Tag: fan

Air Cooling Maintenance?

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

The time has finally come, and spring is here! The Cincinnati Reds are playing, Spring Soccer is happening early on Saturday mornings, and the FC Cincinnati Stadium is bustling here in Cincy. With that, temperatures are climbing, the grass and weeds are growing, and more and more families are out walking around and doing outdoor activities. With this, also comes warmer temps, and lots of spring allergies in the Farno household. As a dad, I have stepped into my role pretty well by trying to delay turning on the air conditioner until everyone else in the house is plotting my demise. This year, I achieved it by putting off the routine maintenance of the condensing coils.

In case you weren’t aware, here in the Midwest, where pollen runs rampant and the winds have been strong this year, it is a great idea to clean out the condensing coils on your home’s A/C system before turning it on for the year. Unfortunately, your home A/C system is not maintenance-free like the Cabinet Cooler Systems EXAIR offers; at the same time, your home needs a lot more than a few thousand BTU/hr of cooling capacity. When we first bought the home, I didn’t know this was a thing, as the home I grew up in didn’t have central air. We rocked Window A/Cs, and my parents still do. So, cleaning the outdoor unit was not part of my knowledge base. This is something I learned once the air conditioner wasn’t working, and I started to troubleshoot.

The main purpose of the condensing coils is to strip all the heat out of the refrigerant and get it to “condense” back into its liquid state to be pushed back through the orifice and continue to cool the air that is being passed over the A Coils inside the house. These coils are covered in fins that are very tightly spaced. The outside unit has a large fan that pulls the surrounding air in through the coils and exhausts the hot air up out of the top. There is no filter on that incoming ambient air, though, so all the leaves, cobwebs, pet hair, pollen, dirt, mulch, you name it, get pulled up into these fins. Over time, this starts to get a buildup, and the cooling fins will start to lose their efficiency. The fan won’t be able to pull as much air through, and eventually, the gas doesn’t get condensed, which then reduces the cooling and can cause other bigger issues. This is just like a refrigerant-based A/C panel cooler in a facility. Most of the time, they have at least a small filter on the air intake to try and reduce the contamination of the condensing coils. So I clean the A/C condenser at my house using a coil cleaning solution diluted down, a pump sprayer, and a regular garden hose.

The main thing to remember when cleaning this is that the majority of the dirt is from the air being pulled into the center by the fan. So I rinse the coils from the inside out and make sure I have free passage all the way through. The water doesn’t need to be a high-pressure rinse like an OmniStream nozzle or one of BETE’s NF Nozzles, just a simple low-pressure stream of water to get between the fins and push all contaminants as well as rinse the solution away. Remove any leaves or other unwanted debris from inside the unit and then bolt the fan and cage back down. Then let the family enjoy some cold air inside the house.

This type of maintenance is something that easily gets overlooked when looking at refrigerant-based electrical panel coolers. That is where EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Systems shine. The only filter you have to worry about is a redundant point-of-use compressed air filter that is included with the Cabinet Cooler Systems. No chemicals needed for cleaning, no water, no mess to change out a compressed air filter, just long-lasting performance. If you want to talk about how to change your control panels over to Cabinet Cooler Systems, contact an Application Engineer today.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Critical Equipment Needs Reliable Heat Protection

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Electricity and water don’t mix. Electrical and electronic components don’t like many contaminants that can be found in industrial settings, either. Exposure to moisture or dirt are surefire ways to “let the smoke out” – it can be just as bad as letting them overheat. Once that’s happened, replacement of the failed components is usually the only option. THAT can get expensive not only in the cost of the component, but also in the downtime waiting for it to come in…which can be a REAL problem if they’re not in stock.

Luckily, there’s no shortage of cooling devices for electrical panels. They all have certain areas/situations where they’ll work just fine, but most have areas/situations that can cause real problems:

Panel air conditioners work a lot like the a/c in your home or office, and if you’ve ever used window a/c units, they work EXACTLY like those. Since they cool the air as they recirculate it through the space, they have filters to catch any particulate. If the panel isn’t sealed tightly, this filter may very well require regular attention. They also use air from the surrounding environment to condense the hot refrigerant gas:

Evaporator: heat from inside air is transferred to a refrigerant, flashing it from liquid to gas.
Compressor: pressurizes low pressure refrigerant gas.
Condenser: transfers heat from hot, high pressure refrigerant gas to outside air.
Expansion valve: lowers pressure (and temperature) of condensed refrigerant, sending it to the evaporator to continue the heat transfer cycle.

If the condenser coils are exposed to contaminants (dust, oil, chemical vapors, etc.), they’ll be subject to fouling & corrosion, making panel air conditioners more prone to failure in more aggressive environments. Also, since they use air from the environment as a heat sink for the refrigerant, their cooling capacity is inversely affected by the ambient temperature.

Heat Pipe systems also use refrigerant, but they don’t have any moving parts to wear. Since they don’t have a compressor or expansion valve, though, they’re incapable of cooling the panel below ambient temperature. The evaporator fins or coils are also still subject to environmental contamination, so they have the same limitations as a panel a/c system…and are further limited in hot spaces.

Panel fans are easily the least expensive cooling method. They’re usually fitted with filters for the outside air that they move through the enclosure. Like heat pipes, they can’t cool the enclosure to a temperature below ambient for the area, and the filters are still subject to clogging from airborne particulate, and since those filters have to be coarse enough for the fan’s cooling air flow, smaller particulate can still make it inside the panel….along with any vapors or gases that could condense, or worse, corrode components inside the panel. If the fan on a home computer can get as dusty as the one in the photo to the left, imagine how much worse the one on a control panel on a factory floor can get.

Liquid to Air coolers use liquid – the most common being chilled water – for cold fluid flow through coils inside the panel to remove heat, which is then transferred to ambient through a refrigerant chiller, or a fan & radiator. The inside coils are subject to fouling and condensation if the panel isn’t sealed tightly, and the refrigerant chiller has the same limitations as a panel a/c unit. If it uses a fan & radiator, it (like panel fans or heat pipes) can’t cool the panel to less than ambient temperature in the area.

EXAIR Cabinet Coolers have no moving parts and use compressed air as the sole cooling medium, so they’re not affected at all by environmental conditions. When they’re properly installed on a sealed enclosure, the only thing the inside of the enclosure ever sees is clean, cold, moisture-free air. Wherever your panel is, and regardless of the environment, EXAIR has a wide selection of cooling capacities, features, and materials of construction. Consider:

  • Cooling capacities from 275 to 5,600 Btu/hr. Call me if your heat load is outside this range…we can look at customized solutions too.
  • NEMA 12 (IP54), NEMA 4, or NEMA 4X (IP66) ratings.
  • Thermostat Control – Standard, or Electronic Temperature Control.
  • Non-Hazardous Purge for contaminant exclusion on less-than-ideally sealed enclosures.
  • High Temperature models for ambient temperatures from 125°F (52°C) to 200°F (93°C).
  • Side Mount Kits where space is limited above the panel.
  • 316SS construction for particularly aggressive environments.
  • UL Classified systems for hazardous locations: Our HazLoc systems are approved for Class I Div 1, Class II Div 1 & Class III areas, and ATEX systems are approved for Zones 2 & 22.
Inside, outdoors, high temperature, dirt/dust/humidity, corrosive and classified environments are no problem for EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Systems

If you need heat protection for electrical/electronic panels, EXAIR has solutions. To find out more, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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Electrical Panel Heat Protection: Limitations of Fan Cooling

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

In preparation for some labor-intensive outdoor projects, I did some research into heat-related health risks, and their prevention. My first thought on prevention was getting someone else to do it, but my wife made a good case for “pride in ownership”, and I DO have a good many tools suitable for these projects. Also, I am notoriously frugal, so after getting a couple of estimates, I realized the value in a little DIY (do it yourself) and commenced planning.

High on that list of risks was the possibility of heat stroke. It’s recommended that the victim be taken to a cool space (someplace air conditioned, for example). Air flow (like from a fan) can help too, but only if they’re taken someplace where the ambient temperature is less that 95F (35C). If it’s that hot, the air flow can actually make things worse, since heat transfer requires a difference in temperature. If the cooling medium (air, in this case) is the same temperature as the object to be cooled (the human body, in this case), no heat will be transferred – and the heat stroke wins. That’s a bad day in the back yard.

This is, in fact, the exact same limitation with a popular method of electrical panel cooling: fans. We’ve been using mechanical methods of imparting motion to air for cooling purposes for a long, long time: Blowing on a spoonful of soup or a cup of coffee before a warm (but not scalding) sip, waving hand fans at oneself during indoor gatherings, installing electric fans in those same buildings, and the list goes on. Fans are inexpensive to purchase & operate, come in a variety of sizes & configurations, and are oftentimes used to circulate cooling air through occupied rooms, confined spaces, and, of course, electrical & electronic panel enclosures.

These are quite effective for panels with moderate-to-high internal heat loads, as long as the ambient area temperature is less than the temperature you wish to cool the panel’s internal air to. In those situations, the only real concern is the quality of the air in the environment. As you can see in the photo to the right, filters are an absolute “must”, and they’re going to require regular maintenance. This means cleaning or replacing the filters, as well as cleaning the fan grills and blades themselves. It’s still very likely that some of that dust is going to get inside the enclosure, and while we’re on the subject of environmental contamination, so will humidity. I probably don’t need to tell you that dirt and/or water, and electricity, don’t mix.

There are other methods of cooling (panel a/c, thermoelectric coolers, water cooled heat exchangers, heat pipes, etc.) that limit environmental contamination, but they’re still going to need periodic (oftentimes frequent) attention: filters will clog, refrigerant coils will get fouled and corrode, moving parts will wear, motors & switches will burn out, etc. Even with the advances made in refrigerant technology, the leaks that panel a/c and heat pipes are prone to are still bad for the environment.

If this sounds like your environment, and you’re looking for safe, dependable, durable heat protection, look no further than EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Systems. Using the Vortex Tube phenomenon, they generate cold air from your compressed air supply, with no moving parts to wear or electric devices to burn out. Systems are on the shelf & ready to ship in cooling capacities to 5,600 Btu/hr. We also “tailor-make” systems for higher heat loads, from stock products, that can usually ship right away as well. Once installed on a sealed enclosure, the only thing the internals of that enclosure are ever exposed to again is clean, moisture free, cold air. All of our Cabinet Cooler Systems come with an Automatic Drain Filter Separator – the only preventive maintenance that’s ever required for the systems is the periodic replacement of the filter’s particulate element.

Inside, outdoors, high temperature, dirt/dust/humidity, corrosive and classified environments are no problem for EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Systems

We can quickly and accurately specify a Cabinet Cooler System to meet your needs with just a few key pieces of information – you can fill out a Sizing Guide (or complete one online) and send it in to us, or you can call an Application Engineer with the data. It only takes a minute to do the calculations, and we do them over the phone all the time. Installation is straightforward and usually only takes a matter of minutes. We have a number of short “how to” videos on our website that cover all aspects of installation, and if you ever have specific questions or concerns, an Application Engineer is a phone call away. We look forward to hearing from you!

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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Non Hazardous Purge Cabinet Cooler Systems

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Last fall, when our youngest “flew the coop” and moved into a dormitory to begin his college experience, my lovely bride and I also embarked upon an exciting adventure: finding, purchasing, and moving in to our “empty nest” dream house.  While packing up the contents of the house where we had raised a United States Marine AND a hippie college student, I moved my trusty laptop from its perch on a desk in a dark basement corner, where it had resided, in that one spot, for more than a couple years.

As I was looking for its carrying case, I noticed the fan grill was almost completely obscured with more than a couple years’ worth of environmental contamination (or dust).  I vacuumed out the grill, but wondered how much more environmental contamination (dust) had made its way into the deep recesses of the laptop…and more importantly, what might it be doing to the sensitive electronics inside my trusty internet browsing device?

If a computer’s fan in a residential environment can get this dusty, imagine how much worse a control panel on a factory floor can get.

I know I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, but electronics and dust don’t mix.  We have this conversation a LOT with callers inquiring about our Cabinet Cooler Systems.  The protection they offer against environmental contamination is integral with the protection they offer against heat.  In the panel cooling market, our Cabinet Cooler Systems are unique in that respect: a total protection solution.

When properly installed on a sealed enclosure, the only thing the inside of that enclosure is ever exposed to is cold, clean, moisture free air.  But what if the enclosure can’t be completely sealed?  One option is to use a Continuous Operation Cabinet Cooler System.  It works just as the name implies:  cold air is continuously flowing into the enclosure, creating a constant purge flow…if that cold air is blowing out of any openings in the enclosure, there’s no way for environmental contamination to get in.  Problem solved.

Well…almost.  Something else I’m sure you already know is, compressed air is costly.  Organizations like the Compressed Air & Gas Institute (CAGI) and the Compressed Air Challenge (CAC), who are devoted to optimizing industrial use of compressed air, have lists of “inappropriate uses of compressed air”, and panel cooling is on that list…EXCEPT when they’re thermostatically controlled.  At EXAIR, we couldn’t agree more, and if a caller asks any of us Application Engineers about a Continuous Operation Cabinet Cooler System, they’re inviting us in to a conversation about that.

Sometimes, the initial question is cost…well, we have to pay for the components that make up the Thermostat Controls, so we ask our customers who want those products to as well.   A quick conversation about the operating cost of continuous operation vs thermostat control is usually all that’s required in those cases.

Other times, a panel that can’t be sealed is installed in a particularly dusty or dirty environment, and they want the continuous flow of cold air, as described above, to keep those contaminants out.  A Continuous Operation Cabinet Cooler System will, of course, do that.  But EXAIR wants you to get the most out of your compressed air use, so we developed a “best of both worlds” solution: Non-Hazardous Purge Cabinet Cooler Systems.  Here’s how they work:

  • Based on a few key pieces of data that you can submit in our Cabinet Cooler Systems Sizing Guide, we’ll specify the appropriate Cabinet Cooler System to manage that heat load.
  • The system will be thermostatically controlled: a bimetallic Thermostat, mounted inside the panel, will open and close the Solenoid Valve plumbed in the compressed air supply to operate the Cabinet Cooler as needed to maintain temperature inside the panel.
  • The Solenoid Valve is modified to pass a small amount of air flow (1 SCFM) even when it’s closed.  This saves you from using the full rated air consumption of the Cabinet Cooler when cold air isn’t required, and still maintains enough purge air flow to prevent environmental contaminants from entering a less-than-ideally-sealed enclosure.
Whatever you do, DON’T do THIS to your panel.

The Non-Hazardous Purge option is just one way that EXAIR Corporation can help you address specific environmental challenges that may be presented in electrical and electronic panel cooling applications.  If you’d like to find out more, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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