Tag: static electricity control

Eliminating False Image Readings Using The Gen4 Stay Set Ion Air Jet

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I was recently contacted by a medical device manufacturer who was interested in implementing a Static Eliminator in their production process. They have a manually operated vision station where a plastic substrate, about the same size as a credit card, is placed into a nest then a small amount of liquid is deposited onto the surface. An operator takes a picture of the liquid and substrate and the image is analyzed. The part is stationary in the nest until the image is taken.  When the station is done, the plastic part is manually removed from the nest.

After some internal testing, they determined that static build up on the plastic part was causing the liquid to move, or “bounce” as they placed it, which was leading to a significant drop in their manufacturing yield due to faulty readings. The cycle time from taking the initial  image and the analysis results is roughly 2 seconds so they were needing something that would quickly remove the charge on the plastic part.

The customer was able to email some photos and after further review, EXAIR recommended they use our Gen4 Stay Set Ion Air Jet in the process. The Gen4 Ion Air Jet is a compact ionizer delivering a quiet, focused ionized air stream to quickly eliminate the static charge on the surface of a material or object. Operating at 20 PSIG, the Gen4 Ion Air Jet is capable of dissipating a 5kV charge in 0.45 seconds while maintaining a low sound level of only 67 dBA. The Ion Air Jet entrains ambient air at a rate of 5:1 and the airflow can be adjusted from a “blast” to a “breeze” simply by increasing or decreasing the inlet pressure. The Gen4 Stay Set Ion Air Jet includes our 12” Stay Set Hose which holds position until it is physically repositioned and a magnetic base for easy installation.

If you have an application that requires a concentrated, ionized airflow or for help with selecting the best product to fit your need, give me call at 800-903-9247 for assistance.

Justin Nicholl
Application Engineer
justinnicholl@exair.com
@EXAIR_JN

 

Video Tutorial on Cleaning the Gen4 Static Eliminator

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

It has been over two years since EXAIR first brought our Gen4 Static Eliminators to market with improved performance, materials and durability.  The new design features continue to provide our customers with reliable, rugged and problem solving static eliminators.

More recently our Gen4 product line was completed by integrating these same beneficial features in the Gen4 Ionizing Bars, Gen4 Super Ion Air Knives, and Gen4 Standard Ion Air Knives.

There are two common ways that a Static Eliminator will start to underperform; contamination buildup and point degradation.  To create ions from a metal point, a high voltage is needed.  With 5,000 volts forcing its way into a confined area, the energy behind making an ion creates a corona field.  Any contamination near or around that point will produce a small amount of charred material.  The more contamination in the surrounding area, the faster the buildup will occur. Once a sharp point is coated, the ion production begins to decrease.

The other issue is with metal point degradation.  With the cycle of heating and cooling, the material will start to lose the sharpness of the point over time.  Like a wick used in a candle, you lose a little bit each time.  For both methods above, once the point sharpness is reduced, the dissipation time to remove static starts to increase.

For any “forensics” analysis with the Static Eliminators, you should have a model 7905 Static Meter.  Besides viewing the ion points, the Static Meter can help determine the severity of the function of the ion points.  If cleaning is required, you can use a soft-bristled brush to remove any charred contamination from the point and the base area.  Make sure that the power is turned off before cleaning.  For resistor-based Static Eliminators, the metal ion pins are replaceable.  This is model 901188.  This added feature makes a cost-effective way to keeping the points sharp, and the Static Eliminators like new.  The video below shows how to clean and replace the ion points.

Contact any of our Application Engineers if you have any additional questions about cleaning, about a new application or about potential solutions to static related problems.

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

What is a GEN4 Ion Air Cannon?

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Quite simply the GEN4 Ion Air Cannon is based on the mechanics of the 2″ diameter Super Air Amplifier that has static reduction capabilities and as its name implies it amplifies the supply air up to 25 times!

This highly engineered product is very effective at cleaning product and reducing static at distances of up to 15′ away.

GEN4 IAC

The GEN4 Ion Air Cannon comes in a handy stand/mounting unit for easy installation in a wide variety of applications. It can be mounted to machine frames, mounted out of the way from a process, or placed on a bench top.

GEN4 IAC Dimensions

The GEN4 Super Ion Air Cannon can work with as little as 10 PSI supply pressure.

GEN4 IAC Performance

The GEN4 Ion Air Cannon is used in many applications such as bottling, manufacturing of solar panels and preparing new automobile car bodies to be painted – to name a few. Wherever static reduction and/or cleaning is required the Ion Air Cannon can contribute.

It is offered in a kit that can include the 7960 power supply, pressure regulator for fine adjustments, filter/separator to keep the air clean and dry and a shim set for gross adjustments or just the GEN4 Ion Air Cannon and the 7960 power supply.  Of course all components are also available individually.

If you would like to discuss reducing static and/or cleaning materials, I would enjoy hearing from you…give me a call.

Steve Harrison
Application Engineer

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3 Ways Static Electricity is Generated

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

EXAIR published a whitepaper, Basics of Static Electricity, explaining what causes static electricity, how it is generated, and steps to eliminate it. Download it now by clicking the link, and begin to eliminate the static problems on your plant or process.

In this blog, I would like to expand on the subject about how static can be generated.  On a molecular scale, the outer electrons that are orbiting the nucleus can be “stripped” and redistributed from one atom to another.  This will cause an electrical charge imbalance called static.  An additional electron will create negatively charged static while atoms losing an electron will create a positively charged static.  With non-conductive materials like plastic, paper, rubber, glass, etc, the electrons cannot move back to the original atom. There are three common methods of static generation that will cause this phenomenon to occur.  I will explain each one in brief detail below:

  1. Contact – Whenever objects hit each other, electrons can be passed to or received from the surface of another object. The number of electrons being transferred is based on the type of triboelectric material.  But, with plastic bottles or trays bumping into each other on conveyor belts, static is being generated.

    Contact
  2. Detachment – when one material is being separated from another material by peeling, electrons may not able to return back to the original molecule. Adhesive tape and protective films are prevalent in generating static charges by detachment because of the larger surface areas.  As an example; when the backing material is being removed from labels, the static will cause the labels to be misaligned.

    Detachment
  3. Frictional – This is one of the most common reasons for generating large static forces. It is caused by two non-conductive surfaces being rubbed together.  The amount of force being applied to the material as it slides back and forth will create higher static charges.   It is definitely noticed when you rub a balloon on your hair.  The more times that you rub the balloon against your hair, the stronger the static forces, allowing the balloon to “stick” to the wall.  It is also noticed as sheets of material are stacked or running over rollers.

    Friction

Static tends to propagate.  The more contact, detachment, and friction that occurs; the higher the static charges.  Even when the static is removed from the surface, static charges can still regenerate by the mechanisms above.  So, controlling the static can be determined by the treatment process as well as the location.

Another variable that affects the static generation is humidity.  Most process problems are noticed during the winter seasons as the ambient air is drier.  With a lower relative humidity, the development of static is enhanced; making it easier to produce static as well as creating a higher static force.  We always refer to winter as static season.

Production problems with static can occur like dirty surfaces, tearing, alignment, jamming and shock to personnel.  EXAIR has a number of Static Eliminators to remove these process snags and down time that will cost your company money.  You can contact an Application Engineer at EXAIR to discuss any static issues that are being generated.

John Ball
Application Engineer

Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb