Tag: valve

Compressed Air Can Be Costly – EXAIR Can Help You Save It

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Growing up across the street from an old fashioned service station does have its perks.   This was one of the old 76  gas stations that still had a garage where a mechanic would fix your car, as well as you could get gas if you needed to.   They even had the rubber hose that would ring a bell when you drive over it.  One of the other things this station had was a compressed air hose that ran to the outside of the building and offered free compressed air to any passer by so they could fill up their tires as needed.   Normally it just had a very simple tire chuck on the end that would connect to the Schrader valve on your car tire.  This station is still there, they no longer sell gas, and they have also removed the bell ringing air hose that runs outside.  If you need a tire filled now, you have to either catch them during normal business hours or move on to the next gas station and hope they have some form of compressed air available.

The full service gas stations for the most part have been replaced by gas stations with convenience stores attached.   They carry more junk food than they do products for your car and they have no need to own or operate an air compressor.   Their customers still have that need though so there are now small stand alone compressed air stations.   These range from small shoebox sized units that you pay a few quarters for, up to the unit I noticed today while filling up my car.

Standalone air compressed for tire inflation.
Standalone air compressed for tire inflation.

This unit takes credit cards, regulates the compressed air to the user selected pressure, and all you have to do is hook it to your cars valve stem.  This is far from free, and the reason is, compressed air is a costly utility.  If you don’t believe us when we repeatedly talk about how much money you can save on compressed air by installing our engineered compressed air nozzles, Super Air Amplifiers or Super Air Knives (among others), then accept a challenge from me.  Contact an EXAIR Application Engineer to discuss any point of use compressed air applications that you have in your facility.   While you are waiting to get the in stock, shipped same day, Intelligent Compressed Air Products® received, monitor your compressed air use and the energy use on your compressor.  Install the EXAIR products once you receive them and continue to monitor your air and energy consumption.   If you don’t see a decrease within these two areas, call me and return the items.   We honor a 30 day guarantee on stock products just so you can make sure you are saving air, and getting the best performance out of your compressed air system.

Brian Farno
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

HE LIVES!!!! …And His Name Is Freshie

Published on by Lee EvansLeave a comment

Freshie 2

At long last I finally dove back into my A4.  Armed with my premonition from a dream and a deep desire to hear the engine purr, I set out to find the source of the awful noise and dead misfire.

With the noise coming out of the right bank, I started by taking off the valve cover on that side.  Per my dream, I checked the clearance between the intake cam and the lifters, but it was to no avail as everything was within tolerance.  I did notice (through luck) that the engine had stopped PERFECTLY on Top Dead Center for cylinder 1.  My exhaust cam on bank one, which is driven by the timing belt, was dead on the money.  Perfect.  My intake cam, however, looked a little off.

Chain Links

So, as the timing procedure outlines, I checked the number of chain links between the intake and exhaust cams (see photo above) and realized I was at 14 links rather than 16.  Boom!  That solved the misfire concern.  But what about the noise???

I thought to myself that regardless of what the noise may be, I had found something that had to be corrected.  The course forward would be to re-time the cams on bank two, check compression, and reevaluate.  And that’s exactly what I set out to do.

I removed the bearing caps for the intake cam and compressed the cam chain tensioner hoping to have enough wiggle room to make the needed adjustment.  I didn’t.  Then I loosened the exhaust cam, but still no dice.  Ultimately the timing belt, cam gear, and timing cover (behind the cam gear) came off to make the correction.

With the cams out I decided to check the lifters again for good measure.  What I found was an intake lifter on cylinder two that did NOT want to move.  This was the area with the noise!!  With a little persuasion the lifter came free and I found debris (almost like a dried up engine sludge) between the lifter and the bore in which it travels.  It wasn’t much debris, but it was enough to prevent the lifter from freely traveling.  Boom!  Here was my noise!!!!!!  I cleaned all the contact surfaces, lubricated them with new oil, and confirmed there were no more restrictions.

At midnight I was finally ready to hit the key, and to my delight the engine was quiet as a mouse once the lifters pumped up.  Needless to say I’m very happy to have the A4 road ready.  And, with the all-wheel drive drivetrain, I can weather through the snow to EXAIR for your application needs all winter long.

Lee Evans
Application Engineer
LeeEvans@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_LE

Also, about the name – I acquired a VW Jetta much in the same way I came to own this A4.  When I towed the Jetta home my son saw the crunch in one of the fenders and named the car “Crunchy”.  This one, being very clean and sporty, has been named “Freshie”.  Because he’s fresh.

I’m Back! But My A4 Isn’t…Commence Troubleshooting

Published on by Lee EvansLeave a comment

Last week I enjoyed the company of Airtec Servicios, Dansar Industries, and Global Automation (EXAIR’s distributors in Mexico and parts of South America).  We met in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, for an EXAIR training event that covered all topics of EXAIR products.

Following my return to the States, I dug into a project at home that I’ve been working on here-and-there; my 98 Audi A4.  In an earlier blog post I showed the damage done to the cylinder head when a valve-train component failed and a few valves were bent.  After rebuilding the cylinder heads on a bench here at EXAIR, I finally got the engine back together and hit the key for the first time since I bought the car.

Fortunately, the valve timing was perfect and the engine fired right up.  Unfortunately, however, was the terrible knock from the bottom half of the engine – the half I left untouched during the initial repair.  (See image below for my feeling on the issue)

Lie_down_try_not_to_cry_cry_a_lot_cleaned_525Now I’m faced with a dilemma of the best course to take, and after chewing it over, I’ve decided to open up the bottom half of the engine and make the repair.  The most likely cause for the noise is a defective wrist pin or connecting rod.  When I open it up, I’ll be sure to take pics and share for those interested. I had thought repairing the top half of the engine would make the fix because most of the time that is the case. Similarly, we occasionally experience reduced performance in our Reversible Drum Vac. Most of the time (I’d speculate 95%-99%) a simple cleaning is all that is needed (see video demonstration here) because this product has no moving parts there is little to go wrong. Occasionally it is another issue that is causing reduced performance; for these times we have the Reversible Drum Vac troubleshooting guide:

lit6203-Reversible Drum Vac Troubleshooting

So, sometime soon I’ll run through the next troubleshooting steps for the engine in the A4. If you need help troubleshooting an EXAIR product or a compressed air application, please contact EXAIR.

In the meantime, the A4 is relaxing, hanging loose at home – and I am too.  Mexico was wonderful, and the people were more than kind.  But, it feels good to be home.

Lee Evans
Application Engineer
LeeEvans@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_LE

Testing A Freeze Out Valve

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

I recently had a customer contact me about an application where they were testing freeze out valves that go on the exterior of a locomotive.  The valve would be holding back about 45 psi of water in the pipe, and should open when the valve temperature reaches 35°F.  This would be used to keep any of the coolant / water lines from freezing during outdoor storage.

Mechanical Thermostat

The customer was using a chemical spray to freeze the mechanical thermostat and test that the valve opens.  Recently, an operator that was testing the valve used the wrong chemical and was hospitalized due to exposure so they decided it was time to change their testing method.

The customer purchased a Cold Gun Aircoolant System from our website, however, their compressed air temperature was 85-90°F and the Cold Gun is preset for a 50°F temperature drop at 100 PSIG inlet pressure. This means it wouldn’t quite reach the 35°F target reliably. Fortunately, EXAIR has a number of cooling products to cover an wide array of applications and our Adjustable Spot Cooler fit the application well since it can be adjusted to achieve much colder temperatures, up to a 100°F temperature drop from compressed air temperature.

EXAIR performed a test for the customer with the 25 SCFM generator installed and operated at 100 psig inlet pressure.   The valve was kept at a room temperature of 71°F and the compressed air inlet temperature was approximately 72°F.  The result was the valve would open in just under a minute.  This was even faster than the chemical test and it is adjustable to allow for the variance in the ambient temps. Success!

If you have any questions about how to use an Adjustable Spot Cooler in your application, please let me know.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF