Tag: tube extrusion

Super Air Wipes For Reliable Blow Off In Harsh Environments

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

I saw a fake ad on a humor/satire website for a “wood fireplace” recently. The photo showed what looked like a typical home fireplace, except the whole thing – the frame, grill, flue, and chimney – was made of 2×4’s and plywood. It looked to be well crafted and expertly built, and I bet it would have worked great…once.

It was definitely funny…here I am, a week or so later, still getting (and sharing with you, dear reader) a chuckle out of it. There were two takeaways for me: One, I’m easily amused. And two, there is DEFINITELY a reason why many products are made of certain materials. Like, how the fireplace in MY house is made of iron & brick.

…and not just any old bricks, but specially made ones called refractory (or fire) bricks. Because specific material of construction can be VERY important.

Then there’s the EXAIR Air Wipe product line. Our Standard Air Wipes are made of aluminum. They’re fitted with steel hardware, polyester shims, and have a PVC/rubber & brass connector hose assembly. As long as they’re not exposed to anything that’s particularly corrosive, or in a hot environment – they’re rated to 150°F (66°C) – they’re going to work just fine.

EXAIR Standard Air Wipe family. Sizes up to 4″ (102mm) come with a connector hose. Larger sizes must be plumbed with compressed air to the supply port on each half.

For more aggressive conditions in the Air Wipe’s area of installation, though, we’ll consider the Super Air Wipe:

  • We offer the body in two different materials: aluminum is good for up to 400°F (204°C), stainless steel is good to 800°F (427°C).
  • Either way, it comes with stainless steel hardware & shims, and a braided SS connector hose.
EXAIR Super Air Wipe Family. Sizes up to 4″ (102mm) come with a SS braided connector hose. Same as the Standard Air Wipes, 5″ (127mm) and larger Models are individually plumbed to each half. Aluminum bodies come in sizes from 3/8″ (10mm) to 11″ (279mm), and Stainless Steel bodies go from 3/8″ (10mm) to 4″ (102mm).

Here are some prime examples of the “more aggressive conditions” that are great fits for the Super Air Wipe:

  • Blowing off seawater from mooring cables on oceangoing vessels:
Reeling in this cable through an unprotected hatch carried seawater into the reel compartment. A Model 2404SS 4″ SS Super Air Wipe now dries the cable as it enters, solving a number of corrosion & maintenance problems.
  • Removing cutting oil from machined parts:
EXAIR Model 2407 7″ Aluminum Super Air Wipes remove cutting fluid from CNC machined parts. The oil-based fluid was contaminating robotic welders’ cover windows & lenses, which cost a lot of time (in cleaning the windows & lenses), and money (to replace the windows as the fluid attacked them, causing them to cloud & haze).
  • Cooling extruded tubing:
Tubing coming out of extruder was hot & pliable, and would slump or sag upon exit. An EXAIR Model 2401 1″ Aluminum Super Air Wipe cools it to prevent it from slumping, which made it so crooked it had to be tossed out as defective.
  • Blow off AND creating an environmental barrier:
An EXAIR Model 2404 4″ Aluminum Super Air Wipe not only blows off a steel rod during processing, it also contains smoke and oil mist from the machinery.

Super Air Wipes come in sizes from 3/8″ (10mm) to 11″ (279mm) with the Aluminum bodies, and 3/8″ (10mm) to 4″ (102mm) in Stainless Steel. Kits include a Shim Set to make gross adjustments to the flow & force, an Automatic Drain Filter Separator to keep the air supply clean & moisture free, and a Pressure Regulator to “dial in” the performance. If you have a particular application you’d like to discuss, or to find out more about our Air Wipes (or any of our engineered compressed air products, for that matter,) give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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