Tag: weather

Dealing With The Unexpected

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Last year about this time, I used the bully pulpit of my weekly blog to update you on the success of our ninth annual Father’s Day Weekend Campout. If you hadn’t guessed, I’m about to fill you in on how awesome the tenth was, but first:

A fellow Boy Scout leader is fond of saying that, when you camp, the weather is always perfect. It may be perfectly sunny or perfectly rainy. Perfectly warm or perfectly cold. Perfectly wet or perfectly frozen. Regardless, it’s always perfect. Yeah; we don’t always like him.

If we’ve learned one thing, it’s to expect the unexpected. This year, it rained. Well, not the whole time. Friday evening was beautiful…we got the campsite set up and dinner cooked well in advance of sundown. My friend & his son had recently waterproofed their tent, and me & my boys had recently purchased a new tent. Both were successfully, and extensively, leak tested Friday night. And all day Saturday. ALL DAY.

This, of course, put a damper on our plans to zipline, which didn’t exactly bother me. I’m sure it’s a temporary reprieve; I mean, I know darn well what I’m doing next year for Father’s Day Weekend, and it CAN’T rain forever. It also, however, put an unexpected damper on our plans to kayak on Sunday. The weather was gorgeous…and fitting for the first day of summer. It was hot enough to make some horseplay in the river sound downright inviting…but the constant rain over the past week had swelled the river banks, and none of the docks were accessible. So we broke camp and returned home to dry our gear. And to look forward to next year.

As Application Engineers, it’s a big part of our jobs to not just expect, but eliminate the unexpected. At EXAIR, we have an impressive arsenal of tools at hand to do just that. Our Efficiency Lab is fully stocked and outfitted to test any of our products…or yours…for performance and effectiveness. We’ve got a wealth of data in our constantly growing Case Study Library. Our Application Database has over 1,000 instances of what will work in certain situations, and our notes on product returns from our 30 Day Unconditional Guarantee give us information on what WON’T work.

If you’d like to find out how our products…and their capabilities…can work for you, give us a call. I look forward to seeing how we can help.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
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Tell Me More About The Weather

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Last week, all the weather reports indicated that a large snow storm was imminent, and bearing down on us over the weekend. We were told to expect up to a foot of snow and ice over the course of the day on Sunday. When the snow started to fall mid-morning, my son’s Youth League team’s basketball game (scheduled for noon) was cancelled, as were a great many recreational events around town. Not everyone decided to cancel scheduled events, and, as a result, a fine young man’s Eagle Scout Court of Honor that I was invited to was not as well-attended as it should have been. I feel especially bad about that, because I was among the invited guests who erred on the side of caution and decided not to brave the elements. In my defense, there are some hills and curves along the route I’d have taken that are particularly troublesome when wet (or frozen) and it was sleeting at a pretty good clip at the time I’d have had to leave the house.  Still, by the time it was over, the conditions hadn’t panned out nearly as bad as we had been led to believe.

Some could argue that the meteorologists, like me, were erring on the side of safety. Others were more cynical: They took a lot of ribbing on social media and local talk radio about being in cahoots with the grocery stores, who, according to some of the more colorful theories, they had partnered with in order to move an enormous amount of bread, milk, and canned goods off the shelves in a short amount of time.

I want to think that they honestly did the best they could, with the data available to them. I don’t know much at all about meteorology, but it seems to be much too imprecise of a science for my taste…I’m much more comfortable using our test data – some of which I’ve collected myself – to determine the most suitable compressed air product for a particular application. In cases where we can’t quantify an answer using air flow, velocity, force, heat transfer, etc. data, EXAIR has an extensive Application Database (registration required) with over 1,000 published success stories to draw from. If it’s not in there (yet…we add to this a few times a week), EXAIR offers a 30 Day Unconditional Guarantee: we invite you to put any catalog product through its paces for up to a month. We’ll work with you as much as you want in order to make it a successful application (and our track record is pretty impressive, just so you know.) In the end, though, if you’re not completely satisfied, we’ll arrange return for full credit, just like that.

guarantee

I won’t say I’ve never been disappointed when we just couldn’t find a solution, but I’ve always been glad to have tried. If you’ve got an application involving compressed air that you’re willing to give us a shot at, we’d love to hear from you. We can’t tell you anything about the weather, though…

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
(513)671-3322 local
(800)923-9247 toll free
(513)671-3363 fax
Web: www.EXAIR.com
Twitter: twitter.com/exair_rb
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair

EXAIR Static Field Meter, Locating Your Static Problem

Published on by Neal RakerLeave a comment
Static Meter
Model 7905 Digital Static Meter comes with certification of the accuracy and calibration traceable to NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). A hard-shell case and 9 volt battery are also included.

As we finish up 2013 and head into the winter season in the Northern hemisphere, static problems begin to become more prevalent again due to the general lower humidity present in most manufacturing areas.

Some of the resulting symptoms of the static condition are: discharges to personnel, jamming, tearing, discharges to machines and sensors. Finally, discharges within a charged material can also cause blemishes to materials that must have absolute clarity within them. We’ve all been the victim of a nasty static discharge at some point or another. You can have the right tool in using an active static eliminator. But how do you know if you have your static eliminator located in the right position for maximum effectiveness?

That is where the EXAIR Static Meter model 7905 comes into play. This easy to use meter will indicate where the static field(s) are located in their process, how large they are in terms of kV / 1 inch distance from the charged target, and their polarity (+ or -). The meter can make direct readings up to +/- 20 kV at 1 inch distance.

The above pieces of information are handy for knowing where to place static eliminators for any given process. Static cannot be seen directly, and so your best bet for implementing an effective strategy is to utilize the Static Meter so that you can maximize static field reduction and minimize the effects of static re-generation by locating your equipment at the best possible points in the process.

Neal Raker, Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com

Fall, My Favorite Season

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As the sun sets lower in the sky and the daylight hours get shorter, we are reminded of the impending  winter season. The good part is this is the most fun season for me. There are falls festivals and cool nights for good sleeping. You do not have to run the A/C or the furnace and we see the benefit in low utility bills.

Static Eliminator Line

Inevitably “Ole Man Winter” will come and put an end to it all and we will have to turn on the furnace. As we heat the air in our homes and places of business, problems with static electricity emerge. In the production environment static charges can wreak havoc with sensors, conveyors, personnel and other products within your process.

EXAIR has an extensive line of static eliminating products. We have Super Ion Air Knives up to 96″ long to provide a flat sheet of ionized air. For more localized treatment we have the Ion Air Cannon and Ion Air Jet.  For manual application there is the Ion Air Gun.

With all the selections available it may be a bit confusing on which product to select.. That is why we have a team of application engineers ready to assist you. Give them a call at 1-800-903-9247.

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
Phone (513) 671-3322
Fax (513) 671-3363
Web: http://www.exair.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/exair_jp
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair