Tag: EXAIR_BF

Don’t Blink, You’ll Miss It

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment
1 – Don’t Blink Caffeinate

We discuss optimizing compressed air systems and starting all of them on your demand side. If you are new to the blog or to compressed air, this is an important place to start because it can put capacity back into your system and help prevent shutdowns due to excessive compressed air use. One of the keys to utilizing compressed air in applications is to ensure it is off when not needed. This is also a benefit of compressed air.

You see, you can use an electromechanical solenoid valve to rapidly turn compressed air off and on. Because it is compressed and will rapidly feed through a blowoff you can use this rapid off/on to your advantage within a facility. Rather than just having to let a blower stay on or wait for it to spool up and fill a large duct, the piping of a compressed air system can already be supplied, and the valve can be located very near to the blowoff “nozzle” which means you can get the work done with instant response time. And, any amount of gap in demand builds capacity back into your supply system.

The EXAIR Electronic Flow Control gives the ability to turn the compressed air off and on within 1/10th of a second. Don’t blink, you’ll miss it! That’s right, if you had an intermittent demand or even something that would benefit from repeated impacts of the air on the surface it can be done down to one tenth of a second with the EFC. Even if you just use this rapid off/on for blowoff on a continuous product and it works to where you don’t need the continuous you can save as much as 50% of the air going into what would otherwise be a continuous operation blowoff, assuming an on 1/10th and off 1/10th (of a second).

The other advantage to something like an Electronic Flow Control is that it simplifies the operators’s input to work correctly. There are no valves for them to physically turn on and off, no foot pedals to step on and energize the air, and no triggers to pull. While these all have their place, they lend themselves to variations in the length of time used or not used. Most processes in production environments don’t handle variables extremely well. Consistency is key and the EFC delivers on this point.

If you want to talk about how you can benefit from a rapid off/on of compressed air and put some capacity back into your system, contact an Application Engineer today.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

1 – Amy from United States, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The EXAIR VariBlast Precision Safety Air Guns

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Handheld air guns are something that you can find in nearly any and all manufacturing facilities that have compressed air within them. Suppose they are not at every operator station because the machines don’t require compressed air. In that case, they are generally found at the very least within the maintenance department where they are continually keeping the facility functioning.

Don’t let this happen to your air gun…use an EXAIR Precision Safety Air Gun with a quiet, efficient Super Air Nozzle instead.

These handheld guns are easily overlooked for being safe and efficient for the operators to use. Often, the cheapest gun possible is also the most costly regarding ownership and operation. These are just a few of the reasons EXAIR designed the VariBlast Precision Safety Air Gun.

The ergonomic design fits well in any sized hand and the long trigger makes for easy use with up to the four-finger engagement. The integrated loop allows the tool to easily hang on a tether or hook near an operator station. The optional Chip Shield adds additional protection for the operator and can be adjusted to any location along the extension. The extension pipe is offered in three different lengths, 6″ 12″, or 20″ overall length. Each one of these components is also field replaceable in the event one becomes damaged.

There are three different models of Super Air Nozzle available at the end of the extension in two separate materials. You can purchase the Atto, Pico, or Nano Super Air Nozzle in either stainless steel or PEEK thermoplastic for more sensitive applications. These nozzles coupled with our engineered valve design permit the user to vary the amount of air coming out of the gun by pulling the trigger to a higher flow or pulling it slightly and letting less volume of air through.

If you want to discuss whether the current air gun you use meets or exceeds OSHA standards and how much air it may use versus what an EXAIR VariBlast Precision can do for you, please contact an Application Engineer today.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Spring Cleaning & Free STUFF

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

That’s right in case you didn’t notice, Spring is upon us and that generally means a good amount of cleaning is coming into your lives. I have been cleaning up the yard, garage, patio, shed, and even basement just trying to get everything for being outside more and making sure all of my equipment is ready to go for the warmer weather. The good news for you is that EXAIR is making Spring cleaning even better in your industrial setting with our new promo.

Right now, purchase any EXAIR Industrial Housekeeping System and receive a FREE Vac-U-Gun! The best part about these pneumatically driving vacuums is that there are no carburetors to clean them, and no batteries to charge, just plug them into your shop air and go. Whether you need a liquid vacuum, dry vacuum, or wet/dry vacuum, we have a product that will fit your need and if you aren’t sure, we have a dedicated team of Application Engineers here to help.

EXAIR's new Chip Trapper
EXAIR’s new Chip Trapper

For liquid vacuums, we offer the Chip Trapper which permits you to filter solids from the liquid being sucked up, then pump the filtered liquid right back out of the 30, 55, or 110-gallon drum. Filter bags are available in 1, 5, 25, 50, 100, and 200-micron ratings. The High Lift Chip Trapper is the same principle just near double the vacuum level so you can suck more viscous liquid or sub-grade sumps clean.

The Reversible Drum Vac and High Lift Reversible Drum Vac use the same vacuum generators as their Chip Trapper counterparts and give you the ability to use a 5, 30, 55, or 110-gallon drum to empty a sump and pump all the contents into another container. (5 gallon is only available in the standard Reversible Drum Vac, no High Lift version.) I know I’ve told the story before, I used to utilize a Reversible Drum Vac when I was in the metal cutting industry. As I was setting up trade show booths full of metal cutting machines, I would hook my RDV up to the drums and pump machines full of premixed coolant, then at the end of the show, I would suck all the sumps dry and be waiting for load out while other booths would still be fooling around with an electric vacuum or waiting on another service that had a large tow-behind system.

(Left to right) Chip Vac, Heavy Duty Dry Vac, Heavy Duty HEPA Vac

When it comes to dry vacuums, the Chip Vac, Heavy Duty Dry Vac, and Heavy Duty HEPA Vac are all ideal due to their no moving parts and simplistic design to get the job done. Whether it is a machine shop cleaning up chads and chips, a grinding shop cleaning up fines, or even a general facility cleaning dirt, debris, and scraps from the floor, these vacuums hook straight to shop air and are ready to work. The filters can all be cleaned and reused or replaced if you chose. They again, fit standard drum sizes and can even include the drum with the purchase.

For critical dust containment, the HEPA EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac System is your durable, reliable, compressed air operated solution!

Lastly, our EasySwitch Wet/Dry Vac is the only vacuum I know of on the market that can be converted from wet to dry in less than 10 seconds and still have no internal moving parts. The unit is honestly a game changer compared to the electric equivalent and doesn’t have a motor or impeller to wear out.

Then, to top any purchase of those units off, the current promotion enables end users in the US or Canada to receive a Vac-U-Gun for free. This is a tool that many utilize to blow down a workstation, then turn around and vacuum everything up off the floor.

If you would like to discuss any of these systems more in-depth, since I stayed at a high-level explanation, please feel free to contact an Application Engineer.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Spot Cooling, Cold Gun Promotion

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

Like many companies, here at EXAIR we generally always have a promotional offering.  These rotate throughout the months and this month is no different.  The current offering involves the EXAIR Cold Gun Aircoolant Systems.

These spot cooling systems help to reduce cutting fluid use, increase production speeds, increase tool life, and has helped more customers than I know.  One customer in particular is a maintenance worker from a welded tube manufacturer.  This facility had very little amount of downtime permitted due to the high efficiency and high volume of orders.  When a machine went down the maintenance team went in like a trauma team to determine the cause of failure and get it fixed to get the line back up and running. One of the biggest problems they would have is when they would have to dry machine a quick part to get the machine back up and running, this would either ruin tools or they would have to slow down the machining time to get the surface finish and dimensions they truly needed.  After talking with us the team ordered a Single Point Cold Gun Aircoolant System as these parts were generally small enough to tackle with the single cold outlet (larger parts benefit from the dual point hose kit).

They received the spot cooler system in and sure enough a machine went down.  The crew went to work and once the broken part was located they got to work on their lathe trying to make a new piece.  The Cold Gun held itself straight to the headstock thanks to the integrated magnet and the flexible single point hose kit routed the cold air straight to the cutting insert point.  They didn’t have to fill up the liquid tank or setup the mist system on the lathe, they simply turned on the compressed air and let the lathe do the work.  They were able to take what had recently been around a three hour machine job with heavy wear on tooling to a two hour job, no finish pass was needed on the part, and their tools weren’t completely spent by the end of the job.

They got the part back into the machine, made adjustments, and then went to work getting the machine back into production.

Right now, if you would like to try out a Cold Gun Aircoolant System you can order before 12/31/21 and you will receive a free Dual Point Hose Kit with your qualified purchase.

Dual Point Hose Kit

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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