Tag: static

Press Release – New 230-Volt Varistat Benchtop Ionizer Removes Static at a Distance

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

EXAIR has decided to open up our product line for areas that do not have or wish not to use compressed air.  This award-winning EXAIR Varistat® Benchtop Ionizer is a powerful fan-driven static eliminator engineered to neutralize static charges on surfaces in demanding industrial environments. This Ionizer delivers a consistent stream of ionized airflow, effectively eliminating static and particulate without the need for compressed air. The Varistat is now available in 230 volts to meet the needs of industrial locations. Easily mounted on bench tops or machines, this static eliminator is manually adjustable and perfect for processes needing comprehensive coverage.

            The new 230-volt Varistat sets itself apart from other fan-driven static eliminators by offering highly adjustable features and allowing for versatility. Features like selectable voltage 115VAC/230VAC, variable fan speed, and adjustable polarity make the Varistat a complete solution for eliminating static in a variety of processes and facilities. Once plugged in, the Varistat provides rapid static decay capable of reducing 1000V to 100V in 0.8 seconds. This product features two replaceable ion emitter points and two 30 PPI foam filters to ensure optimal performance over extended periods, as well as LED lights to signify proper function.

            The Varistat is part of an extensive line of static eliminating products from EXAIR that are UL listed and CE compliant. Products like the Intellistat Ion Air Gun, the Gen4 Super Ion Air Knife, and the Gen4 Ionizing Bar, exhibit the wide range of static solutions offered and the ability to combat static in a variety of manufacturing processes.

For U.S. and Canadian customers, EXAIR offers a 30-day unconditional guarantee on our cataloged items to try.  You can see how effective the Varistat Benchtop Ionizer or any of our Static Eliminators can be.  If you need help in selecting the best product for your application, an Application Engineer will be happy to help you.  And for qualified orders until March 31st, 2025, you will receive a complimentary AC Sensor, a $76.00 value, for free. 

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

Static and Variance

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Okay, folks, it is time we seriously discuss how dry it is here in the MidWest right now and how much static there is anywhere we go. The dry air is the lack of moisture due to heat being used inside facilities, and thus, the static ramps up. If you didn’t understand much of those statements then it is okay, we have a whitepaper that covers the basics. The seriousness of the static in my home has reached critical mass. We are past the funny shocks and hair standing on the end humor side of static. We have reached a critical mass where it is no longer funny, my coffee is being affected by the ambient level of static charge.

That’s right, the coffee grinder I received for Christmas is riddled with static. Now, it is still functioning, thank goodness for that. The container that houses the fresh ground, the nectar of the gods making crushed beans, is made of polycarbonate material and is prime to hold a static charge. As the dry coffee beans are ground into obliteration there is a tremendous amount of friction which causes a very high charge on the ground bean discharge that goes into a very dry non-conductive container. This means the grinds all pile up and then also cling to every single surface on the interior of the small container. That’s fine, it still does not affect the performance of the grinder. Then, when I open the lid there is a detachment that happens and a small amount of that highly charged ground bean will start to dance all over the surfaces of the container, including outside of it and onto the counter. The end result is I have to constantly wipe up coffee grinds and I am wasting the grinds that give me the caffeine I intend to consume.

The dilemma here is that I don’t want to run compressed air into my kitchen, already have one project going on in the house. Secondly, my wife would not think it would be as entertaining as I would. So, I need a non-compressed air-assisted static eliminator that can plug straight into a voltage available here in the US, and let’s face it, coffee is a global consumption so 120 VAC and 230 VAC would be preferred. Enter, the VariStat Benchtop Ionizer.

The Varistat would easily mount to the wall over my coffee generation station and could be adjusted from a gentle breeze to where it doesn’t disturb the coffee grinds all the way up to a forceful blast in case the need would arise. I could also vary the balance of the unit to meet the atmospheric and surface conditions of the container.

Okay, so I’m probably not going to buy a Varistat Benchtop Ionizer and mount it to my kitchen wall. I would easily recommend it to any kind of hopper loader or regrind operation where the static is causing the materials to cling to the containers or causing nuisance shocks. This unit is easily sat on a bench top or mounted to a wall or ceiling over a hopper or workstation. Thanks to the operation of standard 120 VAC or 230 VAC it can function nearly anywhere in the world that has electricity.

If you would like to discuss coffee, what my favorite roasts are, or more importantly how can we make this work in our building, just let me know if you have some questions and we will get back to you quickly.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

SHOCKING! One Project Leads To Another

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Here at EXAIR, we always have a promotion going. At this time of year, static electricity is running rampant due to the low moisture content in the air. This is easily seen in my garage, where I currently have several projects going. One of which includes a 1″ thick piece of rigid foam insulation, and another part of that same project includes about 10 sheets of drywall.

The main wall that started the project.
Before, there wasn’t even a frame there.

That project, finishing a basement area, also included making some plywood built-ins. Well, if you have ever cut plywood, then you know it can be quite dusty. Put that in a small space and just the dust floating in the air during these dry months resulted in the sheet of rigid foam which was standing up away from the cutting area now holding a nice layer of fine dust to the surface. This dust was all attracted to the surface by the static charge. The charge on the surface was ramped up from the movement to get it into the garage from the store, with lots of friction, attachment, and detachment. I could definitely benefit from something like the Gen4 Ion Air Gun to blow down the sheet and remove anything on the surface before I take it into the house for the project.

I made one cut on a sheet of plywood about 8 feet away from this foam insulation sheet. All the light-colored areas are sawdust that is now hanging on the surface.

Well, if I were to order the Gen4 Ion Air Gun Kit through the current EXAIR promotion, I would also be receiving a free A/C Sensor pen which I could have used to help me trace where voltage is present in our dryer, which decided to break in the middle of the basement project. Luckily, I was able to trace it down to a thermal fuse that had buildup on it. Thankfully, we now have the repair parts on order.

If your facility has dry ambient conditions right now in these winter months, and you are starting to struggle with sheets clinging together, packaging material clinging to products, or operators complaining of nuisance shocks from aspects of their daily tasks, we have a product that can help. Best of all, we have a promotion to deliver a FREE A/C Sensor pen with any EXAIR Static Eliminator purchase.

Whether you need a fixed solution like the Gen4 Super Ion Air Knife, Intellistat Ion Air Nozzle, or Gen4 Ion Air Cannon, maybe you need something that can travel from one workstation to another or is handheld like our Gen4 Ion Air Gun Kit, or the Intellistat Ion Air Gun. Maybe you don’t have compressed air available like I didn’t in the basement. As long as you have access to a standard 120 VAC 3 prong US plug or 230 VAC, then you can use one of the Gen4 Ionizing Points, a Gen4 Ionizing Bar, or even the Varistat Benchtop Ionizer. See the page at the link below for all the offerings and make sure you use the promotional part numbers to get the free A/C Sensor pen which can be used for electrical troubleshooting for free!

If you aren’t sure which static eliminator will be the best fit for your current application, I and the entire Application Engineer team are here to help. We all have knowledge and experience with the products and a wide variety of backgrounds, so we can help determine the best path forward for you and your team. Contact one of us today.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Handheld Cleaning of Parts In A Clean Room

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

A few years ago, we released a handheld ionizer like no ionizer EXAIR has made before. The Intellistat Ion Air Gun was the first EXAIR product to carry a Clean room certification. The certification is for any rated Class 5 clean room and controlled environments per ISO 14644-1. This wasn’t the only revolutionary part of the Intellistat Ion Air Gun, it also used a 24VDC power transformer and had indicator lights to showcase proper operation or a malfunction. Most importantly of all, it can leave a balance of +/- 30 V.

Along with these functional benefits, we wanted the gun to be ergonomic and that includes a lightweight trigger pull along with an easy to use hook which permits users to easily store the gun when not in use. The entire ergonomic housing is of static-resistant polycarbonate while the replaceable emitter point is constructed of stainless steel. All of this leads to performance that speaks for the amount of design that went into this gun.

As shown in the table above, when utilizing the gun at 30 psig inlet pressure, it will only consume 2.7 SCFM all while still providing static-eliminating blowoff that will knock down a static charge on surfaces that the ionized air stream touches. 30 psig would be ideal for lightweight debris at inspection or packaging workstations where operators need to provide a final blowoff and remediation of static before the final seal of the package. If more force is needed, the unit can be operated all the way up to 125 psig inlet pressure. The Force/Discharge table below showcases that you can get up to .1 pounds of force out of the engineered nozzle on the Intellistat and that will dissipate a +/-1,000 V static charge to less than +/- 100 V charge within 0.6 seconds.

Being able to vary the amount of force with the operating pressure is nothing new to EXAIR compressed air products; this is one of the key benefits to the versatility of this gun. Being able to move it from a final inspection/packaging station that doesn’t require a lot of static removal or debris blowoff and then also being able to get into a production/assembly area where more force and static dissipation are needed, and you can utilize the same static eliminating gun at both.

If you want to discuss how the Intellistat Ion Air Gun can fill the need your static-ridden process has for blowoff and remediation, please contact an Application Engineer today.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF