Tag: mist coolant

NEW Cold Gun Promotion – Order Today and Receive a FREE Dual Point Hose Kit!

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

Now through the end of 2017 if you purchase a Single-Point Cold Gun Kit with Model W5215 for the standard Cold Gun or W5230 for the High Power Cold Gun, we’ll include a free Model 5902 Dual Point Hose Kit, a $35.00 value!!

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Model 5230 Cold Gun keeping a laser cut part cool

EXAIR’s Cold Gun was a Product of the Year finalist in 2007. By using only a source of compressed air, the Cold Gun and High Power Cold Gun produces a stream of clean, cold air 50° (28°C) below your compressed air supply temperature. The Cold Gun is very quiet at only 70dBA and has no moving parts to wear out. Just supply it with clean, dry compressed air and its maintenance free!

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The Cold Gun is pre-set to an 80% Cold Fraction. In other words, 80% of the compressed air supplied to it will exhaust from the cold end of the tube, 20% from the hot end. This prevents the Cold Gun from freezing up during use and optimizes the gun’s cooling capacity. The Cold Gun is an ideal alternative to messy and expensive coolant mist systems. It eliminates the cost of purchase and disposal of cutting fluids as well as worker related health problems from breathing airborne coolant or slipping on wet floors. Replacing a coolant based system also eliminates the need for secondary cleaning operations after milling or drilling.

The Cold Gun is an invaluable tool for machining a wide range of plastics and other materials that may become contaminated when using traditional coolants or oils. The clean, cold air from the outlet of the Cold Gun keeps the part cool, clean, and dry. Take for example this application where an OEM for the plastics industry uses EXAIR Cold Guns in place of a coolant system.

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EXAIR 5015 Cold Gun w/ Dual Point Hose Kit Installed

If you have an application that you believe would be better served by the use of an EXAIR Cold Gun, give us a call. Get one on order today and take advantage of receiving a FREE Dual Point Hose Kit!

Tyler Daniel
Application Engineer
E-mail: TylerDaniel@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_TD

 

The Case For The Cold Gun

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Albert Einstein famously said, “Nothing happens until something moves.” And unless it’s in a perfect vacuum when it moves, there’s gonna be friction. Especially if it’s in contact with something else besides air.  And where there’s friction, there’s heat. This pretty much applies to almost every single evolution in the manufacture of…well, just about everything.

I’m probably not telling you anything you don’t already know, but heat can be a BIG problem.  It can:

  • Shorten tool life. Not only do worn tools take longer to cut, they can also present safety issues.  You can get hurt WAY worse by a dull blade than a sharp one.
  • Cause thermal expansion. If you’re machining something to a precise tolerance, and friction heat causes it to grow, it won’t be the same size when it cools down.
  • Melt plastics. And even softer metals.  This isn’t good for the part…or the tool, either.

Those are just a few of the problems heat causes in manufacturing operations, and they’ve been traditionally addressed with mist (liquid) coolants.  And they work just fine…most of them are water-based, and if you want to get heat out of a solid piece of something, water will do the job VERY quickly.  Other additives in the coolant provide a measure of lubricity, corrosion control, emulsion prevention, etc.  It’s easy, well-known, and time-tested.  There are some drawbacks, however:

  • It can be messy.  When a part (or a tool) in motion gets sprayed down with liquid, it tends to fling that liquid all over the place.  That’s why most machines fitted with mist coolant have spray shields.
  • Not only is it a hassle to clean up, if you don’t stay on top of the clean-up, it can lead to slip hazards.
  • Speaking of hazards, if you can smell that mist (and you know you can,) that means you’re breathing it in too.  Remember the lubricants, corrosion inhibitors, emulsion preventers, etc., I mentioned above?  Yeah…they’re not all what you might call “good for you.”
  • Recirculation systems are common, which means the coolant sump is gathering solids, so the lines and/or spray nozzles can clog and be rendered useless.

EXAIR Cold Gun Aircoolant Systems not only address all of the above problems with heat, but eliminate all the problems associated with liquid coolant:

  • They incorporate EXAIR’s Vortex Tube technology to produce a stream of cold air.
  • They’re reliable.  There are no moving parts; if you supply them with clean, dry air, they’ll run darn near indefinitely, maintenance free.
  • They’re quick & easy.  With a built-in magnet for mounting and a flexible cold air hose, you can be be blowing cold air right where you want it as quickly as you can attach an air hose and open the valve.
  • Speaking of opening the valve, that’s all it takes to run a Cold Gun.  They’re producing cold air at rated flow and temperature, right away.  No “ramp up” time to get into operation.
  • They’re clean.  That cold air stream just becomes…well, air.  No mess.  No slip.  No clean up.  No smell.  No problem.

We’ve got four Models to choose from, depending on the nature of the application:

Both the standard and the High Power come with a Filter Separator, and are available with a one, or two, outlet cold air hose.

If you need to cool parts or tools down, and want it to be effective and clean, give me a call.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
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Adjustable Spot Cooler Keeps Cataract Lenses Cool and Dry During Machining

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment
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Neal Raker, International Sales Manager, and myself along with our Hungarian Distributor

During a recent visit with our Hungarian Distributor, I had the opportunity to take a look at an application using some EXAIR Adjustable Spot Coolers and Mini Coolers. The company manufactures cataract lenses and is using the coolers in a dry machining application. The previous process involved using a liquid coolant which caused a washing operation to remove the contaminants before the lenses could move on to the next step of the process. This was not only time consuming, but the solution they needed to use as a coolant was very expensive due to strict regulations that they had to adhere to.

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EXAIR’s Adjustable Spot Cooler installed on the lathe

The lenses are set up on a lathe which are precisely cut. The Adjustable Spot Coolers were positioned with the cold airflow just at the point of cutting to keep the temperature at a specific point. If the lenses get too hot, the material becomes less rigid and begins to warp. When this happens, the lens cannot be reworked and must be scrapped. Immediately after coming off of the lathe, an inspector places the lens under a microscope for inspection. At this point, a Mini Cooler is installed to ensure that the temperature of the lens stays cold. If the lens passes inspection, it is immediately placed in a small freezer next to the operator. Temperature probes are in place at several points during the process to ensure that they do not go above the specified temperature.

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Mini Cooler installed on the inspection station

By implementing a solution with the Adjustable Spot Cooler, this customer was able to boost productivity by removing a cleaning step from the process and also reduce costs by eliminating the need for the costly coolant solution that was required. If you’d like to replace messy coolant systems in your machining operation with a clean compressed air solution, give us a call. An Application Engineer will be happy to look at your process and recommend the most suitable solution.

Tyler Daniel
Application Engineer
E-mail: TylerDaniel@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_TD

Machining Plastics? Consider The Cold Gun For A Clean Operation

Published on by exaircorpLeave a comment

Machining plastics can be a difficult task as the contact between the part and the tool generates heat, which can result in the plastics beginning to melt and stick to the tooling, causing deformities or even broken tool heads. Often times, companies will introduce a liquid based method of cooling to quench the parts during machining, while this does work, with plastics they tend to absorb some of the liquid, resulting in the finished part being outside the allowable tolerance range. Another area of concern is the mess that liquid cooling creates as now the parts need to be dried and cleaned before they can continue to the next process.

Coolant based systems can be messy and costly to operate

Such was the case last week when I worked with an OEM who was looking for a way to cool the tooling in the machines they build for the plastics industry. The company they were selling the machines to, specifically asked for an alternative method of cooling without using any type of coolant due to the conditions mentioned above. Once again, EXAIR has the perfect solution – the Cold Gun. Incorporating a Vortex Tube, the Cold Gun produces a cold air stream at 50°F below compressed air supply temperature and provides 1,000 Btu/hr. of cooling capacity. Fitted with a magnetic base and flexible hose the unit can be mounted virtually anywhere on the machine and the cold airflow can be easily directed to provide cooling to the critical area. The system also includes a filter separator for the supply line to remove any water or contaminants, ensuring that the exiting airflow is clean and free of debris.

No moving parts = maintenance free

 

When looking for a reliable method of cooling, whether machining plastics or other material, the cold, clean air from the Cold Gun is the ideal solution in place of messy misting systems. For help with your spot cooling needs or to discuss how using Vortex Tube technology could help in your process, give me a call, I’d be happy to help.

Justin Nicholl
Application Engineer
justinnicholl@exair.com
@EXAIR_JN

 

Coolant Spraying in the Mini Mill image courtesy of Andy Malmin via Creative Commons license