Tag: failure

Erratic Performance And Simple Solutions

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If that’s not a vague title that would get you to click on the blog, then I’m not sure what is. The image definitely adds some context to what this may be about. Nearly one year ago I wrote a blog about tailored cooling solutions and industrial controls. It’s a fairly simple process that doesn’t require a lot of time and often results in some improved performance for electrical enclosures running cooler. Well, one of the keys to understanding how to do this is the basics of air movement and always starting at the top.

The 2017 Honda Pioneer 1000. Sitting nose in to the closest light we had before, we replaced batteries so we could easily see where to hook up the jumper pack.

This past weekend I took two of my daughters and one of their friends to some other friend’s property near Lake Cumberland, Kentucky. If you have a property like this with equipment like side by side or boat that isn’t used frequently, then you understand how easy it is for equipment to start acting up for no apparent reason. Even if you run a machine shop or company with excellent preventative maintenance, you know that sometimes, stuff happens and machines go offline. This past weekend, we had three of three machines go offline at the property. After some troubleshooting and repairs, we had 3 for three back up and running. The fun part for me is always the troubleshooting and discovery.

The first was the boat. I didn’t get any repair photos. It is a 150 HP out-drive motor that had fuel issues. We traced it to a fueling problem and after fresh fuel, fuel filter, new spark plug, swapping coils between locations, and swapping fuel injectors, we determined there must’ve been a clog in the fuel rail as it cleared up and ran great. That’s when the rain hit. So then we went on to the side by side. This beautiful machine right here was going into limp mode anytime you reached wide open throttle. One of two batteries was fairly weak and required jump-starting, so we started there, then it still did it. When working on the batteries, we did find a nice little mouse nest in the air pre-cleaner. That box has about a 2″ I.D. tube that runs from the front of the vehicle to just behind the front seats where the motor and air filter/box sit. After the battery didn’t solve the issue, we moved to the next basic issue; air and fuel. It had plenty of fresh fuel, so we started with air. When we removed the air filter, we found an entire 44 gallon trash bag that had essentially been vacuum formed into the air filter. We had two guesses. One was the mice, the other was that someone who previously owned it must’ve sat it in that 2″ tube when they were working on the vehicle to prevent anything from falling down it and over time it worked its way back to fully block the filter. Once that was removed, the machine ran tremendously better with no issues. So a simple lack of air movement took this performance machine to its knees.

The culprit… The 44 gallon bag was formed to the pleats of the air filter. Still in usable condition, needless to say, it went into the permanent trash container far away from the air intake.

That’s a lot like an air-to-air heat Exchanger with a filter that hasn’t been changed in a machine or production area full of floating air debris. I’ve seen spindle drives on CNC machines that had heat dissipation fins where you couldn’t see the fins, just a brick of oily soaked chips. This will cause drive failure in no time, just like the side by side, Lack of appropriate air movement took the machine offline and no fun was had.

If you want to look at a solution with no moving parts and that is extremely reliable, much like the fact we left the hood open, so the mice don’t feel so secure in that pre-filter area, contact an Application Engineer today to let us help you size your Cabinet Cooler System. Even if you want to use these as a fail-safe for your equipment.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Basic System Maintenance

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Maintenance is something that can have two different forms; preventative and reactive. At home, I try to ensure I perform preventative maintenance on my major appliances. For instance, I clean the coils on my A/C condensing coils at least once a year, if not twice. I change the intake air filter on the air handler once a month because it is a 1″ thick filter, which is the manufacturer’s recommendation. When it comes to our aging vehicle fleet of two, I do a combination of preventative maintenance such as tire rotations, fluid checks and changes, as well as reactive maintenance such as thermostat replacements and sensor changes when they go bad.

Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Mechanical Technician
1 – Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Mechanical Technician

Regarding industrial facilities, the same kind of maintenance can be found. I have worked in facilities where the only type of maintenance that is done is in fact reactive. You know the old adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” That is legit how some of these facilities I have been through function. In fact, they will take parts off a broken production line that they are waiting on the parts for and put on another machine when it breaks down just to keep something going. The inventory of replacement parts was non-existent on-site and would cause downturns due to mechanical failures often. This has resulted in low up-time scores, which also sends production costs through the roof because they are trying to make up for downed lines by running overtime and increasing speeds on the lines that aren’t down.

While preventative maintenance can seem like it is costly and troublesome because it can take a machine out of production, I assure you it is still cheaper and easier than having that emergency maintenance call that comes after hours on a Friday. This is one of the main reasons we talk about installing point-of-use filters on systems that require clean compressed air. If you start to see more than a 5 psig drop across a filter, then you should look at replacing the filter element to ensure optimal performance like the video below showcases for model 9004. Should something like a main dryer fail, these point-of-use filters will help to collect any bypass or remnants in the system from just such a failure of up-stream equipment.

If you would like to discuss other preventative maintenance steps, like monitoring the usage of a system to see leakage when it starts, or how to clean and maintain your EXAIR products, contact an Application Engineer today.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

1 -PEO ACWA, 1/14/2019, Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Mechanical Technician, retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/acwa/39775534373/in/photostream/

Friction Loss – Pressure Drops – Fitting Restrictions – Why Compressed Air Plumbing Matters

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Over the weekend I was working on a car in my driveway and I needed a large volume of air at the far end of the car to try and unplug a clogged sunroof drain line.  Rather than trying to move the car while it was mostly taken apart, I just hooked up another air line extension and started to go to the drain.   Even knowing what I know as an EXAIR Application Engineer about lengths of tubing, air restriction, and fitting restrictions, I went ahead with the quick and easy “fix”.

An example of pressure drop from a compressed air quick disconnect.

I grabbed another 30′ – 3/8″ i.d. air line with 1/4″ quick disconnects (see why this is wrong with this blog) on both end, rather than getting out the 50′ long 1/2″ i.d. air line that I have with proper fittings that then reduce down to a 1/4″NPT at the end to tie into most of my air tools. By doing so I ended up hooking up a Safety Air Gun which then gave a very light puff of air into the tube and the clog in the line went nowhere.  As a matter of fact, it was almost like it laughed because the tubing vibrated as if the clog said, “Pfft I am going nowhere.”

I then, stepped back and evaluated what I had done in a rush to try and get a job done rather than taking the extra five minutes to get the proper air line to do the job.   I then spent 10 minutes putting that hose up and getting out the correct hose.  Then, with a whoosh and a thud the clog was launched into my yard from the clogged drain port and I finished the repairs.

If only I had watched Russ Bowman’s spectacular video on Proper Compressed Air Supply Plumbing the day before. Rather than wasting time with the quick “fix” that cost me more time and didn’t fix anything I should have taken a little more time up front to verify I had properly sized my lines for the job at hand.

If you would like to discuss compressed air plumbing, appropriate line sizes, or insufficient flow on your compressed air system, please contact an EXAIR Application Engineer.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Is PVC Pipe Alright to Use with Compressed Air?

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

A question arises every now and then on whether or not PVC pipe, yes the stuff from your local hardware store that says it is rated for 200 psi, is safe to use as compressed air supply line.   The answer is always the same,  NO! OSHA agrees – see their statement here.

Schedule 40 PVC pipe is not designed nor rated for use with compressed air or other gases.  PVC pipe will explode under pressure, it is impacted significantly by temperature and can be difficult to get airtight.

PVC pipe was originally designed and tested for conveyance of liquids or products that cannot be compressed, rather they can be pressurized.   The largest concern is the failure method of the piping itself.   When being used with a liquid that cannot be compressed, if there is a failure (crack or hole) then the piping will spring a leak and not shatter.   When introducing a compressed gas, such as compressed air, if there is a failure the method ends up being shrapnel.  This YouTube video does a good job of illustrating how the pipe shatters.

While it may seem that it takes a good amount of pressure to cause a failure in the pipe, that is often not the case.  I have chatted with some local shop owners who decided to run PVC as a quick and cheap alternative to get their machines up and running.

They each experienced the same failures at different points in time as well.  The worst one was a section of PVC pipe installed over a workbench failed where an operator would normally be standing. Luckily the failure happened at night when no one was there.  Even though no one got injured this still caused a considerable expense to the company because the compressor ran overnight trying to pressurize a ruptured line.

Temperature will impact the PVC as well. Schedule 40 PVC is generally rated for use between 70°F and 140°F (21°-60°C). Pipes that are installed outside or in non temperature controlled buildings can freeze the pipes and make them brittle.

If you haven’t worked with PVC before or do not let the sealant set, it can be hard to get a good seal, leading to leaks and a weak spot in the system.

The point of this is the cheapest, quick, and easy solutions are more often , the ones that will cost the most in the long run.

If you would like to discuss proper compressed air piping and how to save compressed air on your systems, please contact us.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

 

Image courtesy of: Dennis Hill, Creative Commons License