Tag: blow off system

Combining Products For Total Blow Off Of Objects With Complex Geometry

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

EXAIR Super Air Knives are extremely efficient at blowing off flat surfaces. The laminar air flow they generate makes a stripping/sweeping action, as opposed to the turbulent flow from a non-engineered blow off, which really just beats on the surface. If the object being blown off, though, has features such as holes, recesses, grooves, bosses, “nooks & crannies”, etc., it may be challenging to get those features 100% blown off, 100% of the time.

If the object you’re blowing off is flat, the laminar air flow from a Super Air Knife is ideal. They come in lengths from 3 inches to 9 feet long.

Depending on the size & shape of the feature presenting the challenge, the first thing we might recommend is to adjust the angle at which the Air Knife’s flow contacts the surface. For most applications, you can optimize performance by blowing at as low of an angle as practical. You may need to aim the Air Knife at a steeper angle, for example, if you’re blowing off something that’s dense (like shot blast or garnet, as opposed to dust or chips), or if it’s somewhat adherent to surface (like grease or mud, as opposed to water or light oil). This can also work if you’re trying to blow out a hole, recess, or groove in an object.

EXAIR manufactures a wide variety of engineered Air Nozzles, designed for safety, efficiency, and quiet operation.

Other times, a dedicated blow off may be necessary to pick up where the Air Knife leaves off. In situations like that, we can specify an appropriately sized Air Nozzle, Air Jet, Air Amplifier, or maybe even a smaller Air Knife, to provide more complete removal of whatever you need to get off of the object. It’s fairly common to use Air Nozzles for these applications, and our Air Nozzles & Jets catalog section is a great tool that can be used for selection. It lists them all, from smallest to largest, with airflow patterns, performance data, and dimensions.

EXAIR offers solutions for plumbing, installation, and aiming the Air Nozzle too:

  • Swivel Fittings are installed on threaded pipe, and provide 50° of angular movement. Just loosen the lock nut, aim the Nozzle, and re-tighten for rigid & secure placement.
  • Stay Set Hoses are likewise be threaded into 1/4 FNPT connections, with the Air Nozzle secured onto the other end. These come in lengths from 6″ to 36″, with 1/8 FNPT or 1/4 MNPT threads for the Air Nozzle.
EXAIR Stay Set Hoses and Swivel Fittings are ideal for installation and positioning of your Super Air Nozzle.

Metal tubing with compression fittings is another option, that can be used to install & aim an Air Nozzle. Copper tubing is relatively easy to bend by hand. Stainless steel tubing usually requires a tube bender tool, with the advantage that it can’t easily be bent by hand…on purpose or by accident. While metal tubing is certainly an option, it is generally reserved for applications where the ability to readjust is not necessary. The Stay Set hoses and Swivel Fittings tend to work better when flexibility is required.

The copper tube used to have a crimped end that was aimed at the part in the chuck. They simply cut it off and used a compression fitting to install the Super Air Nozzle.

If you’ve got a blow off application that’s not working the way you want it to, it’s highly likely that EXAIR has a solution. We would love to share our ideas with you. Give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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EXAIR Accessories: Mag Bases and Stay Set Hoses

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

EXAIR Manufactures a variety of intelligent compressed air products that can cool, clean, coat, convey, and conserve.  They’re designed specifically with enhanced efficiencies, OSHA safety, and high quality in mind.  What could make our products even better?  Making them movable, with the ability to aim them exactly where you need them!  EXAIR offers Magnetic Bases and Stay Set Hoses to achieve this.  In this blog, I will cover the features and benefits of both products.

Offered in Lengths of 6″ to 36″

Stay Set Hoses:The Stay Set Hose gives you that possibility of manually adjusting and re-adjusting smaller EXAIR products like Super Air Nozzles and Air Jets.  The hose has a “memory” function, and it will not creep or droop until you physically move it.  They work very well in directing the air flows at specific target areas.  The Stay Set Hoses come in lengths from 6” (15cm) to 36” (91cm), and they have threaded connections with either ¼” NPT male on both ends or with a 1/8” NPT female X ¼” NPT male thread.  The hoses are made from reinforced synthetic rubber and have a pressure rating of 250 PSIG (17 bar).  They can add versatility to our Safety Air Guns and Blow-off Stations.  If you need positioning for precise blowing or adjustments for different targets, the Stay Set Hoses would be a nice addition to include with your EXAIR products. 

Top Left: 9042 , Top Right 9043, Bottom 9029

Magnetic Bases: If you need a solid mount to steel surfaces or to move your blow-off system to different locations, a Magnetic Base will allow you to do these functions.  It has a 100 lb. (45.5Kg) pulling force to keep the blowing device attached firmly until you want to move it.  They can be mounted in a vertical or horizontal position.  EXAIR offers a single outlet Magnetic Base or a dual outlet Magnetic Base (for multiple blowing products). The bases come with a ¼ turn shut-off valve to easily turn on and off the compressed air to the EXAIR products. If you want to combine the Stay Set Hoses and Magnetic Bases with your EXAIR Air Nozzles and Air Jets, we can create this with the EXAIR Blowoff System.  We can combine multiple parts into a single model number.  At EXAIR, we pride ourselves with great customer service and an “easy to do business” philosophy.  You can contact a friendly Application Engineer to build an efficient, safe, and movable system just for you.

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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EXAIR’s Heavy Duty Safety Air Gun’s: Powerful and Safe

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

EXAIR’s Heavy Duty Safety Air Gun is designed to provide powerful blasts of compressed air for use in rugged, industrial environments. With a larger 3/8 NPT air inlet compared to our other Safety Air Guns, it allows for higher force and flow values. It comes with a durable cast aluminum body and ergonomic composite rubber grip. The wide curved trigger allows for continuous use for hours without operators experiencing fatigue.

1350-6-CS – Heavy Duty Safety Air Gun with Model 1104 Air Nozzle, 6″ Alum. Ext Pipe & Chip Shield

All of EXAIR’s Safety Air Guns come with an engineered compressed air nozzle at the tip. This allows you to remain OSHA compliant while still getting the force you need to get the job done. EXAIR’s Super Air Nozzles utilize the coanda effect to entrain large amounts of ambient air from the environment. This ambient air mixes with the primary airstream and is projected towards the target with more force and flow than the supplied compressed air could deliver alone.

Compressed air goes in the back, as it exits the front ambient air is entrained in the total flow of air you are getting.

Each of the Safety Air Guns is available with extensions fully assembled ranging from 6”-72”. You can simply add a “-“ and the required length, in inches, to the end of any Safety Air Gun Model number.

Safety Air Gun Extensions

In addition, they’re also available with a Chip Shield to prevent any chips or debris from coming back toward your operators. Effective chip guarding is another component of OSHA 1910.242(b) in addition to the concerns of dead-end pressure. To add a Chip Shield onto the gun as well, a “-CS” to the standard Model number. For example, a Model 1310-12-CS would be a 1310 gun with 12” extension and a Chip Shield installed. If the application involves blowing off metal chips or shavings, your operators will certainly appreciate this Chip Shield preventing the debris from blowing back over them.

With EXAIR’s Heavy Duty Safety Air Gun, you can still achieve the high forces required for tough applications without the risk of injuries to personnel. Do yourselves and your operators a favor and get one on order today!

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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What Makes EXAIR Safety Air Guns So Safe?

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

In 1970, the United States Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act. This Act created both the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The goal of both organizations is to ensure that workers, in any industry or field, have adequate protection from physical injury and health risks associated with the tools & equipment they operate, and environmental hazards in the spaces in which they operate. Workplace safety was a big deal to them.

Fifty plus years on, workplace safety is still a big deal, and not just to the federal government. At EXAIR, we have a program of continuing training on any and all safety concerns relevant to what we do here. This includes everything from pedestrian safety (not getting hit by a delivery truck in the parking lot, or a fork truck in the shop) to hazard communication (understanding the labels and safety data sheets for the cleaning compounds, adhesives, etc. used in the facility) to the procedures & personal protection equipment required for the use of compressed air products. Workplace safety is, and always has been, a big deal to us.

This culture of safety carries over to the design of our products as well. It’s arguably most important when we’re talking about products that operators hold in their hands…like our Safety Air Guns. To answer the question I posed in the title above, let’s consider the features of these products:

Engineered Air Nozzles: Regardless of any other features, the energy associated with the flow & force of the compressed air exiting the device is the first concern, and rightly so. Without a method of reducing the static pressure at the point of discharge to 30psi or less, there’ll be enough energy in the air flow to potentially break the skin if the device’s tip was dead-ended, with no place for that pressure to go. You can either reduce the supply pressure to 30psig or less (which means you’re not going to get a heck of a lot done unless it’s just lightweight debris you’re blowing off, AND you can get close enough to it), or you can use products like our Super Air Nozzles, which provide a relief path for that air flow, so the static pressure at the point of discharge never reaches 30psi, no matter what the supply pressure is. The design of all of our engineered Air Nozzles provides such a relief path, which complies with OSHA Standard 1910.242(b), which regulates the use of compressed air for cleaning…which is what almost all air guns are used for.

If you did this without that Super Air Nozzle on the end, and the air supply pressure was greater than 30psig, it could break the skin and cause a potentially fatal condition called an air embolism.

Ergonomic design: Across the board, a key feature in the design of EXAIR Safety Air Guns is to be easy on the hands, with comfortable grips and easy to pull triggers. From the molded thermoplastic construction of the VariBlast Precision models, to the cast aluminum construction of the VariBlast Compact, Soft Grip, Heavy Duty, and TurboBlast models, they’re all lightweight, and quite durable as well.

From small part cleaning by hand, to wide area blowoff, and all points in between, EXAIR has a Safety Air Gun for most any application.

Engineered Air Nozzles part 2: The same design features that prevent them from being dead-ended also result in remarkable attenuation of the sound level generated by the air flow. By entraining an enormous amount of air from the surrounding environment (which results in a much lower operating cost than open-end type air guns), a lower velocity boundary layer develops around the higher velocity center air flow, resulting in much quieter operation. All but our largest Super Air Nozzles are compliant with OSHA Standard 1910.95 limits for maximum allowable noise exposure.

EXAIR Super Air Nozzle entrainment

Chip Shields: OSHA Standard 1910.242(b), in addition to limiting dead-end pressure to prevent air embolisms from breaking the skin, also calls for “effective chip guarding” to prevent airborne debris being blown off by high velocity air flow from hitting the operator. This can be accomplished by the user via glove boxes (similar to a small parts sandblasting booth), a physical barrier like a piece of shatter resistant glass, plexiglass, Lexan, etc., or personal protective equipment like aprons, long gloves, or face shields. In case any of that is impractical, EXAIR has Chip Shields that fit our VariBlast Precision, VariBlast Compact, Soft Grip, and Heavy Duty Safety Air Guns. They’re clear polycarbonate discs that can be moved back & forth on a rigid aluminum extension pipe on the Safety Air Gun, so you can position them according to the needs of the application.

If workplace safety is as big a deal to you as it is to OSHA and EXAIR, I strongly recommend looking at what you’re using for handheld blow off applications right now, and how they stack up against EXAIR’s comprehensive line of Safety Air Guns. If you’d like to find out more, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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