Tag: winter

Freebies! EXAIR AC Sensor Pens Are IN!

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Here at EXAIR we always have a promotion going. This time of the year, static electricity is running rampant. I know over the weekend at my youngest daughter’s basketball game, I wished I had a Gen4 Ionizing Bar to knock down the static on the dry-fit coaching shirt I had clinging all over myself. Then, oddly enough, I found myself later in the day needing my A/C Sensor pen to check whether an outlet had voltage coming into it because I was going to change the circuit it was operating on.

If your facility has dry ambient conditions right now in these winter months, and you are starting to struggle with sheets clinging together, packaging material clinging to products, or operators complaining of nuisance shocks from aspects of their daily tasks, we have a product that can help. Best of all, we have a promotion to deliver a FREE A/C Sensor pen with any EXAIR Static Eliminator purchase.

Whether you need a fixed solution like the Gen4 Super Ion Air Knife, Intellistat Ion Air Nozzle, or Gen4 Ion Air Cannon, maybe you need something that can travel from one workstation to another or is handheld like our Gen4 Ion Air Gun Kit, or the Intellistat Ion Air Gun. Maybe you don’t have compressed air available, like I didn’t at the basketball court. As long as you have access to a standard 120 VAC 3 prong US plug or 230 VAC, then you can use one of the Gen4 Ionizing Points, a Gen4 Ionizing Bar, or even the Varistat Bench top Ionizer. See the page at the link below for all the offerings and make sure you use the promotional part numbers to get the free A/C Sensor pen which can be used for electrical troubleshooting for free!

If you aren’t sure which static eliminator is going to be the best fit for your current application, that is what I and the entire Application Engineer team are here for. We all have knowledge and experience with the products and a large variety of backgrounds so that we can help determine the best path forward for you and your team, so contact one of us today.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Let’s Talk About Cooling. Yes, In January.

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Well, we’re right smack dab in the middle of January, and it’s time for the annual reminder (to myself, mainly) that I surrendered my right to complain about the cold when I moved here from Florida (on purpose) some 24 years (and 2 months, 8 days, and a handful of hours) ago.  Not that I’m keeping track.  You can follow this link (and this one, and this one) to some of my former rantings on the subject.

After an admittedly mild December in Ohio, the struggle became real this week.
After an admittedly mild December in Ohio, the struggle became real this week.

But, as the title implies, I AM going to talk about a need for cooling. Of course, no matter how cold it is outside, there are many, many processes in industry that can get quite hot. Here’s one of them:

A company that operates injection molding machinery had a big problem: their machines’ molds were cooled by chilled water, and as they aged, they developed leaks, allowing water into the mold cavities. This, of course, ruined the product. To make things worse, the passages that the chilled water flows through are cast right into the machine body, so permanent repair essentially means that these bodies (the main part of the machinery) have to be replaced, at significant cost.

Last summer, they went looking for alternate methods of cooling, and found our Vortex Tubes. After some experimentation, they determined that (8) Model 3240 Vortex Tubes (2,800 Btu/hr, Maximum Cooling Power) would replicate the cooling previously provided by the chilled water systems.

EXAIR Vortex Tubes are a quick & easy method to get cold air, on demand, wherever you need it. Just like this.
EXAIR Vortex Tubes are a quick & easy method to get cold air, on demand, wherever you need it. Just like this.

They’ve since outfitted all of their injection molding machines with these, and have dodged a very expensive replacement of machinery for the foreseeable future.

If you’d like to find out how an engineered product from EXAIR’s comprehensive line can take the heat off (literally or figuratively) an application you’re struggling with, give us a call.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
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Shocking Credit Cards Costs … In Manufacturing

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

Winter’s weather comes with a variety of problems. I hope that folks in the Northeast get a break from all this snow soon. In Cincinnati we have not had to deal with much precipitation this year, but it has been cold and gloomy for too long. Personally, I am ready for spring to come and to the see the flowers pop up. I’m also tired of the getting shocked every time I pet my dog. Also, his hair that generally falls everywhere is now stuck to the side of couch.

On a more serious note, the dry air of winter can have a significant impact on manufacturing processes. The same static that attracts dog hair to a couch will also attract dust on to a non-conductive substrate like plastic or glass. I was working with a customer this week who manufactures credit cards and gift cards with custom logos. They fell prey to the dry, statically charged air of winter which caused a quality issue during these winter months. To create the promotional cards, the company would first digitally print the logo on a PVC substrate. This substrate is then stacked to await lamination. As they pulled each sheet from the stack, a charge would build up on the surface which would attract any dust in the area. The dust needed to be removed before the last clear layer was applied or it showed up as ugly bumps on the card surface. This dust was nearly impossible to clean off and still maintain a good finish on the PVC substrate. They tried to wipe the material off with soft fabric, but the rubbing only increased the static while moving the dust around, not off the laminate.

1559 before
Laminating station two stacks of PVC substrate in the plastic bins

1559-photo
Laminating Station with the 110036″ Super Ion Air Knife installed

Using an EXAIR Static Meter, part number 7905, the customer measured 19.5 kV/inch on the PVC sheets before lamination. Because of this charge the customer installed a 36″ Super Ion Air Knife, part number 111036, above the lamination station. The operator would pull a sheet from the stack and pass it under the Super Ion Air Knife. After passing under the Super Ion Air Knife the charge on the sheet read 1.3 kV/Inch, and the dust was removed by the air blowing from the Super Air Knife. This dust removal drastically reduced their scrap levels. In the 3 months of winter, it was accepted that they would loss approximately 15% of all the cards they created do to blemishes on the cards. After installing the Air Knives, they only scrapped 3% of the cards they created. This scrap rate was even better than there summer production. The air knives will now be used year round.  The Super Ion Air Knife reduced scrap by 80%! Also, operators no longer tried to clean the dust with cloth, which allowed them to increase their production.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
@EXAIR_DW
DaveWoerner@EXAIR.com

Winter Cold = Static Issues

Published on by exaircorpLeave a comment

Winter is fast approaching us here in Cincinnati, which can mean just about anything, temperature and weather wise. For instance, 2 years ago we had a very mild winter, with warmer than usual temperatures and very little snow. I can remember golfing in December, January and even in to February, which was awesome! But last year however was much different. We experienced a very harsh winter with extreme low temperatures (several -0°F days) and a steady amount of snowfall – I know I felt like I was shoveling the driveway and sidewalk about every 2 days! The weather was so bad that local schools ran out of snow days.

brrr
There’s no stopping winter’s cold, dry air from causing static problems – solve them with our static eliminators!

The lower temperatures mean turning up the heat on the thermostat, which is going to dry out the air. As a result of the dry air, a common problem is ESD (ElectroStatic Discharge) or static electricity. All of us at some point have probably brushed our feet on the carpet to build up a charge, then “reached out and touched someone” to give them a little jolt. While this may seem slightly humorous, the truth is, static electricity can be quite problematic.

Some common static issues:

  • Spark or shocks to personnel
  • Damage to sensitive electrical components
  • Jamming of machines
  • Particulate clinging to the surface of an object
  • Unable to separate sheets or product sticking together

EXAIR offers an extensive catalog of Static Eliminators to eliminate these common issues:

Ion Air Knives – Provides a laminar sheet of high velocity, ionized airflow. Available up to 108” single-piece lengths.

Ionizing Bars – Capable of eliminating surface static within 2” of the bar.

Super Ion Air Wipe – 360° uniform ionized airflow, ideal for ionizing extruded shapes, hose, pipe, cable etc.

Ion Air Cannon – Concentrated ionized airflow, effective up to 15 feet.

Ion Air Gun – Static eliminating, hand-held air gun, allowing easy operation.

Ion Air Jet – Static eliminating spot cleaner, available in permanent or flexible mounting.

Ionizing Point – Single point ionizer, delivering a high concentration of positive and negative ions.

We also offer our Model # 7905 Digital Static Meter, allowing you to pinpoint the source of the static. Capable of reading up to +/- 20 kV with 5% accuracy (+/-) when measured at a distance of 1”.

If you are experiencing a static issue with your process, please contact an application engineer for assistance.

Justin Nicholl
Application Engineer
justinnicholl@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_JN

 

Brrr! image courtesy Neil Turner  Creative Commons License