve been a BIG fan ever since.

Which brings us to today…opening day for “Star Wars, Episode VII: The Force Awakens.” The first time, by the way, a Star Wars movie hasn’t premiered in the month of May, but I digress. The 10 year old inside me wants to go see it RIGHT NOW, but the grownup I have to be has a company Christmas party, two Boy Scout events, and a pre-holiday “honey-do” list to attend to first.

Of course, the “other” epic space movie series couldn’t resist launching THEIR new trailer this week…

All this talk about The Force (capital “F”) and the fact that I write this blog on company time has me thinking about compressed air applications that involve force (lower case “f”) and how using force (unlike “The Force”) is not always prudent.

This is the case in just about any blow off application that uses air under pressure. Open ended copper tubing, drilled pipes, etc., are common and easy ways to discharge compressed air for debris removal, drying, or cooling a part. But the fact is, they waste a LOT of the energy devoted to compressing the air by simply turning it into brute force and noise.

This is where EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Products(r) come in: by using the energy of the compressed air to entrain air from the surrounding environment, the total air flow is amplified, resulting in a high velocity blast, at minimal consumption. No; it doesn’t have the same amount of force as an open ended discharge device, but most blow off applications don’t need all that much force anyway.

Of course, there ARE situations where you need to use the force, and we’ve got efficient and OSHA compliant ways to do that too: additional shims in Air Knives, Air Wipes & Air Amplifiers, or larger Super Air Nozzles.

“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away,” the continuing theme of the Star Wars saga is to use The Force properly. For the past 32 years, the continuing theme at EXAIR is to help you use the force (of your compressed air) properly. Let me know how we can help.

May The Force be with us all…this weekend, and always.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
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