Tag: atex cabinet cooler

Cabinet Coolers and Environmental Ratings

Published on by John Ball1 Comment

EXAIR manufactures Cabinet Coolers to keep your electrical components cool inside.  This will help to prevent any costly shutdowns or premature electrical failures due to overheating.  The EXAIR Cabinet Cooler System is a simple device that generates cold air with no moving parts, motors, condensers, or Freon.  They are maintenance-free with a long-life cycle, and installation is quick and easy.  But when mounting the system to your electrical panel, you want to make sure that the Cabinet Cooler meets or exceeds the integrity standard for that environment.  There are standards that categorize electrical panels to protect workers, shield the panels from the environment, and sustain the internal electrical components. 

Electrical panels come in all shapes, sizes, and colors and can be used in a variety of environments, including indoor, outdoor, and even hazardous locations.  Depending on the place and setting, you will need to determine the minimum requirements for the integrity of your electrical panel.  For example, you do not want to use an “indoor only” electrical enclosure for outside areas.  Also, you would not want a standard enclosure to be used in a hazardous area, as it can be very dangerous.  The major organizations that create these electrical standards are NEMA, UL, and IP.  In this blog, I will cover these organizations and how they use the rating system.

NEMA, or National Electrical Manufacturer Association, and UL, or Underwriters Laboratory, are generally used in North America.  The difference between these two organizations is that the NEMA ratings are self-certifying, while the UL requires testing by qualified inspectors, independent of the manufacturer, for compliance.  They use numbers and, in some instances, letters to indicate the type of environment in which the enclosure can operate. EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Systems are UL listed, so they have been tested and verified. 

IP, or Ingress Protection, is an international standard commonly used in Europe and established by the International Electrotechnical Commission, or IEC.  This organization also allows for self-certification.  They use two digits to define levels of integrity for electrical enclosures against intrusion from debris and liquid. The first digit ranges from 0 to 6, which specifies the protection rating for solids.  The second digit, which ranges from 0 to 9, specifies the protection rating for the ingress of water.  The higher the number, the better the protection.  The combination of these two numbers will determine the protection level of the enclosure against dust and water.  There is an equivalence between the NEMA ratings and the IP ratings, but it is up to the preference of the user to verify the protection requirement. 

EXAIR offers three main NEMA types for our Cabinet Cooler Systems, which are the most commonly found within most facilities.  We also offer two additional NEMA ratings that are designated strictly for hazardous locations: UL Classified and ATEX rated.  I will cover each one below.

NEMA 12 (IP54) Cabinet Coolers are rated for dust and oil tight. NEMA 12 cabinet coolers are ideal for general industrial environments where no liquids or corrosives are present and are located inside the facility.

NEMA 4 (IP66) Cabinet Coolers are rated for dust tight, oil tight, splash-resistant and indoor/outdoor service. These Cabinet Coolers incorporate a low-pressure relief valve to allow the internal hot air to escape as well as to close and seal when the cooler is not in operation.  This allows this Cabinet Cooler to maintain the integrity of a NEMA 4 enclosure.

NEMA 4X (IP66) Cabinet Coolers offer the same protection as NEMA 4 but are constructed of stainless steel for food service and corrosive environments.  EXAIR offers both 303SS and 316SS materials.

HazLoc Cabinet Coolers are designed for hazardous locations and are mounted to NEMA 7, 8, and 9 enclosures.  EXAIR catalogs these HazLoc Cabinet Coolers as NEMA 4 (IP66) or NEMA 4X (IP66), as mentioned above.  But their registration for UL classification is for Class I, Class II, and Class III hazardous areas, both Div 1 and Div 2.  The reason that they do not match the NEMA rating of the hazardous panels is because they require an X-type or Z-type purge system.  In combination, they will not sacrifice the integrity of the hazardous electrical panels. 

ATEX Cabinet Coolers have similar attributes to HazLoc Cabinet Coolers except this type of registration is popularly used in Europe.  These area classifications fall under the EN/IEC 60079-2 international standard for explosive zones.  It covers three zones in two hazardous areas; gas/liquid and dust.  The ATEX Cabinet Coolers can be used in Zone 2 for gas/liquid and Zone 22 for dust.  Like the HazLoc Cabinet Coolers, to keep their classification, the ATEX Cabinet Coolers require a Zone 2/22 purge system.  The ATEX terminology is as follows:

Gas – CE EX II 3 G Ex h IIC T3 Gc

Dust – CE EX II 3 D Ex h IIIC 200oC Dc

EXAIR offers a variety of Cabinet Coolers in stock with different cooling capacities, materials of construction, and operational locations.  We also offer them in 316SS, high temperature versions, and non-hazardous purge.  We do have a Cabinet Cooler System Sizing Guide to help determine the best product for your application or a Cabinet Cooler System Calculator to do it yourself.  For any hazardous location, we do recommend contacting us for clarification.  What could make it better? For our U.S. and Canadian customers, we are offering a promotion.  You will receive an AC Sensor, a $76.00 value, for free as a promotional item from now until the end of August 2024 with a qualified purchase.  How can you not give them a try?  If you have any questions, an Application Engineer at EXAIR can assist you.

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

Why Do We Guarantee?

Published on by Al WooffittLeave a comment

We hear about all kinds of applications when working with customers. For many of them, there is an obvious solution. Your electrical panel is overheating – an EXAIR Cabinet Cooler is what you are looking for. If you’re experiencing static on an assembly line – a Gen4 static elimination product is what you need. If you’re trying to blowoff excess water from an extruded pipe, then a Super Air Wipe is the right solution.

There are many applications however, where the solution isn’t as obvious. We know that our products can help, but with the sheer number of variables there isn’t a way to plug everything into a formula and say that this will be the outcome. The end result needs to be found through testing. This is where EXAIR’s 30-day unconditional guarantee comes in. All of our stock, catalog products come with this guarantee. After purchasing one of these products, you have a month to put it through its paces; adjust the angle, adjust the operating pressure, swap out shims. If you are able to find the right conditions to solve your problem, then great! If not, we’ll take it back and issue full credit! You’re only responsible for the shipping to get it back to us.

Line Vac test

A popular application where testing is essential is with our Line Vacs. There are multiple variables at play: the bulk density of the material, the size of the material, is it abrasive?, the rate of conveyance desired, the distance needed to convey – both vertical and horizontal. We’re pretty good at getting you in the ballpark of which model will work best using the data we’ve found from our controlled in-house testing. But ultimately, to know exactly how our Line Vac will perform with your material, it needs to be hooked up. When you purchase from us, you have 30 days to do that risk-free.

At EXAIR, we want to ensure you are getting the best possible solution. Our 30-day unconditional guarantee is one way that we make that a reality. If you would like to discuss how our products can help with your application, give us a call!

Al Wooffitt
Application Engineer

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Video Blog: EXAIR’s NEW ATEX Cabinet Coolers are In Stock!

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

A new addition to the EXAIR line of Cabinet Coolers is the ATEX Compliant Cabinet Cooler. The ATEX NEMA 4 (IP 66) Cabinet Cooler Systems are engineered and approved for use on purged electrical enclosures located in ATEX Zones 2 and 22. The Zone 2 and 22 are for hazardous gases and dust, respectively. These are locations where an explosive atmosphere is not liable to occur during normal operation, or if it does, is only short-lived (such as in the case of foreseeable abnormal operation).

Take a look at the video below introducing these new coolers as well as an understanding of the important considerations for applications that require a cooler of this style:

If you have an application that could require the use of an ATEX Cabinet Cooler, complete a Cabinet Cooler Sizing Guide at the link here. We’ll be in contact to help you to determine the correct system for your panel’s conditions.

Tyler Daniel, CCASS

Application Engineer

E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com

Twitter: @EXAIR_TD

What’s So Great About The New EXAIR Catalog #35?

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

This may seem biased, but my answer is, “EVERYTHING!” Now, that may SEEM biased, but consider the fact that, as an Application Engineer, I have a front row seat for the “Innovation Show” that is EXAIR. The attention to detail that gets paid to the design, testing, verification, and manufacturing of new products constantly reminds me that it’s a level of excellence that EXAIR’s founder, Roy Sweeney, instilled and promoted in our culture from when he started this business in 1983, until his passing in 2016. It’s a testament to his legacy that, not only does it continue; it shows no signs of slowing down. It’s that level of excellence that’s always made it easy for me to speak with confidence about the quality, performance, durability, and effectiveness of all of EXAIR’s engineered compressed air products.

Our Marketing folks proudly passed out copies of the new EXAIR Catalog #35 the other day, and I immediately started immersing myself in that pride as I thumbed through. I thought of 12 years (for me) worth of success stories in helping customers get the most out of their compressed air systems through the use of our products, and our expertise in not only those products’ implementation, but how they can best fit into those customers’ air systems, overall. I wasn’t too far in to my thumbing through, when the “new stuff” really started making an impression on me:

Ultrasonic Leak Detector: Model 9207 is the first new product you’ll see if you start at the beginning. It has the same functionality and tools (parabolic disc for finding out you have leaks in a particular area, and a tubular extension so you can track the leak to its exact location), and some nice upgrades: it’s powered by four AA batteries (instead of a 9V) and comes with a set of earbuds (which I personally prefer over the previous model’s earphones, which I always considered a compromise between headphone & earbuds, with the benefits of neither). It’s never been easier to find those costly leaks in your air system, and fix them.

1/2 NPT HollowStream Liquid Atomizing Spray Nozzles: We’ve had these in 1/4 and 3/8 NPT sizes for a while now, with the ability to spray up to 7.28 gallons per minute. The 1/2 NPT models almost double that capacity to a flow rate of 14 gallons per minute. These spray a ring of liquid, so their flow rates are lower than a comparably sized Full Stream Liquid Atomizing Spray Nozzle, which spray a full, filled-in circle.

Line Vac Conveyance Chart: Remember what I said above about the ability to speak confidently about our products? This new chart compiles decades of controlled in-house testing and details that some customers have shared with us on the performance of different Line Vac models with different materials they’ve been used to convey. While we can’t guarantee EXACT conveyance performance for any specific application, this is a VERY handy tool to get us “in the ballpark” and further increases our great ability to specify the right Air Operated Conveyor for your application.

ATEX Cabinet Cooler Systems: It was a pretty big deal when we introduced our HazLoc Cabinet Cooler Systems that are UL Classified for Class I Div 1, Class II Div 1, and Class III environments. And it WAS a big deal, in the United States & Canada. Now, we can offer the certification of hazardous location requirements, globally, for ATEX Zones 2 & 22. That’s ANOTHER big deal.

Speaking of big deals, come October, EXAIR will have been providing quiet, safe, and efficient compressed air products to industry for 40 years. Catalog 35 has all the products that we’ve been making since then, and everything we’ve added over the years. Click here to get one mailed out to you right away. If you’ve got questions about anything in our catalog, or how EXAIR can help you get the most out of your compressed air system, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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