Tag: learn

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.

Video Blog: Optimize your Compressed air use by Turning it Off

Published on by Jordan T Shouse1 Comment

On October 24, 2023, I presented a live webinar covering the methods and advantages of turning the compressed air off when it’s not in use or unneeded.

Compressed air is often referred to as one of the major utilities in most manufacturing facilities due to the cost to generate it. A major benefit to utilizing compressed air is the speed at which it can be shut off and re-energized for use – in fact, this can be done instantaneously. Shutting down the supply of compressed air to an application while it is not needed can drastically reduce the compressed air consumption of the process over time. This is an easy tactic that can produce significant savings for your process and your facility, even if you have high efficiency pneumatic equipment installed, this can still garner notable savings.

Here is the playback for that webinar!

If you would like to discuss  any of EXAIR’s safe, quiet & efficient compressed air products, I would enjoy hearing from you…give me a call or shoot me an email!

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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Continuing Education… It NEVER Ends

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

In case you don’t follow me on Twitter / X or know me personally, you may not know my educational background. Well, I received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology from the University of Cincinnati in 2006. Then a few years ago I went back to school at Northern Kentucky University to achieve a Master of Business Administration. The path I took to get there was drastically different from my undergrad and experiences through life are great teachers to what is important.

You see, when I left UC, I was at a point where I had struggled and came out triumphant, started working in the metal cutting industry and the amount of experience I was gaining was like a fire hose constantly. I was attending training, shadowing, and constantly researching or reading. Then, that started to slow, and I started to give the training and write the documentation that others were reading. The draw to learn new skills was still strong, so I continually signed up for more training or would research different aspects of the equipment I was working on to learn more about what they are capable of and the best ways to use them.

Once I transitioned to EXAIR I had an entirely new set of skills to hone, and an extensive product offering which led to weeks of training and reading. Slowly but surely I was able to gain an understanding of our product offering as well as continually conduct testing on products or processes in order to ensure I have a strong understanding of our products how they work, and what is possible to achieve with them. I then got the wild idea to learn more and push my limits, so I started my MBA and really stretched the limits of my ability to consume material and apply the knowledge. This was all a path to improve myself and my ability to serve EXAIR as well as our customers. The truth is, my mindset for online learning this go around was drastically different, and I looked forward to the challenge and structure then being able to apply some of the concepts in my day-to-day life.

The point is that we should never stop learning. When I was younger I didn’t see any value in learning more past my undergrad. Then, I learned you have to continue to learn, and so I continue to do so. Even today, after my MBA I still look for articles, classes, and events to gain more knowledge. This is also why I am glad that EXAIR hosts a wealth of knowledge available to our customers, and we also continually release new content.

The next installment of some knowledge from our team is happening at the end of the month, the EXAIR Webinar. Our own Jordan Shouse will be discussing ways to save compressed air by simply turning it off. Register today to save your seat and then show up for the live event on October 24, 2023 @ 2 PM ET.

Always Learning Through Experience

Published on by Brian Farno1 Comment

So last week I blogged about how I was using my leaf blower to disperse colored powders at a Color Fun Run for a school event. Well, while it did work, the outcome was not our desired effect. Instead of getting a nice plume, we got a considerable cloud/smoke screen of colored dust. It looks like a pollen tornado. So we had to scrap it. Were still able to make the event a blast and my ruck is still covered in purple powder from a reloading mishap. We learned a tremendous amount though. We also built a nine-square game for the first time and learned how not do put it together as well.

During the testing, we tried several introduction methods for the powder and where we ultimately landed was, we need way less air and intermittent bursts. Much like a Line Vac with an Electronic Flow Control set to a few seconds of cycle time. Then fill the breech of the powder cannon with a charge of colored powder. The trick is just enough of a blast of air to entrain the powder and discharge it, not a ton of air like a leaf blower gives off.

Not the leaf blower plume but not far off.

The best part of this process is the number of middle schoolers that got involved throughout the process of us testing it before the event. The ideas, the questions, the shock and awe that we would try something like this, and then the disgust when we told them they weren’t allowed to use it because we didn’t like the performance. What it did give me the chance to discuss with them each though is one of my favorite sayings, “You can’t teach experience.” They didn’t all get it. So we would share with them how we thought it would work, we tested, we changed variables, and ultimately, it didn’t work. What did work though is our ability to recognize what changed and to come up with a plan for next year that will give us some more time and testing and what didn’t work.

Experience is what EXAIR brings to the table with all of our Application Engineers. We all have different backgrounds, and we all have experienced a lot of things throughout life. Some of us have also found out that we can be somewhat of a slow learner sometimes too and that’s okay. If I don’t have experience and confidence in an application here, I may discuss it with one of the other AE’s, or I may just go and test the closest setup I can get. The point is, we put the effort in, we try, and we do it all to help our customer’s experience improve. This also gives us a chance to grow.

If you would like to discuss an application or experience you have and need help with, contact an Application Engineer today!

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF