Tag: custom

Custom Air Knives, Custom Vortex Tubes, Custom Line Vacs. What About Custom Air Nozzles?

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

At EXAIR we are far from shy that we offer custom solutions.   As a matter of fact, almost every catalog section has a handful of pictures that are special or custom units that we have made for our customers over the years.   We continue to add special items to our database regularly.   This could be anything from a special length Super Air Knife, a Vortex Tube with a special fitting or temperature setting, sanitary flanges on a Line Vac, or even most recently, a special 2″ Flat Super Air Nozzle.

Special 2" Flat Stainless Steel Super Air Nozzle - Safety Wired Hardware
Special 2″ Flat Stainless Steel Super Air Nozzle – Safety Wired Hardware
Special 2" Flat Stainless Steel Super Air Nozzle w/ Safety Wired Hardware
A closer look at the Safety Wire that holds the bolts from backing out.

This Special 2″ Flat Super Air Nozzle came from the customers requirement to use a mechanical fastener in order to ensure all hardware will not back out or come loose.  The 2″ Flat Super Air Nozzle is already held together by two button head cap screws that are thread locked into place in order to prevent them from loosening.  This customers requirement was not met by our standard procedures, so we stepped outside of the box yet again and have offered them a special 2″ Flat Super Air Nozzle with bolts that are held tight by safety wire.

Safety wire is a very popular practice in Aerospace, motorcycle racing, and even some packaging processes.   The Stainless Steel wire is twisted and wrapped around the bolt heads in a manner that will not permit either bolt from loosening and falling out.   However, it can be removed, the nozzle can then be cleaned, and the safety wire can then be replaced for preventative maintenance needs.

If you are in the need for something that you don’t directly see in our product offering, or maybe you simply need something like a bolt style changed.   Contact us and see what we can do for you.   Chances are, we will meet your needs with ease and even be in a timely fashion.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer Manager
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Special Air Amplifier? Not A Problem!

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

This week I worked with two customers that wanted to boost their air flow with an Air Amplifier. One customer ended up going with a Special Air Amplifier. The second customer I ended up pointing to a different product line entirely. Keep reading to find out why.

The first customer needed to boost the exhaust flow through six inch duct.  The six inch duct was an open vent that allowed fumes to slowly escape from a vessel. During normal operation the vessel, was unmanned, so the fumes only need a path to escape, but could linger. The company wanted to do some maintenance work in the area while the machine was in operation. The vent met the necessary requirements for the air flow of the machinery, but left maintenance workers exposed to a variety of fumes while working in the vessel, if the unit was in operation.

The customer was interested in the model 6034 Stainless Steel Air Amplifier. With 0.002″ air gap and 80 PSIG of inlet pressure, the unit will flow 1,200 SCFM of compressed air at the outlet of the Air Amplifier, but the 6034 can be adjusted to much higher flows from there.  The Air Amplifier would easily be able to exhaust the fumes from the area to maintain a safe and comfortable working environment. The problem was mounting the 6034 Adjustable Air Amplifier. The 6034 is designed to be used in free air with the discharge side of the air amplifier connecting to a duct. The suction side of the Air Amplifier is as open as possible to entrain air, but my customer needed to connect the Air Amplifier to the outlet of the vent. We worked with the customer on designing an Air Amplifier to fit the 6″ Flange that they used to connect sections of their duct similar to the Air Amplifier pictured below.

special air amplifier
This special stainless steel flange-mount Air Amplifier was designed for exhausting hot flue gases from a furnace.

My other customer called to move the air inside a heated drying tunnel. The customer uses a process air heater to heat a large drying tunnel. Unfortunately, the air heater created hot air at the entrance of the drying tunnel. By the time the air reached the end of the drying tunnel the temperature was significantly higher at the top of the tunnel as opposed to the bottom from natural convection. To counter this effect the customer wanted to move air from the process heater half way down the tunnel and release the air. In this application, the customer wanted to duct both the inlet and the outlet of an Air Amplifier. The Air Amplifier is not well suited for ducting and you limit the amount of air that the Air Amplifier can entrain by connecting it to a duct.

For this customer, I recommended he use a Line Vac. The Line Vac typically conveys materials, but it will also move a good amount of air.  The customer was going to use heated compressed air and wanted to convey the air from the process heater to the other side of the drying tunnel. Another key benefit to the Line Vac is the discharge and suction side of the units are both the same size.  This makes it extremely easy to install for the customer and is off the shelf, ready to ship.

Two similar applications on the surface that result in different product recommendation. Not every application for an air mover is this complicated, but if you want to talk through your application EXAIR’s application engineer’s will be happy to help.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
@EXAIR_DW
DaveWoerner@EXAIR.com

Shared Details Equal Better Solutions

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

Fortunately for us, and our customers, we manufacture custom parts to meet their application if our cataloged products do not meet their requirements. Just look at these blogs. Customers often come to us to know if our products can be used in a corrosive environment, or if they are suitable within a high temperature, or within a small envelope.  Shortly after I started working in the Application Engineering department, I have found that the answers to these questions are generally “Yes, but why?”

Our marketing department does a great job of displaying our capabilities.  Just look at the special pages: Air Knives, Line Vacs, Air Amplifiers, or Cabinet Coolers. We can make a great variety of products and materials, but we always will ask the next question. Why?

Some customers are surprised at how emphatic we can be about knowing why you need a special part or process. We are only asking to best serve you. For instance, I had a customer come to me today after seeing our Special Air Knife page and seeing our flat Super Air Knife that is only 11/16″ thick.  This is a great product for its application, but when compared to our stock Super Air Knife, it is more expensive and carries and cannot be shipped until 2-3 weeks after it is ordered since we would build it from scratch.  Customers first look at the Super Air Knife and see that the overall height of the product is 1.44″, which is too large to fit in their machine.  When they see that the Super Air Knife is too big they assume they need something special.  This is generally, when I get a call like this.

“I need your Flat Super Air Knife. What is the part number and price?”

Flat Super

“We don’t have a standing part number for that unit. It was a special part that we created for a specific customer. Why do you need that model?” I reply.

“It is thinner than the Super Air Knife.” – customer

“Have you looked at the Full Flow Air Knife?” – my reply

“No, What is that?” – customer

This is where the reasoning behind the request is so important. Purchasing one piece of a custom made thin Super Air Knife pictured above is significantly more expensive than the production run and in stock Full Flow Air Knife.  The Special thin Super Air Knife is 0.688″ thick. The Full Flow Super Air Knife is 1.03″ thick. And in this case case, the Full Flow Air Knife worked for this customer.  This is just one example of finding out why a customer needs a special product is so important.  If the machine envelope is 1.25″ the Full Flow Air Knife will fit just fine. If the machining envelope is 0.75″, a Special thin Super Air Knife will be the solution. When we share the details together, it is easier to produce the best solution for our customers.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
DaveWoerner@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_DW

R&D…&D Research & Development Daily

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

research

I tend to find myself doing quite a bit of research, whether here at work or at home.   Any time I am looking to buy something or test something I am constantly trying to find out if someone has already done it or if they haven’t, can I get my money back if it doesn’t work. Whenever I am trying something new, I always want to make sure I have all the information and just in case it still doesn’t work, be able to minimize my out of pocket cost in the end.

This is why, when you call EXAIR and ask us for a custom product when you are just trying something out, we offer a stock product first to get a base line.  If the stock product doesn’t exactly fit, say you need a 20.5″ long Super Air Knife, we would recommend to test either an 18″ or 24″ stock Super Air Knife to see if it is a viable option.   Once you have tested the stock length then you can simply let us know, within 30 days from the date of purchase, and return the unit.  Then place the order for the custom product that is exactly what you want.

Special Super Air Knife

Not only do we work with you and try to get you exactly what you need, we also will pull from all the experience that the entire company has to help you figure out what is going to work best for your application.   Not to say we have seen everything and done everything, but we are pretty darn close.

If you have any questions or need help with a research and development project you might be working on, give us a call, email, fax or chat.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF