Tag: static bar

Gen4 Ionizing Points: Overview

Published on by John BallLeave a comment
Model 8299 Ionizing Point

As the weather gets colder, and the air gets dryer, static electricity can become a real nuisance in production plants.  Machines will start jamming, alignments will be difficult, debris will collect on surfaces, and hazardous sparks can shock staff.  EXAIR manufactures a large line of Gen4 Static Eliminators to remove this static nuisance.  We offer them with air to remove static at a distance and to create a force to clean.  We also offer them without air to help eliminate static in tight spaces or for when airflow may disrupt a material flow.  In this blog, I will cover our single point unit, the model 8199 Gen4 Ionizing Point. 

Our Ionizing Point is rugged for tough industrial applications.  The high voltage cable is constructed with a PVC coated, armored cable to withstand many common hazards like pinch points and cuts, thus protecting the internal conductors.  The Gen4 Ion Point is also UL component recognition for the US and Canada, and it is also CE compliant to the applicable European directives for safety as well as electromagnetic interference. 

The solid, stainless steel emitter point is also removable.  This helps to insure continuous problem-free operations.  Once the emitter point wears due to normal use, it can be replaced very simply and economically by simply unscrewing the old one and threading in a new emitter point.  The Gen4 Ionizing Point comes standard with a 5 foot (1.5 meter) long high voltage cable.  However, other cable lengths up to 50 feet (15 meters) are available upon request.  The end has a saddle for mounting through the side of air moving ducts or for simple placement near a static issue.

To operate the Ionizing Points, a Gen4 Power Supply is required to create ions with a high voltage signal.  The AC waveform of the signal creates positive and negative ions to remove either polarity of static.  EXAIR offers two different models; the model 7960, which has two output ports, and the model 7961, which has four output ports.  They can operate more than one Static Eliminator to help save money when the application solution is ideal for operating multiple units in the same vicinity.  The features of the Power Supply are that it has a selectable primary voltage of 115Vac or 240Vac, it generates 5,000 volts, and it has shunt circuitry to provide for safe reduction of output when the power supply “sees” a shorted condition on the secondary.

Gen4 Ionizing Points

The Gen4 Ionizing Point is designed for small target areas or for duct mounting. Static is created by rubbing, hitting, and peeling of non-conductive materials.  The Gen4 Ionizing Point can be used directly for slitting, label peeling, or small print areas for quality.  A series of them can be used for ionizing a ducted airflow to tackle problems within air conveying systems. 

Duct mounting

Now, how about a free promotional item?  For qualified purchases of Gen4 Static Eliminators, including the Gen4 Ionizing Point, EXAIR will ship a model 7929, AC Sensor, for free with your purchase, a $65.00 value.  If you are an end-user and located within the United States or Canada, you can take advantage of this offer until March 31st, 2025.  If you wish to speak to an Application Engineer about your application, we will be happy to assist you with a solution to eliminate static. 

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

What’s So Super About Super Ion Air Wipes?

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Static charge can cause a number of problems across a range of industries:

  • Dust clinging to a product, or product clinging to itself, rollers, etc.
  • Tearing, jamming, or curling
  • Feeding of sheets in printers, slitters, or cutters
  • Nuisance shocks to operators handling statically charged materials
  • Poor print quality (voids, misalignments, etc.) and even shorted printer/print head life

EXAIR Static Eliminators have been a popular, easy, and efficient solution for all of these and more, for decades. Really, the first thing we’re going to consider when specifying the right Static Eliminator is the size and shape of the ionized airflow that’s going to be needed. For pipe, hose, tube, wire, cable, extruded or molded continuous strands…anything that needs static elimination on all sides, really…EXAIR Super Ion Air Wipes are certainly worth a look.

360° blow off AND fast, efficient static dissipation: the EXAIR Super Ion Air Wipe.
Gen4 Super Ion Air Wipe

Super Ion Air Wipes generate a uniform 360° ionized airflow to eliminate static on the surface of the above-mentioned materials. They come in two sizes: one with a 2″ inside diameter, and one with a 4″ inside diameter. The split clamp design means you don’t have to ‘thread’ the material through…you simply undo the latch on one side and fit it back around the material or part. Some of the more popular and successful applications include:

  • Removing static charge from a 1.75″ diameter continuous feed of tubing on a pultrusion line that has axial slits cut in it. The slitting created an INCREDIBLE amount of static charge, continuously as the tubing moved through the process, causing shavings to statically cling to the surface. This caused false rejects in the inspection process, which were eliminated by the use of a 4″ Super Ion Air Wipe.
  • A PVC pipe manufacturer encountered issues with the quality of text being applied on the outside wall of the pipe by an ink jet printer. On larger pipes, where the printing was applied on one side of the pipe only, they used Ion Air Jets to remove static from the immediate area of the printing. For their smaller pipes (1-1/2″ and smaller), they use 2″ Super Ion Air Wipes to remove the static from the entire perimetry of the pipe. Print quality ceased to be a problem.
  • A wire manufacturer uses an encoder to measure & calculate wire lengths, so they’d know how much wire was going onto a spindle. The encoder wheel’s fabric coating and the wire’s nylon coating caused a static charge high enough to generate enough voltage to damage the encoder – they actually saw SPARKS coming off the wheel. A 2″ Super Ion Air Wipe removed the static from the entire area around the encoder.
  • A bottled water plant applied tamper-proof seals to the top of the bottles once they were filled & capped. In addition to putting consumers at ease that their drink had not been tampered with, it also kept the top of the bottle (which most people’s lips touch) clean & germ-free. Static charge on the seal material caused improper application, sometimes not even covering the whole cap.
By passing the seal material through a 4″ Super Ion Air Wipe, they went from a 30% rejection rate (due to the improperly applied seal) to ZERO defects.

They’re also incredibly quiet (77dBA for the 2″; 81dBA for the 4″) and provide low-cost operation, consuming just 29.5 SCFM (2″) & 50.2 SCFM (4″) @80psig, considering they can eliminate a 5kV charge in one fifth of a second. Oh…they’re also in stock, available for same day shipment, and if you order before March 31st, we’ll even throw in a FREE AC Sensor with any Static Eliminator Product purchase.

So – what’s “super” about our Super Ion Air Wipes? I think the better question is, what’s NOT? If you have problems with static charge, EXAIR has solutions. Give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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Check This Out- Gen4 Ion Air Jet Static Elimination

Published on by jasonkirbyLeave a comment

EXAIR’s Gen4 Ion Air Jet produces a targeted airflow that effectively addresses specific areas while leaving surrounding regions undisturbed. This quiet and concentrated airstream offers remarkably rapid static decay rates and exceptional cleaning capabilities. The Gen4 ion Air Jet is perfect for removing static, along with dust particles from surfaces prone to static charge, such as shrink wrapping, packaging, printing, painting, or finishing.

The Gen4 Ion Air Jet generates surrounding airflow at a ratio of 5 to 1, effectively reducing compressed air consumption while enhancing ionized airflow. The force can be modified from low to high. The compact Gen4 Ion Air Jet is the optimal selection for permanent mount applications due to its lightweight design and straightforward installation with a 1/8 NPT male inlet.

In contrast, the flexible Gen4 Stay Set Ion Air Jet is best suited for applications that necessitate frequent repositioning. This model can be positioned nearby, allowing the hose to be adjusted to direct the ionized airstream at a specific area. Due to the hose’s “memory” feature, it maintains its shape and direction, ensuring consistent targeting until it is manually re-positioned. The Gen4 Stay Set Ion Air Jet features a magnetic base that facilitates effortless attachment and mobility on machines, benches, or various surfaces. Additionally, a shutoff valve integrated into the base offers precise control over both force and flow.

Ion Air Jet on a Stay set hose.

If you would like to discuss the Gen4 Ion Air Jet, or any of the static eliminating products by EXAIR, please do not hesitate to contact an Application Engineer. We are always happy to help!

Jason Kirby
Application Engineer
Email: jasonkirby@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jk

EXAIR’s Varistat Benchtop Ionizer

Published on by Al WooffittLeave a comment

EXAIR has a wide array of Static Elimination products. The vast majority combine compressed air blowoff with ionization technology to convey the ions to the surface, and eliminate static. This shouldn’t surprise you as EXAIR is a leader in manufacturing quiet and efficient compressed air products, and has been for over 40 years. What may be surprising, is that we have a non-compressed air option in our static elimination product line. Our Varistat Benchtop Ionizer is a blower-style static eliminator.

The Varistat is capable of reducing 1000 volts to 100 volts in 0.8 seconds. With the use of fans, as opposed to compressed air, the Varistat supplies a constant stream of ion-balancing airflow to keep products static-free and particulate-free with hands-free operation. It is engineered to fit various industrial applications and unique processes by offering customizable options such as an adjustable stand for mounting, selectable voltage, variable fan speed and adjustable polarity.

The adjustable polarity is a unique feature in our Static Eliminators product offering; the Varistat is our first and (currently) only product that can do this. You can manually adjust the polarity through the use of an intuitive selector with LED display. This enables you to achieve a result of less than 10V of charge.

As with all EXAIR products, the Varistat is OSHA compliant, meeting all pressure requirements, as well as being safe and quiet – producing only 67dBA!

The Varistat is great for eliminating static on workbenches, part assembly, web cleaning and more. If you would like to discuss your static application, don’t hesitate to give us a call!

Al Wooffitt
Application Engineer

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