EXAIR now offers from stock ATEX Cabinet Coolers independently tested and certified for installation on purged and pressurized electrical enclosures located in ATEX Zones 2 and 22. Using nothing but an ordinary supply of compressed air, our Cabinet Coolers produce a stream of cold air that’s ducted and directed towards the heat-generating components inside your control cabinets.
Using Vortex Tube technology, these coolers are the ideal cooling method when looking for a maintenance-free solution. As the coolers have no moving parts or refrigerants to leak, you can count on year after year of reliable performance when they’re supplied with clean, oil-free compressed air.
Hot air from inside the panel exhausts through the Cabinet Cooler itself, ensuring that the panel remains sealed off from any environmental contaminants. The ATEX Cabinet Cooler is offered in (8) different cooling capacities ranging from 1,000 Btu/hr – 5,600 Btu/hr. They’re offered in Aluminum, 303 stainless steel, and 316 stainless steel.
Take a look at a previous video for a closer look at the ATEX Cabinet Coolers and how quickly they can be installed:
We have these on the shelf and ready to ship. If you’ve been delaying implementation of a Cabinet Cooler, act fast before we’re in the middle of summer and the blistering heat is causing shutdowns across your plant. Same-day shipping is available with orders placed before 2:00 ET!
I took a call the other day from a customer asking where a replacement Cabinet Cooler could be obtained, immediately, as the control panel on a machine critical to their operation was faulting out due to high temperature. I told him the Model 4030 NEMA 12 2,000 Btu/hr Cabinet Cooler (the one that was installed on the panel) was in stock, and he could have it first thing in the morning.
I also told him we should consider that to be “plan B”, as there were some simple troubleshooting steps that could very well restore the Cabinet Cooler System to proper operation right away. Per the Installation & Maintenance Instructions, the caller installed a pressure gauge at the compressed air inlet of the Cabinet Cooler:
I highlighted “clogged filter elements” for a reason. Turns out, while the header pressure was still 110psig (they had a gauge just upstream of the drop for the Cabinet Cooler supply pipe), the inlet to the Cabinet Cooler was only 65psig, meaning they were only getting about 650 Btu/hr instead of the rated (and required) 1,000 Btu/hr. Since nothing had changed in the compressed air system, they checked the Element in the Filter Separator, and found it was in need of replacement. Luckily, they had a spare element (fortune does indeed favor the prepared), so they were back up & running in a matter of minutes.
Automatic Drain Filter Separators like Model 9004 shown above have 5 micron particulate elements, and centrifugal elements for moisture removal. They’re included with all Cabinet Cooler Systems, and are properly installed upstream of the Thermostat Control’s Solenoid Valve.
This story highlights a major benefit of our compressed air operated Cabinet Cooler products: with no moving parts to wear, or electrical components to burn out, they’ll run darn near indefinitely, maintenance free, as long as they’re supplied with clean compressed air. The customer is leaving the pressure gauge installed on this Cabinet Cooler, with plans to monitor it on a regular basis so they’ll know at a glance when to replace that Filter’s Element.
Good engineering practice calls for point of use filtration and moisture removal, such as that provided by EXAIR Filter Separators.
EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Systems are available, from stock, to suit almost any electric/electronic panel heat protection need:
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), 4, or 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.
If you have an electrical/electronic panel that needs durable, reliable, and safe heat protection, EXAIR has Cabinet Cooler Systems on the shelf that installs in minutes. If you’d like to find out more, give me a call.
Russ Bowman, CCASS
Application Engineer Visit us on the Web Follow me on Twitter Like us on Facebook
EXAIR manufactures Cabinet Coolers to keep your electrical components cool inside. This will help to prevent any costly shutdowns or premature electrical failures due to overheating. The EXAIR Cabinet Cooler System is a simple device that generates cold air with no moving parts, motors, condensers, or Freon. They are maintenance-free with a long-life cycle, and installation is quick and easy. But when mounting the system to your electrical panel, you want to make sure that the Cabinet Cooler meets or exceeds the integrity standard for that environment. There are standards that categorize electrical panels to protect workers, shield the panels from the environment, and sustain the internal electrical components.
Electrical panels come in all shapes, sizes, and colors and can be used in a variety of environments, including indoor, outdoor, and even hazardous locations. Depending on the place and setting, you will need to determine the minimum requirements for the integrity of your electrical panel. For example, you do not want to use an “indoor only” electrical enclosure for outside areas. Also, you would not want a standard enclosure to be used in a hazardous area, as it can be very dangerous. The major organizations that create these electrical standards are NEMA, UL, and IP. In this blog, I will cover these organizations and how they use the rating system.
NEMA, or National Electrical Manufacturer Association, and UL, or Underwriters Laboratory, are generally used in North America. The difference between these two organizations is that the NEMA ratings are self-certifying, while the UL requires testing by qualified inspectors, independent of the manufacturer, for compliance. They use numbers and, in some instances, letters to indicate the type of environment in which the enclosure can operate. EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Systems are UL listed, so they have been tested and verified.
IP, or Ingress Protection, is an international standard commonly used in Europe and established by the International Electrotechnical Commission, or IEC. This organization also allows for self-certification. They use two digits to define levels of integrity for electrical enclosures against intrusion from debris and liquid. The first digit ranges from 0 to 6, which specifies the protection rating for solids. The second digit, which ranges from 0 to 9, specifies the protection rating for the ingress of water. The higher the number, the better the protection. The combination of these two numbers will determine the protection level of the enclosure against dust and water. There is an equivalence between the NEMA ratings and the IP ratings, but it is up to the preference of the user to verify the protection requirement.
EXAIR offers three main NEMA types for our Cabinet Cooler Systems, which are the most commonly found within most facilities. We also offer two additional NEMA ratings that are designated strictly for hazardous locations: UL Classified and ATEX rated. I will cover each one below.
NEMA 12 (IP54) Cabinet Coolers are rated for dust and oil tight. NEMA 12 cabinet coolers are ideal for general industrial environments where no liquids or corrosives are present and are located inside the facility.
NEMA 4 (IP66) Cabinet Coolers are rated for dust tight, oil tight, splash-resistant and indoor/outdoor service. These Cabinet Coolers incorporate a low-pressure relief valve to allow the internal hot air to escape as well as to close and seal when the cooler is not in operation. This allows this Cabinet Cooler to maintain the integrity of a NEMA 4 enclosure.
NEMA 4X (IP66) Cabinet Coolers offer the same protection as NEMA 4 but are constructed of stainless steel for food service and corrosive environments. EXAIR offers both 303SS and 316SS materials.
HazLoc Cabinet Coolers are designed for hazardous locations and are mounted to NEMA 7, 8, and 9 enclosures. EXAIR catalogs these HazLoc Cabinet Coolers as NEMA 4 (IP66) or NEMA 4X (IP66), as mentioned above. But their registration for UL classification is for Class I, Class II, and Class III hazardous areas, both Div 1 and Div 2. The reason that they do not match the NEMA rating of the hazardous panels is because they require an X-type or Z-type purge system. In combination, they will not sacrifice the integrity of the hazardous electrical panels.
ATEX Cabinet Coolers have similar attributes to HazLoc Cabinet Coolers except this type of registration is popularly used in Europe. These area classifications fall under the EN/IEC 60079-2 international standard for explosive zones. It covers three zones in two hazardous areas; gas/liquid and dust. The ATEX Cabinet Coolers can be used in Zone 2 for gas/liquid and Zone 22 for dust. Like the HazLoc Cabinet Coolers, to keep their classification, the ATEX Cabinet Coolers require a Zone 2/22 purge system. The ATEX terminology is as follows:
Gas – CE EX II 3 G Ex h IIC T3 Gc
Dust – CE EX II 3 D Ex h IIIC 200oC Dc
EXAIR offers a variety of Cabinet Coolers in stock with different cooling capacities, materials of construction, and operational locations. We also offer them in 316SS, high temperature versions, and non-hazardous purge. We do have a Cabinet Cooler System Sizing Guide to help determine the best product for your application or a Cabinet Cooler System Calculator to do it yourself. For any hazardous location, we do recommend contacting us for clarification. What could make it better? For our U.S. and Canadian customers, we are offering a promotion. You will receive an AC Sensor, a $76.00 value, for free as a promotional item from now until the end of August 2024 with a qualified purchase. How can you not give them a try? If you have any questions, an Application Engineer at EXAIR can assist you.
We hear about all kinds of applications when working with customers. For many of them, there is an obvious solution. Your electrical panel is overheating – an EXAIR Cabinet Cooler is what you are looking for. If you’re experiencing static on an assembly line – a Gen4 static elimination product is what you need. If you’re trying to blowoff excess water from an extruded pipe, then a Super Air Wipe is the right solution.
There are many applications however, where the solution isn’t as obvious. We know that our products can help, but with the sheer number of variables there isn’t a way to plug everything into a formula and say that this will be the outcome. The end result needs to be found through testing. This is where EXAIR’s 30-day unconditional guarantee comes in. All of our stock, catalog products come with this guarantee. After purchasing one of these products, you have a month to put it through its paces; adjust the angle, adjust the operating pressure, swap out shims. If you are able to find the right conditions to solve your problem, then great! If not, we’ll take it back and issue full credit! You’re only responsible for the shipping to get it back to us.
Line Vac test
A popular application where testing is essential is with our Line Vacs. There are multiple variables at play: the bulk density of the material, the size of the material, is it abrasive?, the rate of conveyance desired, the distance needed to convey – both vertical and horizontal. We’re pretty good at getting you in the ballpark of which model will work best using the data we’ve found from our controlled in-house testing. But ultimately, to know exactly how our Line Vac will perform with your material, it needs to be hooked up. When you purchase from us, you have 30 days to do that risk-free.
At EXAIR, we want to ensure you are getting the best possible solution. Our 30-day unconditional guarantee is one way that we make that a reality. If you would like to discuss how our products can help with your application, give us a call!
