Well, the first day of Spring is right around the corner. It’s hard to believe that the Summer heat isn’t that far out for us here in Cincinnati. Of course the first thing on my mind is hanging out outside with my daughters, and track days. What isn’t on my mind is the heat that most production environments feel. It most likely isn’t on your mind either, and won’t be until the heat is here and the machine is shutting down.
Why not be proactive and fill out a Cabinet Cooler Sizing Guide so that we can help to prevent that down time in the Summer months? Even though the temperatures aren’t as hot as they will be in a few months, the temperature differential will still allow us to calculate the heat load that is generated within the enclosure.
There’s no better time than now to start preventative measures to keeping your machines running. Whether that is by installing a thermostat controlled Cabinet Cooler System, using a Chip Trapper to filter coolants or a Cold Gun Aircoolant System to keep a cutting tool cool. All methods will help you to keep production up and lessen the down time and the costly replacements of your equipment.
If you have any questions on how we can help, feel free to contact us.
Well EXAIR Blog readers, it’s that time of the year again. The grass needs cut twice a year, evenings are lit with fire pits, tiki torches, and bug zappers, and the heat of the day has you looking for shade. All of these can only mean one thing, it’s summertime which means it’s also Memorial Day weekend.
I believe the best Memorial Day blog EXAIR has released is one from one of our own veterans, Russ Bowman. His blog, The Science of S’mores, talks about just a few events that are held nation wide on this weekend. Then like most Americans do ending it with a nice relaxing family and friends cookout. (I have to steal the video on S’mores)
So no matter where you are this weekend make sure to give thanks to our country’s veterans. Also take some time to make sure and enjoy the freedom they helped us earn and keep by going out to one of your community events. Here’s a link to just a handful of events that will be happening here in Cincinnati.
I like summer. I even clarified that in a comment on the EXAIR Facebook page’s post of Lee Evan’s blog, “Summertime,” last week. I also really like summer holidays. Don’t get me wrong; Thanksgiving and Christmas are great, but right now, in the thick of the July heat, it’s kickball, cornhole and fireworks, and not sugarplums, that are dancing in my head.
Just a few weeks ago we kicked off the Official Start Of Summer™ with Memorial Day, a day of thanksgiving, if you will, for the courage and determination of all the heroic men and women who guaranteed our freedom and way of life with their life’s blood. Amidst the picnics, parties and fireworks, I was pleased to see ceremonies and observances honoring those patriots who made the sacrifice that I was fortunate enough not to be called to make. As a veteran of America’s armed forces, I’m proud that I served 364 days a year, but don’t thank me for my service on Memorial Day. I didn’t earn that.
This past Monday was Independence Day. Another day when you have to try hard to avoid picnics, parties, fireworks, streets lined with flags…but this time, it’s different. This is a celebration; a day more suitable for parties than ceremonies; when fireworks at twilight are more fitting than flowers at gravesides.
This is my street. My whole neighborhood looks like this the last week of June/first week of July. Every year.
I’m certainly not saying that there’s a day to NOT remember – and honor – our fallen heroes, but, from the beginning, Independence Day was meant to be a party. After signing the Declaration of Independence, John Adams wrote a letter to his wife in which he said:
“I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival…to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”
There it is – “the great anniversary festival” – a birthday party! Look, I also really like my birthday, and, while it’s more late-spring than early-summer, it’s still a darn fine time for outdoor activities. One thing I always miss, though, is my Mom calling me, first thing in the morning, to sing “Happy Birthday To You” to me. I lost her nine years ago, and, as any Mama’s Boy who’s lost his Mama knows, it’ll never be all right, but that, in itself, is all right.
So I certainly remember her on my birthday, but not to the point of complete distraction from celebrating another successful trip around the sun with my family and friends…and I truly believe that’s the way Mom would have wanted it. Just like I believe those who left their lives on the battlefields and in the seas of our nation’s conflicts are looking down and enjoying the fireworks on the Fourth of July…just as much as they appreciate the playing of “Taps” on Memorial Day.
I personally can’t believe I’m saying this but summertime is almost here. With that comes vacations or the increasingly popular “Staycations”. For myself I get to see a good friend from college get married as my vacation this year. It will be the first time my wife and I have left our daughter for more than just one night. With the vacation of course came a good amount of planning, both at home and at work.
At home we got lucky because our parents are going to take turns watching our daughter, house, and dogs. (Can’t beat free baby/house/dog sitting.) They’ll of course be eating it up because they get to spend so much time with their grand-daughter and getting to completely spoil her for several days. For most people when they go on vacation they have to prepare the house for no one to be there during their vacation. A few points we make sure to cover in the case no one will be home is to turn off the water at the main shut off, set the thermostat for around 80° F so the A/C isn’t running that much, get rid of as much food from the fridge as possible so there isn’t a loss in the case of a power outage. We also stop the mail and the paper, and lastly we set a few lights to turn on and off so it still appears someone is home, this can be done through timers or trusted neighbors, which is what we use. This makes sure that you aren’t wasting energy while you are gone and when you come back home everything is ready to go back to normal or in our case as close to normal it can get.
At work I have a similar checklist. Make sure all my emails are taken care of that need to be, ensure the e-mail and voicemail messages are set correctly, clean the desk up, and make sure to log out of the computer so there is a lower risk of shenanigans involving my background image or desktop icons. This makes sure than when I get back to the office I’m not spending time and energy trying to get to the point of caught up and working on new projects.
Preparing to leave for vacation is something you can very easily translate into how to prepare your compressed air system before you leave for a few days or even before you go home for the night. You probably shut your compressor down so you can save money on your energy bill, the problem is if you don’t have a well maintained system you won’t have that stored air available when you come back. If your system has leaks or if you are leaving a blow off on continuously even when the process is not needed then when you come in the next day or after a few days away the air isn’t there and you have to wait for the compressor to build up an initial charge to even begin work. This not only causes additional work load on your compressor but it is down time that is easily avoidable. With the help of our Six Steps to Compressed Air Optimization you can make sure you still have air in the storage tank when you get in on Monday rather than having to wait for the compressor.
So whether you are going on a vacation or just leaving for the day make sure you are doing everything you can to conserve, turn off those lights, seal up the leaks, and it will make the next time you come in that much easier. Not to mention the savings you will see.
Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_BF
