Tag: static eliminator

Static Eliminator Product Configurations

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

I recently had the pleasure of discussing an Ion Air Jet application with an engineer at a company that makes medical devices. They needed to remove static charge, and statically clung dust, from certain parts as they’re being packaged and sealed. Because of the specific geometry of the parts, they wanted to use two Model 8194 Gen4 Ion Air Jets, aimed directly at the geometric features of the part where the clinging dust was most problematic. The engineer started the conversation with questions about two Model 8494 Gen4 Ion Air Jet Kits, and was quite pleased when I recommended only one Kit, and an additional Ion Air Jet.

The Model 7960 Gen4 Power Supply that comes with the Kit has two ports, so it can be used to energize any two EXAIR Gen4 Static Eliminators. That’s two Ion Air Jets, two 3″ Super Ion Air Knives, two 108″ Super Ion Air Knives, one Super Ion Air Knife and one Ion Air Gun, etc.

The only exception is our Super Ion Air Wipes, which come in two sizes: 2″ and 4″ (left). Since they have two emitter points and hence, two cables, they’ll use both ports on the 2-Outlet Model 7960 Power Supply (right). If you want to run two of them (or one of them and any two other Static Eliminators), you’ll want the 4-Outlet Model 7961 Power Supply (far right).

Why would you need more than one Static Eliminator? Well, the most popular answer comes from the fact that static charge is a surface phenomenon. You can expose one side of a statically charged film to ionization all day long, and it won’t change the static charge that resides on the other side one bit. Super Ion Air Knives and Ionizing Bars are oftentimes operated in pairs for this very reason.

Two Gen4 Ionizing Bars + one Power Supply = Static elimination on both sides.

It also may be necessary to eliminate static, on the same material, more than once. Remember, all it takes to develop a static charge is contact & separation of non-conductive materials. I worked with a user once who had a machine that die cut shapes from a sheet of open cell foam…similar to the stuff that you wrap fragile items in for moving or transport, but a little thicker. Anyway, this foam sheet came off the roll with enough static charge to make it bunch up instead of moving smoothly into the cutting chamber, so it passed through an “over/under” pair of Ionizing Bars (similar to the photo above). Then, the die cutting caused enough static charge to make the pieces stick to the dies (think “cookie cutters” because that’s EXACTLY what they looked like), so two strategically aimed Ion Air Cannons were used to blow the “cookies” into the collection bin at the outlet of the machine. It was pretty compact (the foam sheet was only 10″ wide, and the “cookies” were “bite sized”) so all four Static Eliminators were energized from one Model 7961 4-Outlet Power Supply.

The “one Super Ion Air Knife and one Ion Air Gun” that I mentioned earlier is another popular answer to that question. The laminar, even flow from a Super Ion Air Knife is ideal for sweeping across a flat surface, but if there are any features to your statically charged material that might be “hidden” from the Super Ion Air Knife’s curtain, another dedicated device can be used for static elimination and blow off from those areas.

EXAIR Gen4 Static Eliminators have 5ft (1.52 meters) cables, except for Ion Air Guns, which have 10ft (3 meters) cables. As long as the cables will reach the Power Supply, you’re in business. If the Static Eliminators will be farther away than that, though, you don’t necessarily have to use separate Power Supplies for them. We can make any Static Eliminator with a custom length cable, up to 50ft (15 meters) in length.

If static charge is causing you problems, we’ve got solutions. To find out more, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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The Gen4 Ion Air Cannon for Static Elimination at a Distance

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The static eliminating, Gen4 Ion Air Cannon is ideal for those applications where you need a concentrated flow of Ionized Air to remove static and dust. The Gen4 Ion Air Cannon will entrain a large amount of ambient air, and with the ion emitter point place in the air flow, it can produce static eliminating effectiveness up to 15 feet away. This is perfect for those confined areas that need a concentrated flow of static eliminating ions. These can be operated with a compressed air supply as low as 10 PSIG.

The Gen 4 Ion Air Cannon has a small profile to fit in tight spaces and still have a large amount of air flow. It comes mounted on a sturdy stand with lockable swivels and predrilled holes to allow for easy mounting and orientation of output airflow. Simply connect a compressed air supply, plug in the power supply power cord, and you are in business. Beyond knowing how it can be mounted, here is how it works:

Below, is the Gen4 Ion Air Cannon performance table based on 12″ distance from a target:

The Gen 4 Ion Air Cannon has a multitude of uses; form and fill bag openings, neutralizing shrink wrap, cleaning and neutralizing parts, removing static on assemblies, pre-paint dust removal and so much more. If you have any questions on how this can help you, please do not hesitate to call me or any of our application engineers.

Thank you for stopping by,

Brian Wages

Application Engineer

EXAIR Corporation
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Ionizing Points for Static Elimination Without Airflow

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

I almost wore three socks this morning: one on each foot, and one inside the sleeve of my shirt. I don’t know if it got in there through the agitation & spin of the washing machine, or the tumbling action in the dryer, but I know how it stayed there through the removal from the dryer, folding, and placing in my shirt drawer: static charge. This was evident from the ‘snap, crackle, and pop’ it made when I pulled it out.

Static charge is all around us. It’s mildly annoying in the clothes we pull from the dryer or the packing peanuts we can’t shake from our hands when unpacking from that new whatever-I-just-ordered from that website. It’s surprisingly uncomfortable when we touch the light switch after walking across a carpeted floor. And it’s terrifying when a lightning bolt hits so close that there’s no discernible delay for the thunder.

It’s also prevalent in many industrial processes: molding, trimming, wrapping (or unwrapping), bag & bottle filling, printing…just to name a few. Some materials are more prone to it than others, but all it takes is contact, and separation, of non-conductive surfaces to generate a static charge. The faster and/or more frequent the contact & separation, the higher the charge, and oftentimes there’s no better way to build up static electricity than sliding or rubbing those surfaces together.

EXAIR has a wide variety of Static Eliminator solutions: Super Ion Air Knives for webs or sheets up to 9 feet in width, Ion Air Cannons or Jets for more focused, conical ionized air blowing, Ion Air Guns for handheld operations, Super Ion Air Wipes for tube, pipe, extruded shapes, etc., and Intellistat Ion Air Guns & Nozzles for laboratory or clean room situations. Two of our Static Eliminator Products – Ionizing Bars & Ionizing Points – require no compressed air at all for operation, and one of those is the point (‘pun intended’ or ‘spoiler alert’ – you decide) of today’s blog.

The EXAIR Gen4 Ionizing Point is compact, versatile, and easy to install. It’s perfect for applications where even a light breeze worth of air flow would be disruptive or problematic. It’s also great for ionizing an existing air flow, like in a blower duct or air conveyance line. If limited space is a problem, it’s got the smallest footprint of just about any static eliminator on the market.

The EXAIR Model 8199 Gen4 Ionizing Point packs a LOT of static elimination in a small package.

They have impressive static dissipation performance as well, as seen in the table below. The only maintenance that’s required is a periodic cleaning of the emitter point (with the Power Supply OFF, using a soft bristled, dry brush). Should the emitter point become fouled, it can also be easily replaced.

If you’ve got problems with static charge, EXAIR has a comprehensive offering of solutions…give me a call to find out more.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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Super Ion Air Knives Remove Static, Improve Bottle Cap Production

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

The leaves have all fallen. The sky, more often than not, is dreary. My winter coat is officially part of the “uniform of the day”. And I got shocked by the laundry room doorknob yesterday. All this means that winter is upon us (here in the Northern Hemisphere anyway), and as far as EXAIR is concerned, it’s “static season”. We’re seeing a definite uptick in the numbers of conversations we’re having about static charge-related issues…and solutions that we can provide.

I had the pleasure of speaking to a caller, last month, who works for the US division of a global manufacturer of bottle caps. A machine that sorts & orients plastic caps was particularly prone to static charge problems last winter, causing a marked decrease in their production, and they wanted to get out in front of the problem this year:

As the caps travel horizontally (white arrows), they pass under a static bar (supplied by the machine manufacturer) which provided some reduction in static charge, but was unable to keep up with the higher magnitudes of static charge experienced during the lower humidity winter months. Bottle caps (right) would pile up, slowing production.
A Model 112230 30″ Gen4 Super Ion Air Knife Kit replaced the OEM static bar, resulting in dramatic improvement…no more piling up of bottle caps.

The increased static charge (beyond the OEM static bar’s ability to handle) reduced production by 1/3. The Super Ion Air Knife restored operation to full capacity for this machine…and three others, once they saw the results of the first one.

If static charge is causing you problems with dust clinging to your product, your product clinging to itself, sheets mis-feeding, materials jamming, tearing, or curling, or nuisance shocks to operators, EXAIR has a variety of safe and efficient Static Eliminator solutions. To find out more, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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