Tag: shop

Compressed Air In The Wild

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Over the past weekend, I had the honor of visiting a local MakerSpace. These types of places are what my dreams are made of. The one we toured had a full metal and woodworking shop as well as a separate area for 3D printing, sewing, standard printing, electronics, and even laser engraving/cutting. Every workstation has an electrical drop and a compressed air drop coming from the ceiling as the area can be used for any number of projects.

Handheld air guns are something that you can find in nearly any and all manufacturing facilities that have compressed air within them. Suppose they are not at every operator station because the machines don’t require compressed air. In that case, they are generally found at the very least within the maintenance department, where they continually keep the facility functioning and may be the only ones in the facility with compressed air.

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Don’t let this happen to your air gun…use an EXAIR Precision Safety Air Gun with a quiet, efficient Super Air Nozzle instead.

Handheld blowguns like the one shown above are easily overlooked when it comes to operator safety and energy savings. Often, the cheapest gun possible is also the most costly regarding ownership and operation. These are just a few of the reasons EXAIR designed the VariBlast Precision Safety Air Gun.

The ergonomic design fits well in any sized hand and the long trigger makes for easy pull and variation in the amount of air being used. The integrated loop allows the tool to easily hang on a tether or hook near an operator station, while the optional Chip Shield adds additional protection for the operator and can be adjusted to any location along the extension. Effective chip guarding is a portion of the OSHA standard for dead-end pressure. Lastly, the extension pipe is offered in three different lengths: 6″, 12″, or 20″ overall length. Each one of these components is also field replaceable in the event one becomes damaged. That means it’s not disposable like the other guns on the market.

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Three different Super Air Nozzle models are available at the end of the extension in two separate materials. You can purchase the Atto, Pico, or Nano Super Air Nozzle in either stainless steel or PEEK thermoplastic for more sensitive applications. These nozzles coupled with our engineered valve design permit the user to vary the amount of air coming out of the gun by pulling the trigger to a higher flow or pulling it slightly and letting less volume of air through.

If you want to discuss whether your current air gun meets or exceeds OSHA standards and how much air it may use versus what an EXAIR VariBlast Precision can do for you, please contact an Application Engineer today.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS
National Business Development Manager

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Not All Quick Disconnects Are Equal

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Quick disconnect pneumatic fittings have been a staple in any manufacturing facility I have ever visited in my 10+ years as part of the manufacturing world.   The fact is, they have been around for a lot longer than 10 years.   The style we see most often is the 1/4″ Quick Disconnect Fitting, and we are typically troubleshooting a lack of air volume problem because they are not sized properly for the application.  These can be found in any industrial supply companies catalog, your local hardware stores, and even auto parts stores.   Quick Disconnects are even sold with certain EXAIR Industrial Housekeeping products, the key being they are properly sized.

Properly sizing the quick disconnect is a critical step in the process of deciding how to lay out your piping system as well as how to ensure products operate at optimal performance.  As you can see in the picture above, the two quick disconnects on the left are both larger quick disconnects as well as larger NPT thread sizes.   The two on the right are smaller and probably a bit more common to see.  Also notice the thread sizes on each, these are also manufactured in many other NPT thread options.   The through hole on the quick disconnects is decided by the size of the QD, not the thread size on the other end.   The example I am illustrating is comparing the 3/8 NPT and 1/4 NPT quick disconnects: Even though you can have 3/8 NPT threads, your throat diameter of the QD is still restricted to .195″ I.D., the same as the 1/4 NPT.  This can be a large restriction on a product with a 3/8 NPT thread size.

The Inner Diameters of the Quick Disconnects

Also to be noted is that all QD’s of the same size are not made equally, tests have shown that you can lose as much as 20 psi through a quick disconnect and up to 40 psi when not properly matched with the female QD.   This leads to the next step which is to ensure that you are not purchasing a QD on appearance.  MAke sure to choose the QD designed to permit the amount of air you need to operate your point of use product without a volume or pressure loss.

These two points are reasons why quick disconnects can diminish your point of use compressed air product performance.  If you have questions on which size to use with your EXAIR product or need help determining why your point of use product is not performing how you would like, contact us.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer Manager
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF