Tag: guarantee

Sometimes Plans Go Sideways – And That’s Okay

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

I often write and share personal experiences here. It’s kind of funny—if you had asked me 15 years ago whether I’d be writing regularly, I would have said, “Absolutely not.” That sentiment actually ties in well with today’s message.

Last night, I decided to tackle a maintenance issue on a 2014 Honda Pilot that’d been graciously loaned to us while we saved up for a newer vehicle for my wife. Her van’s transmission failed, and the cost to repair it just didn’t make sense. The Pilot has had a persistent clunking noise whenever it hits a bump. Upon inspection, I found both sway bar links were completely shot—the grease boots were torn, and the sway bar bushings were totally rotted. I had ordered the parts last winter with a few others, and I finally had time in my schedule to take care of them.

If you’ve ever worked on sway bar links, you know they usually don’t come off easily. Still, I kept a positive mindset and tried to remove the nuts holding the links in place—with zero success. So, out came the saw. I was able to cut the driver-side link out, and that’s when I should’ve realized things wouldn’t go smoothly.

My cut on the lower bolt was off and left too much of the stud. So, I grabbed another tool: the angle grinder. I’m not afraid to use the right tool—or to get rough when needed. With the sway bar supported and my hearing protection on, I went to work. It wasn’t a perfect job, but eventually I used a punch and hammer to knock out the remnants and moved on to the top mount. That one backed off halfway, then got cut at the threads and came right out. Thank goodness for sharp saw blades.

With the old link gone, I removed the deteriorated bushing and installed the new one without any trouble. Then came time to install the new sway bar link. These replacements were serviceable with grease fittings—a nice little upgrade for this older vehicle—so I had a good feeling they’d be the last ones it would ever need.

Oddly, the two new links (bought at the same time) came with different styles of lock nuts. One was slightly smashed into an oblong shape. The top nut went on snugly, but just as I was torquing it down, the Allen key recess began to round out. Not a huge deal, since I didn’t anticipate needing to take them apart again.

But the bottom stud and oblong retaining nut didn’t go so well. Halfway on, the nut tightened up severely, and the hex recess rounded out. All I could think was, “It shouldn’t be this hard.” I used the small wrench that came with the new links, and it popped loose—finally. Then I resorted to using vise grips on the flats.

Here’s where I made my mistake: I didn’t slide the grease boot out of the way and kept going. Just as I reached the last thread, the pliers slipped and pinched the brand-new grease boot. I still finished the installation—knowing I’d have to remove it again anyway—and wanted to make sure nothing else was out of alignment. At the time, I felt defeated by a simple task. This really shouldn’t have been so difficult.

In the end, I ordered another new sway bar link. It’s on the way, and I’ll attempt round two in 3–5 business days.

So, what’s the point of this story? Things don’t always go as planned. Sometimes it’s because you miss something or don’t trust your gut when something feels off. Other times, it’s stubborn determination to force something that just isn’t working. You can either dwell on it or take a breath, make a new plan, and keep pushing forward with the same energy.

I’ve seen this play out not just in car repairs, but in travel, my career, and life in general. When something doesn’t go right, it’s okay. Just adjust and move forward. It’s a mindset we bring to our work with customers at EXAIR.

That’s why our 30-day guarantee matters so much. If a recommendation didn’t work out, or testing pointed in one direction, but the results just weren’t there, we’ll help you rework the plan. We’ll back what’s already been done by covering any stock product with our 30-day guarantee and help chart a new path forward.

We’re not perfect, and we never claim to be. My plans don’t always work out either. But a failure doesn’t mean the end—it just means it’s time for a new plan of attack.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Big shout-out to my youngest daughter for snapping the photo of the passenger side and spraying down the rusted studs with Aero Kroil while I was at work, and she was enjoying summer break. It definitely pays to have your kids pitch in on these projects.

Do You Need 30 Days for Testing?

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Not long ago while checking out of a motel my laptop bag that was attached to the handle on my suitcase fell forward and the impact shattered the screen on the laptop.  Upon turning the computer on I realized that a new screen was in order.

I waited until I arrived at home and found what I thought to be the correct monitor and quickly ordered it.  It arrived two days later and I painstakingly took the laptop apart and exposed the mounting frame.  The removal of the broken screen and the installation of the new was not too difficult but the cable connector was less than robust and was very tight.  Carefully I worked it back and forth and it came free.

Installation and reassembly went quickly and then I powered up the machine.  I was only greeted with a series of very loud and annoying beeps.  At that point I shut it down and called the company I purchased the screen from and described the issue.  They determined that the resolution of the screen was incorrect for my laptop and that I needed a different model.  They said I could return the incorrect one and upon inspection receive a credit less the return shipping.  At that point I ordered the correct screen and packaged up the wrong one and dropped it off at the parcel delivery service.

The new model arrived and it installed easily and worked perfectly.  I waited patiently and never did see a refund so I called the company and they said that it was an oversight on their end and that it would be corrected within 48 hours.  Sure enough they issued the credit and money was credited back to my account with one exception, the 40% restocking fee!

I can tell you that EXAIR is not that way!  If you order the wrong item or are not satisfied for any reason and the item was purchased within the last 30 days we will facilitate the return and ZERO restocking fee. There are a multitude of reasons our customers would want to take advantage of our 30 day guarantee and we make it a simple transaction if you need to take advantage of it too. Testing is one reason a customer would use this 30 days, other customers may have ordered incorrectly or released product inadvertently, they may have wanted a small sample for a meeting or demonstration at a customers location.

30 day money back guarantee
EXAIR Guarantee

If you want to discuss any EXAIR product, I would enjoy hearing from you…give me a call.

Steve Harrison
Application Engineer
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How To Solve A Problem with Compressed Air

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

In my (almost) six years as an EXAIR Application Engineer, I’ve learned a great many things about the capabilities of our products.  The way we do business sure does make it easy:

  • We readily share application information, as a team.  If you ask me a question, you’re asking all of us.  It does neither of us any good if I tell you something MIGHT work if one of my team knows it WON’T – or if someone knows what else DOES work.  If we can offer a solution, we will.
  • We’ll test your product, free of charge.  This is a popular way of finding out which Line Vac is best for conveying a particular product, for example.
  • If you’re considering a quiet, safe, and efficient EXAIR product as an upgrade, we’ll test your current product in our award winning Efficiency Lab, so you can compare accurate performance data and analyze the expected benefits…which can be dramatic.  Try us on that.

exair-testin
Line Vac conveyance rate testing (left;) Efficiency Lab testing (right.)

 

  • We’ll let YOU test our product, risk-free.  All catalog products come with a 30 Day Unconditional Guarantee.  We invite you to put it through its paces for up to a month.  If it’s not working out, we’ll arrange return for full credit.
  • We’ll do the math.  But first, a disclaimer: strictly comparing the force or flow of an engineered product to an open-end blow off won’t always tell the tale.  Our Intelligent Compressed Air Products are creating a laminar flow which won’t generate as high of a force/thrust as open-end blowing (which is turbulent by nature,) but is MUCH more conducive to efficiency and noise reduction, as well as similar (if not improved) performance.  But back to the math: if you know the metrics you need to meet for spot cooling (like a Vortex Tube, Adjustable Spot Cooler, Cold Gun, etc.) or for liquid spraying (the liquid flow rate and/or pattern size & shape from an Atomizing Spray Nozzle, for instance,) or the heat load that a Cabinet Cooler System can handle, we’ll do the calculations and specify the appropriate product.

Regardless of the application, if it can be solved with compressed air, it’s very likely that we have a great solution.  Call me to find out how we can help.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
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Observations By The New Guy

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As the junior member of the EXAIR Application Engineer Team, I have a fresh view on the differences in the EXAIR Business Model versus my prior places of employment.

EXAIR has 1000’s of items in stock, ready for same day shipment with orders received by 3 pm EDT. Here, a long lead time item is considered 1 week, as opposed to 20+ weeks, that I had previously quoted at other employers.  Imagine needing something quickly and then finding out it would be 20 weeks for delivery. Everything in the EXAIR catalog is a stock item, and ready for your order.

Our year to date on time delivery rate of > 99.9% is amazing, and even more incredible is the streak of 20 years of shipping complete, on time, and correct orders of over 99.9%.  Nothing was more frustrating than starting the day with calls and emails to customers telling them their order is going to be late, and the wasted time for everyone in determining the reason, who was at fault, what the new ship date will be and the general disdain caused by such interactions.  I sure don’t miss that part of the work day, freeing me up to truly service the customer.

The last item that truly separates EXAIR as not only an employer but a vendor is, the EXAIR Guarantee. Every application is different and it is the Application Engineer’s job to understand the application and best identify the right EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Product® to provide the benefit.  For those applications that are what we might say, on the ‘fringe’ of the capabilities, the 30 Day Guarantee is a great way to perform a real world test of the product in the actual application environment.  If it doesn’t meet expectations, then we’ll gladly take it back for a full refund.

30 Day Guarantee

In my time here at EXAIR, every day offers exciting new ways to provide service to our customers.  Each new phone call, email, and chat is an opportunity to execute the EXAIR way of business and provide the high level of performance our customers have come to expect, and can rely on, from the whole team here.

Brian Bergmann
Application Engineer
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