The decision to replace existing motors with newer premium efficiency motors can be difficult. And, a common mistake made is thinking that buying any new premium efficiency motor will deliver optimal efficiency. This paper discusses how to determine whether to rewind or replace a motor, and how to find the right motor size for the…
Industrial facilities have lots of enclosures housing automation and electrical components, many of which need cooling and heating. We’re going to show you how to pick the right enclosure conditioning system from these leading options: Heaters Fans Heat exchangers Air conditioners Vortex coolers Thermoelectric coolers It’s simpler to heat than cool, so let’s discuss this…
With the number of new and existing PLCs available on the market, it’s pretty difficult to stand out and get noticed. So what do you do? Well, you do what they can’t! And our latest industrial controller, the Productivity2000, delivers what the competition won’t – high performance at a lower cost. So what do I…
Well, don’t forget to check under the hood and see what the software has to offer. After all, hardware is only half of the equation. So, if you are considering the Productivity series of controllers you should be asking yourself, what is Productivity Suite and what does it offer? To help answer that, the following…
Object detection is sensing if an object is in proximity or not – that’s it, you get an ON or an OFF signal. A more advanced object detection function involves measuring the actual distance of an object from the sensing point. Ultrasonic sensors and laser distance sensors are commonly used to measure how far away…
September 23, 2015 – AutomationDirect has expanded their offering of RUKO cutting tools to include additional high-speed steel jobber length drill bits in fractional sizes ranging from 1/16-inch to 1/2-inch, internal and external thread chasers, knockout punch kits, grinders and more. Available in single pieces and in sets, RUKO cutting tools are backed with a…
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DIY Halloween Pneumatic Props
Halloween will sneak up before you know it. So have you started planning your creepy, scary, or horrifyingly haunting Halloween props yet? If not, take a look at our three Halloween YouTube videos that I’m sure will scare…I mean…inspire you. Each video below explains how to build a DIY Halloween pneumatic creation step by step….
During the summer of 2015, while many Scouts were going to traditional summer camps, a group of Scouts from the Twin Rivers Council in New York spent a week at STEM Camp where they participated in Electronics, Engineering, Surveying, and Programming Merit Badges. The Scouts were thrilled to learn how to program the same PLCs that…
A common function of a control system is detecting the presence of an object. Whether you are detecting the presence of an object passing by on a conveyor, the closure of a gate or the position of a machine part as it goes through its motions, object detection is a staple of the automation industry. There are…
As electricity bills continue to rise due to new government mandates, manufacturing plants and other industrial facilities are making reducing energy consumption a priority. No company can afford to waste money by using machines or processes that consume too much energy. Since pneumatic systems are ubiquitous throughout manufacturing and can consume a large share of a…