Tag: bdpeters

Trust EXAIR…We Provide Solutions

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

So, Brian Farno wrote a great piece on trust the other day: Why Trust EXAIR? I couldn’t agree more with his narrative of the ways in which trust permeates the culture here, is implied in every transaction (internal and external,) and is CRITICAL to our success…as individuals, and as a company.

I’ve had the pleasure of helping several people just recently by NOT recommending EXAIR products for their application. Now, that may seem counterintuitive, but they were fairly straightforward situations where we know our products just won’t work. For example:

*A conveyance application, unloading bulk material from tractor trailers. The caller needed to move hundreds of pounds per minute. Our Line Vacs have been known to move about 50 pounds per minute in certain circumstances.
*A static problem in an area with volatile vapors. Since our Static Eliminators use high voltage electricity, they can’t be used where ignition of such vapors could occur. Now, they’re shockless to touch, so they’re perfectly safe for use just about anywhere else, just so you know.
*An Air Knife application where their company management is insisting on the use of a blower. Our products are designed for use specifically, and solely, with compressed air. I actually gave them some STELLAR data on the actual costs of operating an engineered Super Air Knife versus a similarly rated blower/fan type device, so I have high hopes of moving this one to the “Win” column. And soon.

These are a few examples where we were able to apply, up front, our knowledge of our products’ capabilities…and limitations. For times when we might not know (yet,) we can find out, right here in the Efficiency Lab. Oftentimes, these are comprehensive tests of existing product, performed in direct comparison to EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Products. This is a service we’ll provide you for free, if you want to send in your current product(s) for testing. No cost; no obligation; no wait…we strive to test within a day of receiving your shipment.

Other times, someone wants to know if they can use a particular product in conjunction with another. One such caller was a current user of our Vac-u-Guns, but had a need for a fixed device. They asked about using a Model 6082 1-1/4” Aluminum Line Vac, mounted right where they wanted to suction up debris, depositing it directly into a Vac-u-Gun Filter Bag. I was able to set this up quite easily, and did a little informal test with some coffee grounds, paper clips, and a few coins…it performed superbly with all of these, so they placed the order. I then found out that they were blowing the debris off their part with an EXAIR Model 1100-9318 ¼” NPT Super Air Nozzle w/Stay Set Hose & Mag Base – so this made the application a total EXAIR solution!

A small Line Vac & Vac-u-Gun Filter Bag make for a quick, compact & convenient debris collection system.
A small Line Vac & Vac-u-Gun Filter Bag make for a quick, compact & convenient debris collection system.

We perform testing of this nature all the time, because we don’t want to tell you something if we don’t know it to be true. If you have an idea for, or questions about, an EXAIR product, give me a call.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
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Like a Donkey Between Two Haystacks

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90Day_Temp

Having been born and raised in the northern climates, for me 80 degrees is hot. So when temperatures soar into the 90’s I really struggle to cope. Bad news is that according to NOAA, we are in store for above average temperatures for the remainder of the summer!

High temperatures are not only uncomfortable for we humanoids, electronics suffer as well. The demand for panel cooling is extensive and my company, EXAIR, produces Cabinet Cooler systems. There in lies my dilemma. I would like to wish for the heat to go away but then that would be wishing ill for my company. I’m like a donkey trying to decide between two hay stacks.

So, I will stay in my air conditioned cubical and calculate cooling requirements for customers. I would welcome the opportunity to assist you with your panel cooling requirements. Give me a call at 1-800-903-9247

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
Phone (513) 671-3322
Fax (513) 671-3363
Web: http://www.exair.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/exair_jp
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair

No Need To Tell Anything But The Truth

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Last week, naval & military history buffs (like me) observed the anniversary of the Battle of Midway (June 4-7, 1942). This was a significant victory for the United States, in that it dealt a crushing blow to the Imperial Navy just six months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor – a blow that their shipbuilding industry was unable to recover from. It also resulted in the sinking of four of the six carriers that were used for the Pearl Harbor attack. The strategic acumen of the US commanders, as well as the bravery & skill of the men in their charge, is undisputable. But one of the key details in their victory was the fact that they lied their butts off. See, US intelligence had broken the Japanese communications’ secret codes, and had found out that Japanese intelligence had broken theirs. This is where espionage gets tricky: The US played the “they don’t know that WE know that THEY know…” card against the Japanese, and sent out a bunch of false messages about ship locations and logistics conditions, and the Japanese fleet sailed right into one of the most well executed ambushes in military history.

The thing about false information is that it only works out for the party presenting it, and usually not more than once. Bryan Peters wrote a blog a couple of weeks ago, titled “Don’t Be Fooled By Fool’s Gold,” about how we tested a competitor’s air knife, which used more air than they said it did…the obvious problem being that they claimed their air knife cost LESS to operate than ours, but it in fact cost much more.

At EXAIR, we don’t operate like that. Partly because; let’s face it; dishonesty is bad business – what do you tell a customer whose flow meter reveals a gross discrepancy with your published data? THAT’S an uncomfortable conversation right there.

Mostly, though, we just don’t have to. EXAIR has always taken great care in developing the most efficient, most effective Engineered Compressed Air Products that can be made. If you don’t believe it, we can prove it, in a couple of ways:

*Any catalog product comes with a 30 Day Unconditional Guarantee. We invite you to “put it through its paces” for up to a month. If you’re unsatisfied for any reason, we’ll arrange return for full credit.
*For a side-by-side comparison, we can test your existing compressed air product(s) in our Efficiency Lab. We’ll provide comprehensive data, obtained from calibrated instruments, by (with as much humility as I can muster) highly trained experts in the industry. We’ll even document it with photos and video if you like.

And our products’ tests will show just what we publish. When you make the best, you don’t need anything but the truth in order to brag about it.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
(513)671-3322 local
(800)923-9247 toll free
(513)671-3363 fax
Web: http://www.exair.com
Blog: http://blog.exair.com/
Twitter: twitter.com/exair_rb
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair

Don’t Be Fooled by Fool’s Gold

Published on by Bryan PetersLeave a comment

Fool’s Gold, or pyrite, is a mineral with a superficial resemblance to gold.

Here at EXAIR, we are always trying to get better at helping our customers.  You can see that in our award winning products, and you can see it in our never-ending quest to improve our service levels.  We are always testing, measuring and verifying our performance, whether it’s our products or our service.  We always want to know how we are doing and that we are delivering what we promise to our customers. 

And, of course, we always want to know how we stack up against our competition.  We constantly benchmark ourselves against others.  In that spirit, we test a LOT of products from other companies and compare them both with our own products and against the specifications promised by the manufacturer.  One recent test was eye-opening, and should point out the perils of trusting in “Fool’s Gold”…

Well, it LOOKED pretty good coming out of the box.  It was shiny.  It had a decent finish, despite some questionable design choices.  It had the appearance of a tool with some utility.  The manufacturer had chosen to publish specifications for this product that were, not coincidentally, slightly better than our specs for that sort of product.  This isn’t surprising – other companies are always trying to match EXAIR, although most fail in that regard.  An unsuspecting buyer who chose to purchase this product based on those specifications would be terribly disappointed once they put this particular item into service, however.  You see, as often happens, this product of inferior design and substandard workmanship couldn’t deliver what its manufacturer had promised.  That is not to say that it delivered LESS than the manufacturer said it would.  No, it delivered much, much MORE than advertised…

At an inlet pressure of 80 PSIG, this product consumed 49.6% more compressed air than its manufacturer claimed.  And the noise level?  It was 13.7 dBA louder than promised.  To put that in perspective, the increase in noise level would make the product seem more than twice as loud as one that performs as promised.

Over promising and under delivering are a common problem in many industries.  In this case, the broken promises are bad enough, but these unrealistic performance claims carry along with them very real costs.  This product consumed about 67 SCFM more than advertised.  That means it was wasting 67 cubic feet of compressed air every minute it was in operation.  This equates to over 160,000 cubic feet of compressed air wasted each week by just one unit running during an eight hour shift, five days per week.  That’s over 8 million cubic feet of compressed air wasted each year for every one of these units that are put into operation. 

To put that into monetary terms, an unsuspecting buyer of this sort of inferior product would be wasting nearly $2100 per year per unit in unexpected operational costs simply because the manufacturer could not deliver what they promised. 

Wasting $2100 per year in order to operate a tool that is supposed to save you money is an unwelcome and unwanted surprise.  Imagine that waste multiplied across a plant-wide installation.  Facility managers would be coming with pitchforks if they knew this was going on in their plants.

Don’t be fooled by Fool’s Gold that isn’t what it seems to be and doesn’t deliver what it claims.

Here are some tips from the History Channel to help identify Fool’s Gold.

Claims are easy, proof is hard.

Bryan Peters
President