Tag: coolant system

Coolant Mess Vs. “Dry” Machining

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

It seems like a lifetime ago now that I have been with EXAIR for almost 14 years. However, I come from the metal cutting industry and still have numerous contacts and interests in what kind of technological advancements the industry sees. In the industry and even today, there seems to be a constant battle between using coolant to provide chip evacuation, lubrication, and cooling during a cut versus trying to tune the programs and feeds to perform dry machining. During dry machining, the operator may stand there and keep a handheld Safety air gun blowing chips away from the cutter and out of the tool path. The machine may even be plumbed up with compressed air to run through the traditional coolant lines rather than pumping liquid. This comes with its own issues. What if I were to tell you there is a third option?

You already know a third option exists if you read our blog regularly. It is the EXAIR Cold Gun Aircoolant System. These utilize the vortex principle to produce a cold air stream that will provide chip evacuation and cooling of the cutting tool and material. It will drop the incoming compressed air temperature by 50°F and easily point that cold stream of air at the cutting point just like a coolant line. This means the evacuation of the chip and, by using the cooler air, you can help reduce the heat buildup within both the cutting tool and the material, which can prevent thermal growth creep as well. Keeping the cutting tool and the material cooler reduces the amount of wear on the tooling and or coating of the tool. This has been found to reduce tool wear by over 21%.

This can not only reduce tool wear and improve the finish, but it also reduces the amount of cleanup by not introducing the liquid aspect. No more mopping up around the open guard machines or having to wipe down or blow off parts to remove moisture. The parts will come off the machine dry and the chips will go into the chip hoppers dry as well.

If you would like some help determining which of the four Cold Gun options is the best fit for your machining operation, please contact an Application Engineer today.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

A Cold Gun to help a Stamping Process

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

 

Movie Film

When it comes to die stamping, friction generates heat.  Heat can be a problematic cause for generating scrap, slowing production speeds, and decreasing tool life.  A manufacturer of film reels was seeing the effects during their process.  They had a stamping machine that was creating the sprocket holes in the outer edge of a 35mm film.  These holes are used for advancing the reel strip through printers, projectors, and processing machines.  They had to be particularly careful, as film materials warp easily with heat.  Some of us remember the film reels that would bubble and burn out when the film stopped in the projector too long.  So, speed was critical without creating any quality issues.

The film reel manufacturer was intrigued with the EXAIR Vortex Tubes as they can generate cold air by only using compressed air.  They do not use refrigerants or have any moving parts.  They are very compact and can fit into tight places.  The manufacturer thought that if they could reduce the temperature in the stamping process, they could speed up production.

EXAIR makes different accessories available to help with installation and function of Vortex Tubes for various applications.  For this customer, I recommended the model 5315 Cold Gun System.  This product generates 1000 BTU/hr of cooling power, and has a Dual Point Hose Kit to allow for targeting both sides of the film reel.  It includes an incorporated, magnetic base to securely position it on a ferromagnetic surface of the stamping machine. Finally, it includes two 1” flat nozzles to spread the cooling airflow out a bit.  These flat nozzles would help to direct the cold air in between the two stamping plates.   They were able to keep the film reel and the die stamp cool as they sped up their operation.  Even with the additional speed, they also noticed that the die stayed sharper 20% longer which allowed for a corresponding productivity increase . 

If heat is slowing down your process, EXAIR will most likely have a product to keep it cool.  As with the customer above, heat was a “reel” problem.  With the Cold Gun System, we were able to increase their productivity and decrease their downtime.  Please contact an Application Engineer to discuss your application if temperature is affecting your process. 

John Ball
Application Engineer

Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

Photo by: Film by JanBaby  Creative Commons CC0 Public Domain

EXAIR Cold Gun Promo Starts November 1st!

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

That’s right, with the start of November this year we also start our Cold Gun promotion. This promotion runs from the start of November until December 31, 2023. The best part is that Cold Guns have a long history of providing spot cooling solutions for industry. Cold Guns have been cooling product and processes for over 36 years! Take advantage of the current promotion today!

From left to right: EXAIR Mini Coolers, Cold Guns, and Adjustable Spot Coolers come with Magnetic Bases for instant installation.

The EXAIR Cold Gun promo is a great way to receive an additional tool to extend the use of the Cold Gun. With the purchase of a promotional Cold Gun System w/ Single Point Hose Kit or promotional High Power Cold Gun System w/ Single Point Hose Kit you will receive a Dual Point Hose Kit for free. This is a $48.00 USD value. The Cold Gun will drop your compressed air temperature by 54 °F when operating at 100 psig inlet pressure. Choose the standard point tip or the 1″ fan tip to blow the cold air. The total length of the flexible discharge hose is around 11″. If more coverage is needed, the promotional Dual Point Hose Kit gives around 5-6″ of straight hose before splitting into two smaller lines that offer both point or fan tip nozzles as well. This dual point can be used to reach both sides of larger diameter cutters and components that need a blast of cool air.

Single Point
Dual Point

The Cold Gun is easily setup in any machine that has a ferrous metal surface thanks to its integrated magnetic base that will hold the unit in place even when the machine is moving or vibrating. If you do not have ferrous metal available for the magnetic base, using rigid piping or even something like u-bolts to hold the unit into place is a common practice of customers who need the cooling and know the Cold Gun will perform.

Lastly, if you aren’t certain whether the Cold Gun is the solution, we have an entire team of Application Engineers here to discuss the application, and it is also backed by our 30-day guarantee so our US and Canadian based customers can order one, test it in their facility for 30 days. If they are not pleased with the performance for any reason, the item can be returned to EXAIR. If you want to discuss your application, contact us today!

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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Why doesn’t my “XYZ” work?

Published on by bdwagesLeave a comment
Pic by PoseMuse licensed by Pixabay

You’ve probably been there. You install a new Super Air Knife, or an EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac (or any other product), and it doesn’t work as we promised. Or it works great for 2-3 years, and now it’s faltering. You have trouble shot everything you know to do. You’ve changed the filters, checked for leaks on the product, checked the connections, but still it is not performing as it was, or how it is supposed to. This is usually when I get the call, and more times than not, the issue is related to the air supply.

Whether this new item isn’t performing, or an older product has been working for 2 weeks, months, or years and stops, we first need to confirm the pressure. First, we need to make sure there is a T and pressure gauge at the point of use. Although psig is only one factor of the air flow, if it is too low (or too high in some cases) that is a definite problem. Without the proper psig, our tools will not function properly. If the psig is sufficient, and our product is not operating as claimed, the next thing we check is the SCFM.

There are a few ways of finding the SCFM…one is very easy and reliable, and the other can get you close enough to realize if there is a problem or not. The easy way is by installing a Digital Flow Meter near the point of use. Although the most reliable, it is not always feasible or cost-effective to have these near every air application in your system.

Without the Flow Meter, we need to start looking for reasons why the SCFM is not there. Whether a new install or an existing one, we need to evaluate the air flow by starting with the basics. Let’s start by identifying how much air your application requires. For instance, a Super Air Knife consumes 2.9 SCFM per inch, so a 48″ Super Air Knife will use 139.2 SCFM (at standard operation), that is equivalent to a 35 HP compressor dedicated solely to this 1 product. Assuming your compressor is large enough to flow this amount of air, we need to see what other products are being utilized in the system as well. Does your overall system have enough air to run each product?

So your compressor is large enough, the next step is to look at your line size. To run 139.2 SCFM, you will need a 3/4″ line and that is if you are within 20 ft of the source (compressor). If you are 150 feet away, you will need 1 1/4″ lines, and so on. This is an issue that pops up often.

The next thing we look for is any type of restrictions on the line. Are your filter and oil separators sized properly? Were there new products / stations added to the line. Is the product itself being maintained properly? Is your Air clean and dry? Are there any other line restrictions that could be interfering with the flow?

If all of these things check out, our last course of action is to get the product back for evaluation. We will tear it apart, many times needing to destroy it to find the cause. But proudly, I must say that we rarely find a manufacturing defect, but we look hard just in case, because we want to know as well. We can usually show you the issue, and find the root cause. Our reputation and quality is the highest in the industry, and it is not something we take lightly. We want to find a defect if it exists, so that we can immediately address them, and head off any future issues.

If you have one of our products that isn’t functioning as you hoped, or just purchased one that isn’t up to par, please look at some of the items mentioned above. And as always, reach out to us and let us help f we can.

Thank you for stopping by,

Brian Wages

Application Engineer

EXAIR Corporation
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Cover photo by gerralt / 25503 and licensed by Pixabay