Tag: Ultrasonic Leak Detector

Hot Off The Press (Release): EXAIR Catalog #35

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

If you’re a registered user on our website, you likely got word of this already through our August 15, 2023 Press Release. If not – or even if you did and want some more details – read on, and I’ll tell you all about it.

Like all of our previous catalogs, Catalog #35 provides specification, dimensional, and performance data on all of our stock products. Many of them include detailed descriptions of “textbook” applications for those products. You’ll also find:

  • Efficiency Lab (page 6): If you want a full performance report on a compressed air device you’re using right now, this is a free service we offer. Contact an Application Engineer and arrange to have it sent in. We’ll test it for compressed air consumption, force applied, and sound level, and send you a report on it. It’ll include, of course, the EXAIR engineered product(s) that we’ll recommend, along with performance data on them, as a comparison.
  • Our Six Steps (page 7): The first page of our Optimization section details the Six Steps To Optimizing Your Compressed Air System. It’s not necessary to follow them in order, and not all of them are applicable to every single compressed air system. But if you’re serious about reducing your compressed air costs, this is a comprehensive plan on how to do it for sure.
  • OSHA Maximum Allowable Noise Exposure table & typical Air Consumption values of common “homemade” blow offs (page 53): We put this here so you can turn the next few pages and see what a difference engineered products like EXAIR Super Air Nozzles can make.
  • Droplet Size data (page 98): Use this to determine the suitability of our Atomizing Spray Nozzles for liquid spraying applications.
  • Vortex Tube Specification and Performance tables (pages 201-202): If you know how much cold air flow you need, and at what temperature you need it, you can use these tables to determine which EXAIR Vortex Tube (or other Spot Cooling Product) to use.
  • Cabinet Cooler System Sizing Guide (page 220): Just fill in the blanks & send this in, and we’ll quickly & accurately calculate the heat load of your electrical/electronic enclosure, and specify the right Cabinet Cooler System for you.

Now, if you’ve ever had any of our previous catalogs, you might have noticed that those were already in there, and that’s all pretty great. What’s REALLY great about Catalog #35, though, is some of the new features:

  • Line Vac Conveyance Data (pages 176-177): While there’s WAY too many variables in bulk conveyance applications to accurately calculate conveyance rates. We’ve done some controlled, in-house testing with several different materials, several different Line Vacs, at several different lengths & heights, though, and we’re proud to publish that in the new catalog. This shouldn’t be considered a guarantee of performance, but if you’re wondering how much of a particular bulk material you can convey, this table will certainly get you in the right ballpark.
  • Best Practice for Using EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Products (pages 239-240): This information has always been in the Air Data files on our website, along with an ABUNDANCE of data that’ll help you get the most out of your compressed air system. Now, it’s at your fingers.

Of course, I’d be remiss if I wrote a whole blog on the new catalog without mentioning the new products:

  • Model 9207 Ultrasonic Leak Detector (pages 18-19): This serves the same function as the now-obsolete Model 9061, but with some handy upgrades like a LED display, a sleek new body, and high quality ear buds.
Use the Model 9207 Ultrasonic Leak Detector’s parabola to find the vicinity of the leak, and the tubular extension to identify its exact location.
  • 1/2 NPT HollowStream Cone Atomizing Nozzles (page 105): With five new distinct models at the high-flow end of our already comprehensive line of Liquid Atomizing Spray Nozzles, these provide up to 53 gallons per minute of liquid flow, and are capable of passing particulate up to 0.344″ in diameter.
The Hollow Cone spray pattern is ideal for cooling, cleaning, foam breaking, rinsing, and dust suppression. It also uses considerably less liquid than the FullStream models, when higher flow rate isn’t necessary.
EXAIR’s ATEX Cabinet Cooler Systems provide heat protection for electrical enclosures in potentially explosive atmospheres, like those found on offshore drilling platforms, petrochemical plants, mines, flour mills, etc.

Like our previous catalogs, Catalog 35 is now available for download (in product line sections due to file size) from the PDF Library at EXAIR.com. You can also request a copy to be mailed to you, or you can contact an Application Engineer to have individual product line sections (again, because of file size) email to you right away.

As always, if you’d like to talk about how to get the most out of your compressed air system, our team of Application Engineers are here Monday to Friday, 7am to 4pm Eastern, to help with that. Give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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Pressure Monitoring Not Just For Air Systems

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

This past weekend we celebrated Labor Day. My family and I had the pleasure of going to a friend’s property and parking an RV to “glamp” for the weekend. The trip is only about 3-1/2 hours from our homes and when traveling in the RV it is a slow and steady wins the race kind of trip. One of the first things I do when we are prepping for the trip is to check tire pressure. Then, the last thing I do before we leave is check tire pressures.

While at their property we did the same on all of their vehicles, two side-by-side UTVs, and their boat trailer. When looking at each of these, almost all of them were low. Now, these items all sit more than they are used and only see movement maybe once a month. The weather here in the area, including Kentucky has been getting cooler in the evenings which causes the air in tires to start to take up less space and so the pressure drops. Well, after checking and filling, we went out and everything was great, until it wasn’t. When we loaded up the boat we noticed one of the tires was nearly on the rim of the trailer. With no tools on hand and a short drive, we elected to make the drive and inspect when we got back to home ground rather than in a public parking lot where someone had already offered to help if need be. Once we arrived, we inspected the tire and found no obvious signs for it to be so low on pressure. We filled it up again and let it sit for the night. After breakfast the next day we found the tire was still holding air so we assumed that when we checked the pressure initially it was at a good pressure and by doing so something must have stuck in the valve causing it to have a slow leak. Once that was seated and good, the tire held air, and we were good to roll for another day.

This made me realize how important pressure monitoring is on tires for certain vehicles and led me to install a continuous pressure monitoring system on the RV that we took. Being able to monitor tire temperature and pressure is critical and catching low pressure before it causes other issues can help reduce damage or catastrophic failure significantly. This also all made me connect my thoughts to the EXAIR Digital Flowmeters which are available with pressure sensing capabilities. These can easily be installed into a system and then be used to monitor your industrial system and potentially see issues before catastrophic failures or downtimes due to a loss of compressed air.

If you want to discuss what a Pressure Sensing Digital Flowmeter can do in your facility or even if you want to troubleshoot why you are seeing a drop in performance and how to even go about troubleshooting your entire air system, don’t hesitate to contact an Application Engineer.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

How Much Air are you using? Step 1: Measure your Compressed Air use

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

At EXAIR ,our Application Engineering team strive to give our customers, the best advise possible. Very often we are going to have a product that is going to help in your application, but sometimes it’s. “Hey we don’t have what you’re looking for, but here is a resource I think will help!” We want to be a subject-matter expert to you, the person using the products on your compressed air system. And that is why most of our team here are Certified Compressed Air System Specialists (CCASS) through CAGI.

Since air compressors use a lot of electricity to make compressed air, it is important to use the compressed air as efficiently as possible. EXAIR has six simple steps to optimize your compressed air system. Following these steps will help you to cut electrical costs, reduce overhead, and improve your bottom line. In this blog, I will cover the first step – Measure the air consumption to find sources that use a lot of compressed air.

****But if you are interested in the other steps here are some blogs written by some of my colleagues! Step 2 , Step 3, Step 4, Step 5, Step 6. (Teaser, the Fall 2023 Webinar may be about Step 4!)

Processes lead to continuous improvement.

Real time Data is important to diagnose wasteful and problematic areas within your compressed air system. To measure air consumption, flow meters are used to find the volume or mass of compressed air per unit of time. Flow rates are very useful data points to find problems like leaks, over-use in blow-offs, waste calculations, and comparison analysis.There are many different types of flow meters. Many of them entail a breakdown of your current compressed air lines by cutting, welding, or dismantling for installation. This will add cost in downtime and maintenance staff. But, not with the EXAIR Digital Flowmeters. In this blog, I will share the features and benefits of the Digital Flowmeters including options for you to start measuring and optimizing your compressed air system in Step 1.

Overall, it only takes a few minutes to install and start measuring. The installation kit comes with a drill bit and a drill guide to properly locate the two holes on the pipe. The Digital Flowmeter uses a clamp to mount to the pipe and to seal the area around the probes. Once it is powered, the unit is ready to measure the air flow inside the pipe with a large LED display. The display can be customized to show flow readings in three different units; SCFM, M3/hr or M3/min; and, it can display the Daily Usage and Cumulative Usage.

To get started, the EXAIR Digital Flowmeter is a thermal dispersion device that can accurately measure compressed air flows. They use two sensing probes for comparative analysis. One probe is a temperature sensing probe, and the other is a flow-sensing probe. By comparing these, the Digital Flowmeter can measure precisely the mass air flow without needing to be recalibrated. They are a cost-effective, accurate, and simple way to measure compressed air flow. EXAIR stocks Digital Flowmeters to ship same day for U.S. and Canadian customers.

Digital Flow Meter with Data Logger

We also offer a 30-day unconditional guarantee to try them out. We stock meters for pipe diameters from ½” NPT to 4″ NPT Schedule 40 black pipe. EXAIR can also offer flow meters up to 8″ NPT black pipe; copper pipes with diameters from 3/4″ to 4″, and aluminum pipes with diameters ranging from 40mm to 101mm. If you have another type of piping for your compressed air system, you can give us the material, O.D. or I.D., and wall thickness. We may still be able to offer a Digital Flowmeter calibrated for you.

When you need to analyze your pneumatic components, flow is an important point in diagnosing the overall “health” of your compressed air system. EXAIR Digital Flowmeter can give you that important data point. With optimization, you can cut your energy consumption, find additional capacity, improve pneumatic efficiencies, and save yourself money. This blog is an overview of Step 1 of six steps. You may have more questions; and, that is great! You can find them in other EXAIR blogs, (linked above) or you can contact me or any of our Application Engineers here at EXAIR.

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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What’s So Great About The New EXAIR Catalog #35?

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

This may seem biased, but my answer is, “EVERYTHING!” Now, that may SEEM biased, but consider the fact that, as an Application Engineer, I have a front row seat for the “Innovation Show” that is EXAIR. The attention to detail that gets paid to the design, testing, verification, and manufacturing of new products constantly reminds me that it’s a level of excellence that EXAIR’s founder, Roy Sweeney, instilled and promoted in our culture from when he started this business in 1983, until his passing in 2016. It’s a testament to his legacy that, not only does it continue; it shows no signs of slowing down. It’s that level of excellence that’s always made it easy for me to speak with confidence about the quality, performance, durability, and effectiveness of all of EXAIR’s engineered compressed air products.

Our Marketing folks proudly passed out copies of the new EXAIR Catalog #35 the other day, and I immediately started immersing myself in that pride as I thumbed through. I thought of 12 years (for me) worth of success stories in helping customers get the most out of their compressed air systems through the use of our products, and our expertise in not only those products’ implementation, but how they can best fit into those customers’ air systems, overall. I wasn’t too far in to my thumbing through, when the “new stuff” really started making an impression on me:

Ultrasonic Leak Detector: Model 9207 is the first new product you’ll see if you start at the beginning. It has the same functionality and tools (parabolic disc for finding out you have leaks in a particular area, and a tubular extension so you can track the leak to its exact location), and some nice upgrades: it’s powered by four AA batteries (instead of a 9V) and comes with a set of earbuds (which I personally prefer over the previous model’s earphones, which I always considered a compromise between headphone & earbuds, with the benefits of neither). It’s never been easier to find those costly leaks in your air system, and fix them.

1/2 NPT HollowStream Liquid Atomizing Spray Nozzles: We’ve had these in 1/4 and 3/8 NPT sizes for a while now, with the ability to spray up to 7.28 gallons per minute. The 1/2 NPT models almost double that capacity to a flow rate of 14 gallons per minute. These spray a ring of liquid, so their flow rates are lower than a comparably sized Full Stream Liquid Atomizing Spray Nozzle, which spray a full, filled-in circle.

Line Vac Conveyance Chart: Remember what I said above about the ability to speak confidently about our products? This new chart compiles decades of controlled in-house testing and details that some customers have shared with us on the performance of different Line Vac models with different materials they’ve been used to convey. While we can’t guarantee EXACT conveyance performance for any specific application, this is a VERY handy tool to get us “in the ballpark” and further increases our great ability to specify the right Air Operated Conveyor for your application.

ATEX Cabinet Cooler Systems: It was a pretty big deal when we introduced our HazLoc Cabinet Cooler Systems that are UL Classified for Class I Div 1, Class II Div 1, and Class III environments. And it WAS a big deal, in the United States & Canada. Now, we can offer the certification of hazardous location requirements, globally, for ATEX Zones 2 & 22. That’s ANOTHER big deal.

Speaking of big deals, come October, EXAIR will have been providing quiet, safe, and efficient compressed air products to industry for 40 years. Catalog 35 has all the products that we’ve been making since then, and everything we’ve added over the years. Click here to get one mailed out to you right away. If you’ve got questions about anything in our catalog, or how EXAIR can help you get the most out of your compressed air system, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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