Tag: material handling

The Blog of all Blogs: A Quick Resource of Blogs that we Blogged

Published on by bdwagesLeave a comment

EXAIR started writing Blogs in 2008. Since then, we have written well over 2000 Blogs. There is a ton of information in our Blog section on the website. There is most likely a Blog or 10 written about nearly each one of our products. These are primarily written by application engineers that know a thing or two about our products. There are also many application Blogs, that may be very relatable to what you are doing. When you journey to our Blog page (or simply click Blog form EXAIR.com), simply type in a key word or two in our search bar. This search bar is located just below the first row of published Blogs on the right hand of the screen, here is a screenshot of that section (right). You can also choose to follow our blog here as well.

As application engineers, we get asked questions every day. Many of these questions are best answered in one (or more) of these 2000+ Blogs. Many times a picture or video can answer your questions much more precisely than a quick conversation or an email. Many times we will send you a blog link to help. Drawing from my own experience, and asking the other Application Engineers for their lists, I wanted to put our most referenced blogs in one helpful location. I’ve categorized these the best that I can, and hopefully this will be a useful resource for you today, and in the future.

OPTIMIZING YOUR COMPRESSED AIR SYSTEM

Six Steps to Optimizing Your Compressed Air System

This is one of the key sections to our blogs. One of our main goals is to help you optimize your system. Here are 6 blogs that go into detail on each of these key points:

  1. Six Steps to Optimization: Step 1 – Measure the Air Consumption
  2. Six Steps to Compressed Air Optimization: Step 2 – Find and Fix Leaks.
  3. Six Steps to Compressed Air Optimization: Step 3 – Use Efficient and Quiet Engineered Products
  4. Six Steps to Optimizing Compressed Air: Step 4, Turn it Off When Not in Use
  5. Installing Secondary Receiver Tanks: Step 5 in Optimizing Your Compressed Air System
  6. Six Steps to Optimization: Step 6 – Control the Air Pressure at the Point of Use to Minimize Air Consumption

INDUSTRIAL HOUSEKEEPING

This is a product line that has a lot of maintenance questions, probably because these products are used to clean up dirt, and where there is dirt, there can be problems, clogs and leaks:

One of the most common questions we have concerns the Reversible Drum Vacuum (RDV) refurbishment Blog. The RDV is used on the Reversible Drum Vac, and the Chip Trapper products. We offer a refurb service for a fee, but most of the time you can do this on your own by watching and following this blog: Cleaning the Reversible Drum Vac

The Chip Trapper has two very popular blogs as well: Finding and Fixing Chip Trapper Vacuum Leaks as well as Cleaning the Chip Trapper’s Directional Valve

CABINET COOLERS

  1. Calculating Heat loads for Cabinet Coolers
  2. Finding the correct internal temperature of your Electrical Cabinet – don’t use a temp gun
  3. Thermostat & Solenoid Valve
  4. How To Install An EXAIR NEMA 4 or 4X Cabinet Cooler® System
  5. EXAIR Side Mount Kits for NEMA Type 4-4X Cabinet Cooler® Systems
  6. Cold Air Distribution Kit Installation
  7. Installing A Dual Cabinet Cooler Hardware Kit
  8. How to identify your Cabinet Cooler

VORTEX TUBES

  1. Vortex Tubes for Dummies
  2. Adjusting the Vortex Tube
  3. Vortex Tube Cold Fraction – effects on flow and temperature
  4. Application: Creating Freeze Seals for water lines

SUPER AIR KNIVES

  1. Application: Bottle Drying with Super Air Knife (instead of blower)
  2. Application: Super Air Knives drying automotive parts
  3. How to position and mount your Air Knife
  4. Which Air Knife should you choose?
  5. Super Air Knife Plumbing Kits
  6. Maximizing Super Air Knives with Shims

LINE VACS / CONVEYOR SYSTEMS

  1. Why Line Vacs need ambient air
  2. How to drill out Line Vac Generator Holes for increased performance
  3. Application: Conveying Coffee Beans

AIR AMPLIFIERS

  1. Super Air Amplifier Ratios explained
  2. Air Amplifier vs Fan – for cooling
  3. Application: Super Air Amplifier evacuating smoke or fumes

AIR ATOMIZING SPRAY NOZZLES

  1. Choosing the right Atomizing nozzle
  2. No-Drip Nozzle repair video
  3. Atomizing Nozzle identification
  4. Application: Atomizing Spray nozzles and Gummy Bears

SAFETY AIR GUNS

  1. Putting the Safe in Safety Air Guns
  2. Safety Air Gun Accessories, Extensions, Chip Shields and more
  3. Chip Shield sizes and selections

GEN 4 STATIC ELIMINATORS

  1. Changing the Gen 4 Power Supply Fuse
  2. Replacing the rocker switch on a Gen 4 Power Supply
  3. Changing the high power cord on the Gen 4 Ion Air Cannon
  4. Application: Solving Static and Print quality in food packaging

E-VAC VACUUM GENERATORS

  1. How to build a custom E-Vac System
  2. Choosing the right size Vacuum Cups

ACCESSORIES – FILTERS AND REGULATORS

  1. Filter Separator and Pressure Regulator with coupling kit installation 
  2. Rebuilding an Automatic Drain Filter Separator 
  3. Overview of EXAIR accessories

CALCULATIONS AND MORE

  1. Calculating SCFM at any pressure
  2. ROI Calculations with EXAIR products
  3. Do you need a receiver tank?
  4. EXAIR’s Calculator Library
  5. EXAIR’s OSHA compliance

OPTIMZATION – EFC, FLOWMETERS, AND ULTRASONIK LEAK DETECTORS

  1. EFC – Application: Candy Company saves big money with EFC
  2. Flowmeter – How to install a Hot Tap Flowmeter
  3. Flowmeter – Moving and or using Block-Off rings

There are many more blogs and videos at your disposal. This is just a recap of many of our most used, most viewed and most helpful for the day-to-day conversations that happen here at EXAIR. If you have ideas for new blogs – we would love to hear that as well. Please feel free to reach out at any time for more information on any of our intelligent compressed air products.

Thank you for stopping by,

Brian Wages

Application Engineer

EXAIR Corporation
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Cover photo by clker-free-vector-image licensed by Pixabay

3-1/2 EXAIR Pro Tips for Compressed Air Use

Published on by bdwagesLeave a comment

EXAIR offers industry leading Intelligent Compresses Air Products. Our products are engineered to comply with all relevant OSHA standards and are CE certified. When you purchase an EXAIR product, be it a Super Air Knife or a brass bulkhead fitting, you are expecting to receive a high quality and high performing product, and you will. If the product is not performing there is a very high probability that the problem is not the product.

So whatever could it be? And how can we fix the issue? Air supply going to the product is a common issue, so first we need to insure that there is a steady flow of the appropriate pressure and volume of air. Even though you may have a 100HP compressor, the distance form the product, the size of the pipes delivering the air, the smoothness of the inside of the pipes (is there internal rust and buildup), leaks and other restrictions of air flow rate all contribute to the overall performance.

A large majority of the product performance issues that are brought to us are caused by insufficient air supply in one form or another. Sometimes this is due to the overall size of the system, but many times it is at the point of use. Let’s assume that you have the right sized compressor to power all features in the shop. These next items are where we would want to focus and correct.

EXAIR Digital Flowmeter

Pro tip #1 – Use EXAIR Digital Flowmeters to monitor your air consumption. You should have a log of how much each compressed air tool / machine uses, and compare that to how much air is traveling down that leg of your facility. Leaks, corrosion, rust, and accidents happen. By monitoring and logging your SCFM in each major leg of your system, you will easily be able to narrow down root problems, and track leaks. You will also have solid answer when asked – “Do you have enough air for this?”.

Pressure Regulators “dial in” performance to get the job done without using more air than necessary.

Pro Tip #2 – Use a Tee Fitting and install a Pressure Regulator with Gauge at the point of use. This allows you to see, and control the pressure for each product. This removes all questions of air pressure at the point of use. Although your system seems large enough, many times the pressure is less at the point of use, due to restrictions, unknown leaks etc… Having the information from tip #1 and #2, you will easily be able to identify if your issue is the system, or the tool.

Pro Tip #2.5 – Turn it down (the pressure) if you can… Operate each compressed air application at a pressure just high enough for your desired result – not necessarily full line pressure. We have discussed in many other blogs how compressed air is your 3rd or 4th highest utility. If you optimize the pressure per application, you can save dollars. As a rule of thumb, if your system is operating at the 100 psig level, lowering the pressure by 2 psig will save 1% of energy used by the air compressor. A great example of this would be our Super Air Knives. Optimal use is at 80 psig, and “X” SCFM (based upon length of the Super Air Knife). At 80 psig and the proper SCFM, this flow will feel like having your hand out the window of your car when you are driving about 50 MPH. Your application may not need that much air flow, to get the job done. Turn it down and test it. Start at 80 psig and using the tools from tip #2, turn it up or down until your needs are met. Many of our products do not need to be used at full pressure to effectively solve your process problem.

Pro tip #3 – Use the proper sized lines, connectors and fittings. Pipe restriction can kill performance. Quick connects can be very problematic. Most quick connects are rated at the same size as the incoming pipe, tube or hose, but may actually have a much smaller inner diameter. As you can imagine, this oversight can cause significant performance issues, and end up costing more lack of production or defective product. Be it a quick connect, or any other connector or fitting, it is imperative not to restrict the air. This will result in problems, and lack of performance.

Please do not hesitate to reach to discuss any performance issues, or find out how we can help.

Thank you for stopping by,

Brian Wages

Application Engineer

EXAIR Corporation
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More And More Award Winning Products From EXAIR

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

As you might expect, a LOT of things have changed at EXAIR Corporation since 1983. Most of our current senior management had yet to graduate high school, and a fair number of current employees had yet to BE BORN. According to our computer system (another BIG change since 1983), our first ten customers were here in southwest Ohio (#11 was in Michigan), and now, we sell direct across the US & Canada, and our worldwide distributor network offers representation on six continents. One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is our founder’s vision of manufacturing quiet, safe, & efficient compressed air products for process improvement in just about any industry that uses compressed air. And THAT, dear reader, continues to gain high profile attention. The photo above shows the seven awards that our products have recently won, which were announced in 2021 or early 2022. Here’s a rundown:

Plant Engineering 2020 Product of the Year (Fluid Handling) GOLD AWARD:
1/2 NPT No Drip External Mix Air Atomizing Spray Nozzles

No Drip External Mix Atomizing Spray Nozzles

The 1/2 NPT models are the latest addition to our newest product line. The External Mix version offers the highest liquid flow rate, and largest pattern coverage. Among the applications where they’ve excelled so far are:

  • Snack food provider – applying flavoring to bulk snack materials.
  • Commercial bakery – spraying cooking oil onto pans used in a conveyor oven.
  • Sporting goods manufacturer – applying adhesive to the tops of skateboard decks to glue the grip tape on.

Plant Engineering 2020 Product of the Year (Material Handling Systems) GOLD AWARD:
2-1/2 NPT 303SS Threaded Line Vac™

EXAIR's Threaded Line Vac Family
EXAIR Threaded Line Vac + Your Pipe + Compressed Air = Instant Conveyor System

For bulk material conveyance, it really doesn’t get any simpler than EXAIR Air Operated Conveyors. Stainless Steel models are especially popular when the environment – or the product – is corrosive, or hot…they’re good to 400F (204C), and can even be modified with High Temperature components for exposure up to 900F (482C). The Threaded versions have been successfully used to:

  • Recycle sprinkles applied to wafers into a return hopper in a candy production facility.
  • Replacing an auger conveyor to allow for homogenous mixing of grains & supplements in feed stock at an agricultural mill.
  • Providing a low cost solution to convey product into a hopper at a grain processing plant.

Plant Engineering 2020 Product of the Year (Maintenance Tools & Equipment) SILVER AWARD
Occupational Health & Safety 2021 New Product of the Year (Industrial Hygiene-Dust Control) WINNER
Occupational Health & Safety 2021 New Product of the Year (Health & Safety/Cleanup) PLATINUM
EasySwitch® Wet-Dry Vac

Like our Spray Nozzles product line, our Industrial Housekeeping Products line has also grown considerably over the years. The Deep Hole Vac-u-Gun and Heavy Duty HEPA Vac were real game changers when they came along, and the EasySwitch® Wet-Dry Vac Systems are likewise making an impact. Switching from wet to dry operation is, as advertised in the name itself, INCREDIBLY easy. Among our satisfied customers are:

Occupational Health & Safety 2021 New Product of the Year (Lab Safety) WINNER
Intellistat® Ion Air Gun™

The newest innovation in a long line of EXAIR static elimination solutions, the Model 8500 Intellistat® Ion Air Gun is made for laboratories, clean rooms, medical & electronic applications, and carries an ISO 14644-1 Class 5 rating for clean room use. Because of their rapid decay rates and lightweight construction, they’re used in a diverse range of applications and areas, including:

  • A supplier of fiberoptic parts uses an Intellistat® to remove dust and static charge from product prior to packaging.
  • A medical device manufacturer has one in a Class 7 clean room for silicone parts cleanliness.
  • A nutritional supplements maker uses their Intellistat® to remove static charge & powder residue from the tops of plastic bags before sealing them. The excess/residual powder causes them not to seal correctly.

Machine Design 2021 Big Idea! (Electrical Components) BRONZE AWARD
Gen4® Static Eliminator Power Supply

All EXAIR Gen4 Static Eliminators use one of two Power Supplies – your choice of the 2-port Model 7960, or the 4-port Model 7961.

EXAIR Static Eliminators produce ionized air via a Corona discharge, which requires high voltage, low current electricity. The Gen4® Static Eliminator Products feature armored & shielded cables with an internal ground, for safety and reliability. The ground path is completed through the cable and the Power Supply port, eliminating the need for an external ground connection. Faults in external ground connections result in the majority of the problems with those devices, so the internal ground is a “Big Idea!” indeed. The Gen4® Static Eliminator Power Supplies are switchable for 115VAC or 230VAC voltages, and are offered in 2, or 4 outlet designs, which can power any 2, or 4 EXAIR Static Eliminator Products. Like most EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Products, they’re used for a wide range of applications, in a wide range of industries:

If you’d like to find out more about these, or any of our other engineered compressed air products (we’re pretty proud of them all), give me a call. I can talk about them all day long…and sometimes I do!

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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Threaded Line Vacs – Low Cost Air Conveyors That Use Everyday Pipe!

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

EXAIR’s Threaded Line Vac air operated conveyors convert ordinary pipe into a powerful conveying system for parts, scrap, trim and other bulk materials. The Threaded Line Vac attaches easily to pipe fittings, making it easy to build a complete system using ordinary pipe and fittings.

tlv

Performance is the same as our standard Line Vac. No moving parts or electricity assures maintenance free operation.

tlvc

Models from 3/8″ to 3″ NPT are available in aluminum, type 303 stainless steel, and type 316 stainless steel. EXAIR also offers two Threaded Line Vacs for the most extreme conditions, High Temperature and a Heavy Duty Threaded Line Vac.
High Temperature threaded Line Vacs are made of stainless steel and can operate in temperatures up to 900°F.
htlvHeavy Duty Threaded Line Vacs are for those processes requiring the highest rates of conveyance over the longest distances and/or the most abrasive of materials. Designed with the most rugged industrial processes and applications in mind, the special hardened alloy construction helps prevent premature wear that could occur with standard aluminum or stainless-steel models, under the harshest of conditions. The performance has been boosted, to be able to convey more material, over longer distances and higher vertical rises.

hdtlv

To select the right model, information regarding these criteria are helpful-
• Size of parts and bulk density of material being conveyed
• What size hose, tube, or pipe is desired
• Target conveyance rate
• Distance of conveyance, both horizontal and vertical legs
• Preferred material of construction

If you would like to talk about Line Vacs or any of the EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air® Products, feel free to contact EXAIR and myself or one of our Application Engineers can help you determine the best solution.

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer
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