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screen printing => Equipment => Topic started by: alan802 on December 02, 2011, 11:46:07 AM
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The old american texair is giving us fits today. It starts up normally and runs for a few minutes and heats up then just shuts down and throws the alarm. I've handled a number of issues with this dryer on my own and I don't know if I just don't have the stomach to do it today or if I've finally run into something I can't handle. We were just getting back ahead of schedule now this. I'm convinced we need a new dryer, with as many jobs as we've done over the past 6 months, I believe we are going to continue this growth and we can't be down like this. Plus this dryer is gas and electric with 4 radiant panels so I know this thing has to be an electricity hog. Our electricity bill for this building is over $1100 a month with maybe 1000-1200 sq/ft of it being air conditioned. I wish I knew for sure how much this dryer was costing us a month in electricity, but I've never sat down and tried to figure it out. Guess I better do that soon.
This dryer is electrically complicated to me, you open the panel and it's 20 miles of wires that looks like a birds nest, it's very intimidating. I do believe we've got a gas flow, maybe an air flow problem here and I hope it's not electric. And there are so many contactors, gas/air valves and things to go down on this dryer I don't know where to even start. Not motivated to F with this F'er today, Friday's are supposed to be trouble free and easy. FML
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Man that sucks. There are so many other problems we can work around to get a job out the door but when the dryer is down your just F'd. Hope you get it handled quickly.
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Alan,
Contact Winston Strickland. He is your man. I do not have his number on me but I have posted it many times. It is a 904 number.
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The old american texair is giving us fits today. It starts up normally and runs for a few minutes and heats up then just shuts down and throws the alarm. I've handled a number of issues with this dryer on my own and I don't know if I just don't have the stomach to do it today or if I've finally run into something I can't handle. We were just getting back ahead of schedule now this. I'm convinced we need a new dryer, with as many jobs as we've done over the past 6 months, I believe we are going to continue this growth and we can't be down like this. Plus this dryer is gas and electric with 4 radiant panels so I know this thing has to be an electricity hog. Our electricity bill for this building is over $1100 a month with maybe 1000-1200 sq/ft of it being air conditioned. I wish I knew for sure how much this dryer was costing us a month in electricity, but I've never sat down and tried to figure it out. Guess I better do that soon.
This dryer is electrically complicated to me, you open the panel and it's 20 miles of wires that looks like a birds nest, it's very intimidating. I do believe we've got a gas flow, maybe an air flow problem here and I hope it's not electric. And there are so many contactors, gas/air valves and things to go down on this dryer I don't know where to even start. Not motivated to F with this F'er today, Friday's are supposed to be trouble free and easy. FML
do you have any type of schematic for it? I can try to walk you through few things.
(I'll be on the road for an hour, if you need to reach me call the office and they'll give you my cell number)
pierre
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might be time to upgrade or rebuild.
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My Air Jet has gone down a few times. I've learned to keep a spare around. I keep
an older American Phoenix electric stashed away in the corner. If my main goes down,
at least I can wheel the standby out and hook it up in a few minutes. It might be slower,
but at least I'm not stopped completely.
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I have a large electric 3 phase dryer and have had only a few probs, start with the fuses then check the connections on the panels. I have had those two problems before... could be worth a try.
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Alan,
Contact Winston Strickland. He is your man. I do not have his number on me but I have posted it many times. It is a 904 number.
I called him the last time our dryer went down and left a message and he never got back to me, but I might try again. I've got a call out to A.W.T. and I will probably call Rich as well.
I have the wiring diagram Pierre, so I might be calling you in a bit. It's never acted quite like this. It's never just fired up and ran for a little bit then failed. It either fails in the very beginning or not at all so this is a new one on me. I wish I could tell if maybe there is a gas flow problem, but there is no gauge of any kind to read. I just think it's an air/gas mixture issue, maybe a starvation or excessive flow problem. Kind of weird that it started this today, with it being 100% humidity, cold and raining, but that might be reaching to think it's weather related. But this thing has always been finicky with air circulation so it's not too far fetched to think it could be atmospheric related. It hasn't rained like this during working hours in at least 18 months.
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Looking into doing the same Doug, having two of everything ain't a bad idea in this industry.
Alan; I can pretty much guarantee that it is a gas issue, and likely with the flame verification circuit. Can you visibly see the flame? If so, verify that it extingushes right at the moment and not before the alarm kicks on. This tells you that the system is getting gas and air as it is supposed to, but the flame checker is malfunctioning. They are touchy instruments. In near your combustion chamber, next to the spark plug that ignites the flame is another plug with a long rod. This is the flame rod that sends an electric signal to the controls to let them know that the flame is in fact lit. It's a very high voltage signal and any fraying or heat damage to the wire can cause issues. Check the flame rod itself for damage as well.
Also, if you aren't able to correct the issue with the gas side, you can jump power over to the electric temp controller side (normally shut off unless the gas side is on and operating) and limp along that way. Shut off your gas if you do this.
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Alan,
Contact Winston Strickland. He is your man. I do not have his number on me but I have posted it many times. It is a 904 number.
I called him the last time our dryer went down and left a message and he never got back to me, but I might try again. I've got a call out to A.W.T. and I will probably call Rich as well.
I have the wiring diagram Pierre, so I might be calling you in a bit. It's never acted quite like this. It's never just fired up and ran for a little bit then failed. It either fails in the very beginning or not at all so this is a new one on me. I wish I could tell if maybe there is a gas flow problem, but there is no gauge of any kind to read. I just think it's an air/gas mixture issue, maybe a starvation or excessive flow problem. Kind of weird that it started this today, with it being 100% humidity, cold and raining, but that might be reaching to think it's weather related. But this thing has always been finicky with air circulation so it's not too far fetched to think it could be atmospheric related. It hasn't rained like this during working hours in at least 18 months.
email me the diagram please. You should have a multimeter, if you do not have one, run out and get the cheapest on you can find.
pierre
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Alan,
Contact Winston Strickland. He is your man. I do not have his number on me but I have posted it many times. It is a 904 number.
I called him the last time our dryer went down and left a message and he never got back to me, but I might try again. I've got a call out to A.W.T. and I will probably call Rich as well.
I have the wiring diagram Pierre, so I might be calling you in a bit. It's never acted quite like this. It's never just fired up and ran for a little bit then failed. It either fails in the very beginning or not at all so this is a new one on me. I wish I could tell if maybe there is a gas flow problem, but there is no gauge of any kind to read. I just think it's an air/gas mixture issue, maybe a starvation or excessive flow problem. Kind of weird that it started this today, with it being 100% humidity, cold and raining, but that might be reaching to think it's weather related. But this thing has always been finicky with air circulation so it's not too far fetched to think it could be atmospheric related. It hasn't rained like this during working hours in at least 18 months.
email me the diagram please. You should have a multimeter, if you do not have one, run out and get the cheapest on you can find.
pierre
I've got to figure out a way to get it to you, it's a 3'x3' sheet of paper right now so let me get it into a format I can send to you. It looks like freaking chinese arithmetic to me.
Looking into doing the same Doug, having two of everything ain't a bad idea in this industry.
Alan; I can pretty much guarantee that it is a gas issue, and likely with the flame verification circuit. Can you visibly see the flame? If so, verify that it extingushes right at the moment and not before the alarm kicks on. This tells you that the system is getting gas and air as it is supposed to, but the flame checker is malfunctioning. They are touchy instruments. In near your combustion chamber, next to the spark plug that ignites the flame is another plug with a long rod. This is the flame rod that sends an electric signal to the controls to let them know that the flame is in fact lit. It's a very high voltage signal and any fraying or heat damage to the wire can cause issues. Check the flame rod itself for damage as well.
Also, if you aren't able to correct the issue with the gas side, you can jump power over to the electric temp controller side (normally shut off unless the gas side is on and operating) and limp along that way. Shut off your gas if you do this.
Last time the dryer went down I replaced that rod with a new one, but that didn't turn out to be the issue but I left it in there. The flame and the alarm are going out and off right about the same time, they are happening almost simultaneously but not exactly. The flame is going out a split second before the alarm sounds, but the alarm doesn't always function properly so I don't trust it. When looking through the glass you can see that rod tip glowing, but it takes it a while to start glowing, I wonder if it should be glowing right away or if it does take a while?
Just got off the phone with American tech support and have a few things to try. He told me to find the air valve with copper tubing coming out of it and make sure the tubing isn't clogged, and I can adjust the amount of air flow by adjusting a screw, so I'm going out and doing that right now, as soon as I find that part he's talking about. I know exactly where the little copper tubes are inside the dryer so I'll just follow them back to the gas piping. Thanks guys for all the help.
Pierre, I've got my artist working on getting you that diagram.
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When is the last time it was cleaned out.. I mean on the exhaust side. Lint can build up on fan blades and squirrel cage blowers that can reduce the air flow, when that happens the gas mixture is to rich and won't ignite from lack of air and cause a failure. Check your exhaust stack, get on the roof and shine a flashlight in there.
This was the problem with the dryer at my last shop.. due to waterbase prints and 'moist' lint, it built up on the cage blower and reduced the air flow so much that the flame couldn't light. We cleaned it and it was like a brand new dryer again.
A note on heat panels, they usually don't go out or burn up.. the wires that connect them and those points of connection, are what fail. I just recovered my dead dryer panel by simply refreshing up the crispy element ends, attaching new leads and I have a fully functioning panel again.
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take a hi res picture of it and email it.
I used to work as an industrial electrician, but that was decades ago. So, while I know my way around the schematics, 'no promises as to how much I'll be able to help. I will try though!
pierre
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Alan,
Contact Winston Strickland. He is your man. I do not have his number on me but I have posted it many times. It is a 904 number.
I called him the last time our dryer went down and left a message and he never got back to me, but I might try again. I've got a call out to A.W.T. and I will probably call Rich as well.
I have the wiring diagram Pierre, so I might be calling you in a bit. It's never acted quite like this. It's never just fired up and ran for a little bit then failed. It either fails in the very beginning or not at all so this is a new one on me. I wish I could tell if maybe there is a gas flow problem, but there is no gauge of any kind to read. I just think it's an air/gas mixture issue, maybe a starvation or excessive flow problem. Kind of weird that it started this today, with it being 100% humidity, cold and raining, but that might be reaching to think it's weather related. But this thing has always been finicky with air circulation so it's not too far fetched to think it could be atmospheric related. It hasn't rained like this during working hours in at least 18 months.
email me the diagram please. You should have a multimeter, if you do not have one, run out and get the cheapest on you can find.
pierre
I've got to figure out a way to get it to you, it's a 3'x3' sheet of paper right now so let me get it into a format I can send to you. It looks like freaking chinese arithmetic to me.
Looking into doing the same Doug, having two of everything ain't a bad idea in this industry.
Alan; I can pretty much guarantee that it is a gas issue, and likely with the flame verification circuit. Can you visibly see the flame? If so, verify that it extingushes right at the moment and not before the alarm kicks on. This tells you that the system is getting gas and air as it is supposed to, but the flame checker is malfunctioning. They are touchy instruments. In near your combustion chamber, next to the spark plug that ignites the flame is another plug with a long rod. This is the flame rod that sends an electric signal to the controls to let them know that the flame is in fact lit. It's a very high voltage signal and any fraying or heat damage to the wire can cause issues. Check the flame rod itself for damage as well.
Also, if you aren't able to correct the issue with the gas side, you can jump power over to the electric temp controller side (normally shut off unless the gas side is on and operating) and limp along that way. Shut off your gas if you do this.
Last time the dryer went down I replaced that rod with a new one, but that didn't turn out to be the issue but I left it in there. The flame and the alarm are going out and off right about the same time, they are happening almost simultaneously but not exactly. The flame is going out a split second before the alarm sounds, but the alarm doesn't always function properly so I don't trust it. When looking through the glass you can see that rod tip glowing, but it takes it a while to start glowing, I wonder if it should be glowing right away or if it does take a while?
Just got off the phone with American tech support and have a few things to try. He told me to find the air valve with copper tubing coming out of it and make sure the tubing isn't clogged, and I can adjust the amount of air flow by adjusting a screw, so I'm going out and doing that right now, as soon as I find that part he's talking about. I know exactly where the little copper tubes are inside the dryer so I'll just follow them back to the gas piping. Thanks guys for all the help.
Pierre, I've got my artist working on getting you that diagram.
I left you e-mails about this. Give me a call and I will get you back up. I used to build them at Advance.
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Alright, I'm covered in lint, actually ate some as well. It's been operating for 30 minutes no fails, I've got to run a quick little job and I'll get back on here to let you know what I did. Rich, sorry I haven't been at my desk much this afternoon, when it fails again, which I'm certain it will, I'll call you on your cell.
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I was going to say lint. At the old shop I worked at this was an occasional issue with the American dryer we had. Keeping the blowers, etc clean and lubed was essential.
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Alright, I'm covered in lint, actually ate some as well. It's been operating for 30 minutes no fails, I've got to run a quick little job and I'll get back on here to let you know what I did. Rich, sorry I haven't been at my desk much this afternoon, when it fails again, which I'm certain it will, I'll call you on your cell.
Just an FYI. Some of the first Tex-Air dryers were insulated with some nasty stuff. Use proper respirator just to be safe!
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Well, I came up to the shop on Saturday and sucked up some lint from inside the machine, there really wasn't much there since I had done that a few months back when we last had dryer problems. It failed about 5 times this morning but because I am more stubborn than the dryer, I just kept firing it up and it's ran since 9am without any failures. I don't know what is causing the problem, but I'm going to call Rich and Winston when I get a good window of time. We're almost caught up from Friday's disaster.
If this would have happened just a few weeks ago, when we were printing 7-10 jobs a day, we would have been royally screwed. This could not have happened at a better time, someone is looking down on us, maybe the old man who built this company from scratch. Thursday we had finally gotten about 2 days ahead of schedule where I like to be so we can turn around a rush or something special in a day and wow a new customer or something like that.
On a related note, this dryer just turned 20 years old, and due to the electricity costs to run it along with overall inefficiency that I think this dryer has compared to new ones, we are going to seriously move forward with buying a new dryer. Our gas bill is averaging about $200 with electricity for this building around $1100. I think the dryer is making up about half of that $1100, maybe a little less but there is no telling. We run the IR panels really hot so we can run the auto full speed so I'd like to find out what the dryer pulls just on it's own in electricity. Can anyone tell me by looking at these numbers I list how much more efficient a new dryer will be? 3Phase, 208-240V/60HZ, Radiant Panels Watts=5400, Power Consumption=22KVA, with max current per phase=53amps. I don't know the relationship those numbers have with overall power consumption and how much the new dryers will be using. I do know that lot's of things have changed for the better since this dryer was built in 1992, so hopefully textile dryers have as well.
I'd like a 60" or more, 12' heat and at least 5' infeed and outfeed. With the current growth that we've experienced over the last 5 years, we'll need another auto in about 18-24 months.
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I would assume gas would be way cheaper.
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Well, I came up to the shop on Saturday and sucked up some lint from inside the machine, there really wasn't much there since I had done that a few months back when we last had dryer problems. It failed about 5 times this morning but because I am more stubborn than the dryer, I just kept firing it up and it's ran since 9am without any failures. I don't know what is causing the problem, but I'm going to call Rich and Winston when I get a good window of time. We're almost caught up from Friday's disaster.
If this would have happened just a few weeks ago, when we were printing 7-10 jobs a day, we would have been royally screwed. This could not have happened at a better time, someone is looking down on us, maybe the old man who built this company from scratch. Thursday we had finally gotten about 2 days ahead of schedule where I like to be so we can turn around a rush or something special in a day and wow a new customer or something like that.
On a related note, this dryer just turned 20 years old, and due to the electricity costs to run it along with overall inefficiency that I think this dryer has compared to new ones, we are going to seriously move forward with buying a new dryer. Our gas bill is averaging about $200 with electricity for this building around $1100. I think the dryer is making up about half of that $1100, maybe a little less but there is no telling. We run the IR panels really hot so we can run the auto full speed so I'd like to find out what the dryer pulls just on it's own in electricity. Can anyone tell me by looking at these numbers I list how much more efficient a new dryer will be? 3Phase, 208-240V/60HZ, Radiant Panels Watts=5400, Power Consumption=22KVA, with max current per phase=53amps. I don't know the relationship those numbers have with overall power consumption and how much the new dryers will be using. I do know that lot's of things have changed for the better since this dryer was built in 1992, so hopefully textile dryers have as well.
I'd like a 60" or more, 12' heat and at least 5' infeed and outfeed. With the current growth that we've experienced over the last 5 years, we'll need another auto in about 18-24 months.
I am sure somebody like Rich will have much better numbers, but my guess (and this is only a GUESS) would be you are using about $1.50 per hour on electric. It could be anywhere from $1.00 to $2.00 depending on the cost of electricity, dryer efficiency and how much heat is generated by the gas. My understanding is that an efficient big dryer should be in the same price range, but you would be eliminating the gas bill from your cost. Or you could say that your gas bill would stay the same and the electric part would go away.
A friend of mine is running a large gas dryer and he says it costs him about $500 per month. New high efficiency dryers should use half that. Can anybody here give us better numbers?
pierre
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New dryers run between $1-$1.50 for gas, depending on what you are paying. Electricity on a gas dryer isn't much, but it's there still.
I would check out the interchange MD-8. Go longer that you think you will need. The IR bump panels wouldn't be a bad move either.
Or gas bill here is around $300 a month, including all of the extra fees. I just signed with a new company that should lower it by around $30 a month.
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Id be a poor example of gas use because we dont print daily. But I haven' t noticed a huge increase in gas bill if that tells you anything.
I thought Sam or someone said it was $.85 per hour for them on their M&R Dryer.
Obviously this depends on gas rates and such.
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Well, I came up to the shop on Saturday and sucked up some lint from inside the machine, there really wasn't much there since I had done that a few months back when we last had dryer problems. It failed about 5 times this morning but because I am more stubborn than the dryer, I just kept firing it up and it's ran since 9am without any failures. I don't know what is causing the problem, but I'm going to call Rich and Winston when I get a good window of time. We're almost caught up from Friday's disaster.
If this would have happened just a few weeks ago, when we were printing 7-10 jobs a day, we would have been royally screwed. This could not have happened at a better time, someone is looking down on us, maybe the old man who built this company from scratch. Thursday we had finally gotten about 2 days ahead of schedule where I like to be so we can turn around a rush or something special in a day and wow a new customer or something like that.
On a related note, this dryer just turned 20 years old, and due to the electricity costs to run it along with overall inefficiency that I think this dryer has compared to new ones, we are going to seriously move forward with buying a new dryer. Our gas bill is averaging about $200 with electricity for this building around $1100. I think the dryer is making up about half of that $1100, maybe a little less but there is no telling. We run the IR panels really hot so we can run the auto full speed so I'd like to find out what the dryer pulls just on it's own in electricity. Can anyone tell me by looking at these numbers I list how much more efficient a new dryer will be? 3Phase, 208-240V/60HZ, Radiant Panels Watts=5400, Power Consumption=22KVA, with max current per phase=53amps. I don't know the relationship those numbers have with overall power consumption and how much the new dryers will be using. I do know that lot's of things have changed for the better since this dryer was built in 1992, so hopefully textile dryers have as well.
I'd like a 60" or more, 12' heat and at least 5' infeed and outfeed. With the current growth that we've experienced over the last 5 years, we'll need another auto in about 18-24 months.
The new Sprint will be about 1/3 the cost in energy and about 100% faster.
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The new breed of gas dryers are great...period.
Rich, if I wanted to add a section to our dryer(it's an MD-8) would it be better to add more gas, or an IR panel? Just wanted your opinion.
I am thinking of doing gas so I don't have to run electric and that leaves me more electric for flashes and other goodies.
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Can't speak 100 % about Interchange but on our dryer its definitely better to add gas
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That is what I was thinking.
I think the basics of the dryers are very similar from what I understand.
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That is what I was thinking.
I think the basics of the dryers are very similar from what I understand.
Actually the only thing the same is they are modular and run on gas. That is where it ends. We may cost more but I think we are way worth it when it comes to gas consumption per piece and consistent temperature throughout the dryer.
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Hi Alan! I hope your up and running,If not maybe we can get to the botttom of the problem.
A dryer regardless of age, and has been properly maintained will operate trouble free as designed.There
are better built dryers and dryers that one could say not as good. All dryers new or used should conform
to the National Fire Protection Standard 86 for Ovens and Furnace. Period! With that being said we will assume
That all safetys are operational. Per law these are what is required on any dryer, one of the failing safteys is what
stops most dryers. #1 Airflow switch (found on main blower,exhaust blower) They close on proof of air being
detected in the little tube. These get clogged or sometimes are not pointed directly in to air flow and can be intermitant. #2 Low gas pressure (not enough gas to keep the flame lit.) #3 High gas pressure ( This shuts off
if to much gas rapidly enters the burner). #4 Hi Temp Limit Switch ( This stops the dryer if you dryer goes over temp. Runaway flame/ element #5 Flame out ( it means you flame rod or UV scanner senses loss of flame. Do not
under any circumstances operate a dryer without these in place. These five items is what usually stops or shut down a dryer 99% 0f the time. Lack of maintance or a loose wire is what the usual reason, then conponent failure,
melted wire, cracks in the ignition wire,etc. If these are taken care of your dryer will run trouble free. If it is a new dryer then it should run trouble free until the lack of maintance kicks in.Always have schematic available before you need them. Your machine will always fail when you need it most(murphy's law). I forgot#6 Belt sensor( if applicable). As far as cost to run, This is easy to figure out as long as you estimate the amount of energy needed
to run your dryer per hour on you normal production gas or electric. These rates vary upon location and sometimes
include "other charges" Such as demand, school board taxes, bail europe out taxes,etc... Know you cost. There is
nothing new under the sun, as far as technology goes! Sure there are features,bells and whistles etc. If you can afford new? Buy new! If not you can improve your current dryer buy adding a few "bells and whistles" For not alot
of time and money, that will improve efficiency, and lower operating cost. It is not magic! What ever you do, make
an informed decision, and you should be happy printing t-shirts. Keep it simple!
winston strickland
(904)3430848
winstric@yahoo.com
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As a reference to cost.
To run a Heatwave R @ 365 and run waterbase discharge all day, the gas was $80 a month.
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Hi Alan!
How is the dryer?
winston
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It's been running fine. I did burn out another contactor on the radiant panel. I think that this time one of the wires had worked it's way loose and caused the problem, where in the past it was burning those out because of the temp controller. I replaced the temp controller for the radiant panels about a year ago and it hasn't burned a contactor until this week, and it was doing it at least quarterly before. There are quite a few wires that are looking suspect and a lot of them could be re-wired and have new connections put on, but that could take a lot of time.
I appreciate all your help Winston. If anyone wants to know anything and everything about dryers, Winston is the man. Every time I got off the phone with him I told the guys I work with how much smarter I was for having that conversation. I feel lucky that I've got about 4 industry guys that I can call all at anytime and just sit back and listen and learn, I'm privileged. I love getting off the phone having learned a ton, and that happened every time I talked to Winston.
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It's been running fine. I did burn out another contactor on the radiant panel. I think that this time one of the wires had worked it's way loose and caused the problem, where in the past it was burning those out because of the temp controller. I replaced the temp controller for the radiant panels about a year ago and it hasn't burned a contactor until this week, and it was doing it at least quarterly before. There are quite a few wires that are looking suspect and a lot of them could be re-wired and have new connections put on, but that could take a lot of time.
I appreciate all your help Winston. If anyone wants to know anything and everything about dryers, Winston is the man. Every time I got off the phone with him I told the guys I work with how much smarter I was for having that conversation. I feel lucky that I've got about 4 industry guys that I can call all at anytime and just sit back and listen and learn, I'm privileged. I love getting off the phone having learned a ton, and that happened every time I talked to Winston.
older machinery utilizing contractors can be easily made more reliable with Solid State Relays {my 2 cents}
do you have a phone number for Winston?
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City Machine, your 2 cents is very good advice!
winston
(904)3430848
winstric@yahoo.com
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Equipment knowledge has never been his problem, more of a behavior issue. ;)
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There are numerous advantages to SSRs, but they are more sensitive to the heat than regular contractors. Ask me how I know! Good heat sink and airflow over it are a must.
Pierre
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There are numerous advantages to SSRs, but they are more sensitive to the heat than regular contractors. Ask me how I know! Good heat sink and airflow over it are a must.
Pierre
The airflow might be a problem. It get's so damn hot inside that compartment. I take the panel off in the summertime because things start melting in there during the summer months. There is a fan that blows the hot air out but it's not enough. The air coming from that compartment is 180+ degrees when it's really hot.
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There are numerous advantages to SSRs, but they are more sensitive to the heat than regular contractors. Ask me how I know! Good heat sink and airflow over it are a must.
Pierre
The airflow might be a problem. It get's so damn hot inside that compartment. I take the panel off in the summertime because things start melting in there during the summer months. There is a fan that blows the hot air out but it's not enough. The air coming from that compartment is 180+ degrees when it's really hot.
Mount the SSR's in a separate fan cooled enclosure ??
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There are numerous advantages to SSRs, but they are more sensitive to the heat than regular contractors. Ask me how I know! Good heat sink and airflow over it are a must.
Pierre
The airflow might be a problem. It get's so damn hot inside that compartment. I take the panel off in the summertime because things start melting in there during the summer months. There is a fan that blows the hot air out but it's not enough. The air coming from that compartment is 180+ degrees when it's really hot.
I run an old American, and when my original control panel fan failed, I replaced it with one with more oomph, figuring that it could only help.
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Pierre & Alan Great Post!
Heat Is the enemy for electrical controls.
Airflow with CLEAN air is critical. (keep filters clean, spray adhesive free)
Most (not all) industrial controls are only rated at about 125 degrees F.
It can be a real problem in a shop setting where the ambient temp in the
shop is over 100 degrees with no machines running. The controls can go haywire!
Turn on a dryer, a few flashes and its over 125 degrees easy. In most shops(not all)
it is not uncommon to see fans in control cabinets full of lint and spray adhesive, and
sometimes the fans have burned out long ago. It surprises me that some of these machines
are running at all. Regular maintanance and lots of clean airflow, and most important, a clean
shop, will go a long way! Machines, no matter the brand, will always fail or give problems,
when you need them the most, have no spare parts, 5 pm on a friday or holiday eve, the
shirts are due tomorrow morning for a dated concert that night, the customer is calling every
hour, to see how you are doing? And remind you that they can't pay you unless, the shirts
make it on time. You need the profits, to pay the utility bill that is waaaaay passed due, your
employee is asking for a raise, you are broke, the lease company is threating to ruin your already bad credit. And you tell them, that you had no idea that the shirts that you sub, sub,sub contracted printed for 25 cents with the fish design for Walmart, and your getting
"Charge Backed" after 1 year, because some artist in Florida went viral on the internet with
your proud print, that is some how washing out!
MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!
winston
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Putting it somewhere else would work. But something tells me I shouldn't spend too much time and effort on this old gal...I put the old dryer on craigslist last week to see if there was any interest in it, and I've got zero replies for it. Sure, it's old and it's going to go down a few times a year but after talking to Winston, there really isn't much to this thing. Maybe we'll keep it and wait for someone to come around and buy it, but I'd like to at least get a few thousand for it to buy some mesh and frames.
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Knowing when to walk away from a piece of equipment is hard. I tend to renovate everything, so I can't give any good advice about that.
If anyone is interested in replacing their contactors with SSR's I have done this myself. Heat is a big issue. But that is easy to deal with if you use oversize heat sinks. That might sound complicated, but solid state relay assemblies are available with all of the components required to replace a contactor. Here is a link to the company that supplied the SSR assembly for my American Phoenix Turbo dryer. http://www.power-io.com/library/appnotes/solid-state-relay-terminology.htm (http://www.power-io.com/library/appnotes/solid-state-relay-terminology.htm) These SSR assemblies have held up well. They are silent. No more clunking of the contactor! I'm just a garage printer now and I appreciate leaving my door up in the summer without annoying the neighbors and I can listen to my tunes un distracted. Wish my OEM contactor had failed years ago.
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I hope everyone realizes City Machines is you know who, and is creating a stink on the other board. Just saying
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Really? A post by the infamous one :)
Ignore the man behind the curtain.
SSR's are designed for quick cycling. I tend to run my dryer at the upper end of it's capabilities and the dryer does cycle quickly. Contactors don't like that much. I do not expect to ever replace my SSR assemblies. If you need to replace a contactor why not spend just a little more and have the quietest and most reliable alternative?