Tag: Blowoff

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

Send me an email
Find us on the Web 
Like us on Facebook
Twitter: @EXAIR_JS

Safety Air Gun Accessories!

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

EXAIR Has a nice selection of Safety Air Guns. The VariBlast Precision and Compact, Soft Grip, Heavy Duty and Super Blast Safety Air Guns, and the newest addition, the TurboBlast are available with a variety of air nozzles, chip shields and pipe extensions. (Click on the product link above to see a blog about any of the eight types of Safety Air Guns) They are durable and comfortable and ergonomic to use.These Safety Air Guns are designed with durability and comfort in mind while also ergonomically safe to use. Safe operation is assured along with low air consumption and noise levels.EXAIR Engineered air nozzles are available in Type 316 stainless steel for superior corrosion resistance and mechanical wear, Type 303 stainless steel for corrosion resistance, PEEK thermoplastic for non-marring and chemical resistance or zinc/aluminum alloy for general purpose applications.

Flying Debris? – Chip Shields are durable polycarbonate shields that protect the operator from risk of flying debris often seen when blowing off chips from machined parts. They are also useful to prevent coolant from splashing back, creating a mess during drying processes.

The Chip Shields are available for EXAIR’s VariBlast, Soft Grip and Heavy Duty Safety Air Guns. The Chip Shield can be used on Safety Air Guns with or without an aluminum extension. They may be purchased as part of a new air gun system, or retrofitted as a Chip Shield Kit.  Consult an Application Engineer for selection assistance.

If you have a blow-off process where the air is to be directed at a distance away from the operator, or into a hard-to-reach location, an extension is the solution. Available in lengths from 6″ (152mm) to 72″ (1829mm), with sizes as to meet most requirement can be found. To add an extension to an air gun, simply add -xx to the current part number. EXAIR’s Stay Set Hoses are available from 6”-36” in lengths with ¼ NPT male threads on each end, or a ¼ NPT male on one end and 1/8 NPT female on the other.

Model 1310-12 Heavy Duty Safety Air Gun, With 12″ Extension & 1100 Super Air Nozzle

The Stay Set Hoses are rigid and allow you to maintain precise positioning of the blow off nozzle. The hoses have “memory” and will not creep or bend.

Options from 6″ to 36″

 If you need a 12′ coiled air hose, to use with your Safety Air Gun, we have them available and in stock. Available with 1/8 NPT, 1/4 NPT or 3/8 NPT male end swivel connections. Avoid tangled and messy air lines and keep things neat!

If you have an application and need help deciding which EXAIR Safety Air Gun and/Nozzle you need. Please contact us and ask for any Application Engineer. We are always happy and eager to help.

Jordan Shouse
Application EngineerSend me an email
Find us on the Web 
Like us on Facebook
Twitter: @EXAIR_JS

Super Air Wipes For Reliable Blow Off In Harsh Environments

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

I saw a fake ad on a humor/satire website for a “wood fireplace” recently. The photo showed what looked like a typical home fireplace, except the whole thing – the frame, grill, flue, and chimney – was made of 2×4’s and plywood. It looked to be well crafted and expertly built, and I bet it would have worked great…once.

It was definitely funny…here I am, a week or so later, still getting (and sharing with you, dear reader) a chuckle out of it. There were two takeaways for me: One, I’m easily amused. And two, there is DEFINITELY a reason why many products are made of certain materials. Like, how the fireplace in MY house is made of iron & brick.

…and not just any old bricks, but specially made ones called refractory (or fire) bricks. Because specific material of construction can be VERY important.

Then there’s the EXAIR Air Wipe product line. Our Standard Air Wipes are made of aluminum. They’re fitted with steel hardware, polyester shims, and have a PVC/rubber & brass connector hose assembly. As long as they’re not exposed to anything that’s particularly corrosive, or in a hot environment – they’re rated to 150°F (66°C) – they’re going to work just fine.

EXAIR Standard Air Wipe family. Sizes up to 4″ (102mm) come with a connector hose. Larger sizes must be plumbed with compressed air to the supply port on each half.

For more aggressive conditions in the Air Wipe’s area of installation, though, we’ll consider the Super Air Wipe:

  • We offer the body in two different materials: aluminum is good for up to 400°F (204°C), stainless steel is good to 800°F (427°C).
  • Either way, it comes with stainless steel hardware & shims, and a braided SS connector hose.
EXAIR Super Air Wipe Family. Sizes up to 4″ (102mm) come with a SS braided connector hose. Same as the Standard Air Wipes, 5″ (127mm) and larger Models are individually plumbed to each half. Aluminum bodies come in sizes from 3/8″ (10mm) to 11″ (279mm), and Stainless Steel bodies go from 3/8″ (10mm) to 4″ (102mm).

Here are some prime examples of the “more aggressive conditions” that are great fits for the Super Air Wipe:

  • Blowing off seawater from mooring cables on oceangoing vessels:
Reeling in this cable through an unprotected hatch carried seawater into the reel compartment. A Model 2404SS 4″ SS Super Air Wipe now dries the cable as it enters, solving a number of corrosion & maintenance problems.
  • Removing cutting oil from machined parts:
EXAIR Model 2407 7″ Aluminum Super Air Wipes remove cutting fluid from CNC machined parts. The oil-based fluid was contaminating robotic welders’ cover windows & lenses, which cost a lot of time (in cleaning the windows & lenses), and money (to replace the windows as the fluid attacked them, causing them to cloud & haze).
  • Cooling extruded tubing:
Tubing coming out of extruder was hot & pliable, and would slump or sag upon exit. An EXAIR Model 2401 1″ Aluminum Super Air Wipe cools it to prevent it from slumping, which made it so crooked it had to be tossed out as defective.
  • Blow off AND creating an environmental barrier:
An EXAIR Model 2404 4″ Aluminum Super Air Wipe not only blows off a steel rod during processing, it also contains smoke and oil mist from the machinery.

Super Air Wipes come in sizes from 3/8″ (10mm) to 11″ (279mm) with the Aluminum bodies, and 3/8″ (10mm) to 4″ (102mm) in Stainless Steel. Kits include a Shim Set to make gross adjustments to the flow & force, an Automatic Drain Filter Separator to keep the air supply clean & moisture free, and a Pressure Regulator to “dial in” the performance. If you have a particular application you’d like to discuss, or to find out more about our Air Wipes (or any of our engineered compressed air products, for that matter,) give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
Visit us on the Web
Follow me on Twitter
Like us on Facebook

Gen4 Ion Air Cannon Explained

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

When larger areas need to be covered with an ionized air stream and the surfaces needing to be covered are not flat, then an array of Gen4 Ion Air Cannons can often be the solution. This is something that the automotive industry as well as many others have been using since before I have been a part of the EXAIR team. So just how does the Gen4 Ion Air Cannon achieve this?

At its core, the Gen4 IAC is designed around a 2″ Super Air Amplifier, and then we add ionization and a stand. The largest benefit to this is the ability of the Super Air Amplifier to entrain large volumes of free ambient air while using small amounts of compressed air. By entraining large volumes of free ambient air and then directing it down through the throat of the IAC and ionizing it upon exit of the barrel, we maximize the potential to eliminate static on the target surfaces and provide a good blowoff at the same time. To give a visualization of the performance, check out the video below.

When adding ionization to this airstream, complex shapes can easily have static elimination as they are being conveyed. Take an automotive body for example, as it travels down the assembly line, before paint or primer, they get blown off to ensure any debris from the facility is removed before they are coated. An array of Ion Air Cannons can be installed at a distance from the surface to fit multiple vehicle models and still target the entire surface needed.

Three Gen4 Ion Air Cannons are used to blow off the debris and remove unwanted static charge from a primer vehicle body before painting.

By arranging the blow-offs to utilize the large volume of ambient air entrained and direct the airflow at an angle in which once it hits the surface, it expands in the direction needed to remove the debris it is easy to cover irregular shapes. The setup shown above will utilize 15.5 SCFM per IAC when operated at 80 psig and give a forceful blast to remove any debris on the surface; the total consumption would be 45.5 SCFM at 80 psig to remove all debris from the top surfaces of this vehicle body before it goes into the final paint area. A centrally located 4 port Gen4 Power Supply, model 7961, can simplify cabling and installation while powering all three Ion Air Cannons. To optimize compressed air usage, an Electronic Flow Control can easily be installed to shut the air off whenever a car is not present; adding something like this ionized blowoff station to existing equipment is easier.

If you would like to discuss what the Gen4 Ion Air Cannon kit or any of our point-of-use engineered compressed air products can do for you in your facility, please contact an Application Engineer today.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF