Ransburg AquaBlock2 A12148-XX - Manual (Page 10)

INTRODUCTION
AquaBlock 2- Introduction
FEATURES
Over the past several years, the finishing industry
has experienced increasing pressure to meet the
requirements of environmental legislation aimed
at reducing the amount of air pollution being gen-
erated by the painting process. This has brought
about increased use of conforming coatings such
as water based paints which contain less solvent.
Another obvious answer to reducing the use of
solvents is to reduce the amount of coating being
applied. This can be accomplished by the use of
electrostatic applicators. Therefore, it appeared
logical to combine these two solutions to achieve
the best of both worlds.
However, water based coatings contain water
which is electrically conductive. This means
that in an electrostatic spray system, the supply
of water based coatings must be isolated from
ground to prevent the high voltage from shorting
out through the conductive water based coating.
For many years, isolated paint supply systems
have been used in electrostatic spray systems
when highly conductive coatings were applied.
This was a necessary condition if you were using
electrostatics and conductive coatings.
As the use of water based coatings increased, the
need for other methods to avoid the use of iso-
lated coating supplies became obvious. Isolated
coating supplies require a lot of floor space, the
use of protective fencing around the isolation area,
and in many cases, long delays in production are
experienced to accomplish color change.
To respond to this need, Ransburg has devel-
oped the AquaBlock 2 which is a high vol-tage
blocking device used to prevent the high voltage
from following the conductive path from the spray
applicator, through the paint line, to the grounded
water based coating supply. The AquaBlock 2 is
inserted between the grounded paint supply line
entering the spray booth and the spray applica-
tor(s). One AquaBlock 2 can be used for one or
more automatic spray applicators. There is a
5
pressure drop across the system depending on
the viscosity and volume of paint going through
the system.
The voltage block system is comprised of the
AquaBlock 2 cabinet. The AquaBlock 2 cabinet
contains the 4-way shuttle assembly, the cylinder
and pneumatic sensing / switching valves. Be-
cause it is pneumatically controlled the AquaBlock
2 can be located inside or outside of hazardous
areas.
The paint enters one port of the 4-way shuttle as-
sembly and is connected alternately to one of two
outlets at each end of the cylinder. The cylinder is
a double ended piston assembly, having a 220cc
capacity. The physical disconnect of the 4-way
shuttle assembly in conjunction with the cylinder
provides electrical isolation between the paint
connections. The 4-way shuttle is moved by a
pneumatic actuator which is actuated by the end
of stroke sensors built-in to the cylinder assembly.
Thus, the system operates with minimal interrup-
tion or delay, providing a smooth, continuous flow
of paint to the spray applicator(s).
The AquaBlock 2 system is a modular design
which can be integrated into any existing paint
feed system, handle single or multiple automatic
applicators and requires little maintenance. Color
change through the AquaBlock 2 can be ac-
comp-lished in as little as 60 seconds, depending
on the system configuration.
LN-9902-00.3
Ransburg