Tag: service

EXAIR Efficiency Lab at Your Service

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

I couldn’t count the number of times we have written a blog about the EXAIR Efficiency Lab because its that cool, unlike the number of wins the Cincinnati Reds have right now. I can count that on two hand 10………10-26 as of writing this blog and I could go on and on about the pain but I will spare you the tears and write about how amazing the Efficiency lab is for any company that utilizes compressed air!

Is the Mascot signing something? Or hanging his head? We will never Know!

First – what is the EXAIR Efficiency Lab? Well several years ago EXAIR created a free program called the Efficiency Lab.  This program is to compare your current pneumatic blow-off device with an EXAIR engineered product.  The values we compare are air consumption, noise level and force. We generate a detailed report to send to you for review.  It is a free service that EXAIR provides for U.S. and Canadian companies to know more details about solutions you are currently using in your processes.

The EXAIR Efficiency Lab

Why do we offer this?  Air Compressors demand significant electrical power and compressed air is considered to be a fourth utility within plants and industries.  Many people do not realize the cost and safety concerns when using improper blow-off devices.  As an example, if you look at a single 1/8” open pipe for blowing compressed air, it can cost you over $2,000 a year to operate.  This will add to your overhead and cut profits.  Another reason to consider your blow-off device is that compressed air can be dangerous.  With that same 1/8” open pipe, it can violate OSHA standards for noise exposure and dead-end pressure.  In deciding your “vehicle” for blowing compressed air, cheap is not typically best option.  To put it in other terms, a cheap nozzle is like a cheap old car, it’s cheap because it gets 3 MPG with faulty brakes.

With our Efficiency Lab, a comparison it is quite simple to do.  An easy way is to call us and explain the details. These details can be data such as the inside diameter and length of a an open tube you are using, or the actual performance data of a cheap air nozzle you have chosen to use. Perhaps the easiest way to make the comparison is to let EXAIR do it – send in your blowoff product or a sample of the tube, nozzle, modified fitting, etc. We will then put them through our testing process. You can also fill out our Product Efficiency Survey on our website to give the conditions for testing. 

We will run the tests at the specified conditions or in a range of settings.  We will then return your pneumatic device back to you at our cost with a detailed report of the comparison.  Your information will be confidential, and we will not share it without your permission.  We will also provide a simple ROI – many customers like to use this report to show managers, executives, HSE, etc. on the improvements that EXAIR can provide including cost savings and safety.

How do we do the Efficiency Lab?  We use calibrated equipment and standardized procedures to test for noise levels, flow usage, and force measurements.  We will recommend an EXAIR engineered solution as a replacement to your current device to do the comparison.  With the analytical information, we can also figure the total amount of air savings, return on investment, payback period and safety improvements.

Don’t Swing and miss…. (Like the Reds)  You do not want to sacrifice safety, time, and money with a sub-standard product.  Let EXAIR solve this dilemma with our free service; the Efficiency Lab.  Take advantage of our expertise by using the Efficiency Lab service, we will provide you a detailed report with a comparison analysis to make a great choice. 

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

Send me an Email
Find us on the Web 
Like us on Facebook
Twitter: @EXAIR_JS

Reds Image Provided by IndyDina with Mr. Wonderful via Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

EXAIR’s Efficiency Lab Shows How Much Compressed Air You Can Save

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment
The EXAIR Efficiency Lab

EXAIR has been manufacturing compressed air products since 1983, and we created a culture of making high quality products that are safe, effective, and very efficient.  Since we stand by our products, we created a program called the Efficiency Lab.  This program is to compare your current pneumatic blow-off device with an EXAIR engineered product.  The values we compare are air consumption, noise level and force. We generate a detailed report to send to you for review.  It is a free service that EXAIR provides for U.S. and Canadian companies to know more details about solutions you are currently using in your processes.

Why do we offer this?  Air Compressors demand significant electrical power and compressed air is considered to be a fourth utility within plants and industries.  Many people do not realize the cost and safety concerns when using improper blow-off devices.  As an example, if you look at a single 1/8” open pipe for blowing compressed air, it can cost you over $2,000 a year to operate.  This will add to your overhead and cut profits.  Another reason to consider your blow-off device is that compressed air can be dangerous.  With that same 1/8” open pipe, it can violate OSHA standards for noise exposure and dead-end pressure.  In deciding your “vehicle” for blowing compressed air, cheap is not typically best option.  To put it in other terms, a cheap nozzle is like a cheap old car, it’s cheap because it gets 3 MPG with faulty brakes.

With our Efficiency Lab, a comparison it is quite simple to do.  For starters, you can go to our Product Efficiency Survey on our website to give the conditions for testing.  If you wish for a side by side analysis, you can place your pneumatic device (nozzle, open tube, modified fitting, etc.) in a box and send it to EXAIR.  We will run the tests at the specified conditions or in a range of settings.  We will then return your pneumatic device back to you at our cost with a detailed report of the comparison.  Your information will be confidential, and we will not share it without your permission.  We will also provide a simple ROI – many customers like to use this report to show managers, executives, HSE, etc. on the improvements that EXAIR can provide in cost savings and safety.

How do we do the Efficiency Lab?  We use calibrated equipment and standardized procedures to test for noise levels, flow usage, and force measurements.  We will recommend an EXAIR engineered solution as a replacement to your current device to do the comparison.  With the analytical information, we can also figure the total amount of air savings, return on investment, payback period and safety improvements.

Don’t be fooled; not all blow off devices are the same.  You do not want to sacrifice safety, time, and money with a sub-standard product.  Let EXAIR solve this dilemma with our free service; the Efficiency Lab.  Take advantage of our expertise by using the Efficiency Lab service, we will provide you a detailed report with a comparison analysis to make a great choice. 

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

Send me an Email
Find us on the Web 
Like us on Facebook
Twitter: @EXAIR_JS

Pressure Gauges – Why You Need Them & How They Work

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

There is hardly a day I work that I am not talking about the importance of properly installed pressure gauges.  These small devices can often get overlooked or thought of as not necessary on an installation.  When troubleshooting or evaluating the compressed air consumption of an application, this is one of the first items I look for in the installation.

As Russ Bowman shows in the above video discussing proper piping sizes, you can see the importance of properly placed pressure gauges.  This shows the worst-case scenario where the pressure drop due to improper line sizes gives the false sense to the operator that they are achieving full line pressure when in fact they are not.  In order to accurately measure consumption rates, pressure AT THE INLET (within a few feet) to any compressed air product is necessary, rather than upstream at a point where there may be restrictions or pressure drops between the inlet and the gauge. So how exactly do these analog gauges measure the pressure of the compressed air at the installed locations?

Pressure Gauge Model 9011

The video below shows a great example of pressure increasing and decreasing moving the Bourdon tube that is connected to the indicating needle.  The description that follows goes more in-depth with how these internals function.

Most mechanical gauges utilize a Bourdon-tube. The Bourdon-tube was invented in 1849 by a French watchmaker, Eugéne Bourdon.  The movable end of the Bourdon-tube is connected via a pivot pin/link to the lever.  The lever is an extension of the sector gear and movement of the lever results in rotation of the sector gear. The sector gear meshes with spur gear (not visible) on the indicator needle axle which passes through the gauge face and holds the indicator needle.  Lastly, there is a small hairspring in place to put tension on the gear system to eliminate gear lash and hysteresis.

When the pressure inside the Bourdon-tube increases, the Bourdon-tube will straighten. The amount of straightening that occurs is proportional to the pressure inside the tube. As the tube straightens, the movement engages the link, lever, and gear system that results in the indicator needle sweeping across the gauge.

If you would like to discuss pressure gauges, the best locations to install them, or how much compressed air an application is using at a given pressure, give us a call, email, or chat.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Communication & Connection Is Critical

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

I’ve heard it a thousand times… Communication is the key to success. No matter what avenue of industry, work, or even personal life you are in, this statement rings true. At home, communication between my wife and I, as well as our network of friends is always the easiest thing to forego and not want to spend time on. Once this easy path is chosen the work kicks in because one side of the team doesn’t know what the other side of the team is doing.  Most of the time this works for us, when it doesn’t I quickly realize it would have been a better solution to discuss everything rather than assume or just make a vague attempt at what I think we need to do.

My Rucking Community

As for the network of friends, one of the best things I have learned is, we are not alone… Chances are, if you enjoy doing something or talking about certain topics, even if you are struggling, there is someone, you probably even pass them every day and don’t know. Heck, I even found a group of people that like to get outside of their comfort zones and exhaust themselves physically and mentally through rucking. The fact is, my network of friends is like my council on tough decisions or even daily life recaps, as humans we need other people and interaction is in our being.

At work, this need for communication is just as important. During times like we are currently experiencing thanks to the pandemic, we may be seeing a worst-case scenario when it comes to communicating since we have split into shifts and moved to remote work.

We have blogged before about our response as a company, we have successfully been ahead of the curve on response and how we handled our staffing as well as social-distancing before these “rules” were put out. The largest hurdle for my team was the separation and not being able to easily discuss together due to separating into two shifts. Sharing applications, or problems customers may be experiencing with each other is one of our strong suits. To be able to collaboratively use our experiences to build the best solutions or see improvements was cut in half.

So how have we been able to keep helping customers the same as before when we are divided among two shifts? In case you can’t guess, it is an abundance of communication. We use every tool available to us every single day to effectively discuss what is going on between shifts as well as seamlessly transition notes so a customer who may need contact with both shifts isn’t re-explaining themselves in the afternoon.  Is this easy? No, in fact, we haven’t performed flawlessly this entire time yet we have always kept one focus at the forefront.

We do not want our customers to experience anything different or have any additional hurdles to getting the product they need to maximize their compressed air operation.  In fact, if you have noticed a change I would love to discuss it with you personally. You see, we can’t improve without evaluating the methods, just like the 6 Steps to Compressed Air Optimization, you have to know where you are starting, then fix the leaks.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF