What does an air intake screen do?

Air intake screens by RAB

Keep it simple stupid

A customer said recently that the best engineering solution is quite often the simplest.

We have all heard of the KISS acronym (Keep It Simple Stupid) first introduced by the US Navy in 1960 as a design principle.

The KISS principle states that most systems work best if they are kept simple rather than made complicated (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KISS_principle).

So when a client needed a solution to prevent airborne debris getting into the air handling units and cooling coils, RAB did exactly that.

The first problem was an air intake to a VES AHU which was sucking in a large amount of contaminant which shortened the life of the filters considerably.

Steel frame, BHC media and a magnetic strip riveted to the frames solved that problem as you can see from the picture taken only 10 minutes later and the second picture after 2 weeks.

Air intake screen after 10 minutes

Air intake screen after 2 weeks (before removal and cleaning)

That left the Mitsubishi City Units sited all around the building.

Keeping it simple we used a wrap around air intake screen placed over the coil air intake faces and secured using Permatron Bungee Cords.

Equipment protection using air intake filter screens from the Permatron PreVent®  range and RAB Specialist Engineers Limited.

And what about installation? Start and finish in less than 30 minutes.

Wrap around air intake screens on Mitsubishi City Units

AIr intake screens - so easy to measure

How to measure your opening for an air intake screen?

It is not a difficult task. Anyone with a tape measure and a pencil can provide sufficient details for an air intake screen to be quoted within 24 hours. .

There are no complex templates because the basic principle is always the same.

You have an air intake opening that you want to fit an air intake screen to. It might be square, rectangular, trapezoidal or any other shape that you can think of.

For this example we will measure a trapezoidal opening. It looks complicated but with a manufacturing base that says "If you can draw it we can make it" the dimensions are simple to take:

Measure the following
A to B
A to D
B to C
D to C.
Finally measure the distance between line AB and line DC

This will give you the internal dimensions of the opening which should have a framework around it. Measure the width of the framework and you have all of the dimensions you need.





A quick hand drawn sketch of the shape and a picture finish off the survey. 

If you have a vee coil, take a picture and then measure the external dimension of the framework plus the internal dimension of the coil itself. This will give us sufficient information to submit a quotation for your new air intake screen.

The picture below shows a Kanya Framed air intake screen mounted on galvanised folded steel runners. 

Louvres, cooling towers, condensers, dry air coolers etc. can be easily quoted with some outline dimensions and, once you like the price, one of the team will attend site to double check the  measurements before we manufacture your new air intake screen.

Air intake screen to Trane RTA

Bonnet screen

Carrier vee coil intake

Trane air intake screen protection

Trane low level protection by air intake screen

Display refrigeration air intake screen - magnetic

 

So what about RAB Specialist Engineers?

What makes RAB a specialist company? 

We supply and install ductwork, but there are other companies who fit ductwork, and some might do it just as well - but not many. 

We supply and install thermal insulation to ductwork, pipework and valves. Again some other companies do that but once again not like RAB Specialist Engineers. Just ask our customers.

 

Then there is Richard Betts (see picture above). He started the business and has been working within the building services sector for more than 30 years. 

What you get from Richard and all of the people that work with him is honesty, commitment and quality.

But what really makes RAB a specialist is the fact that Richard Betts was the first to identify the  value of the Permatron Air Intake Screens to the UK.

A low cost, highly efficient retrofitted external filter it simply prevents the build up of airborne debris on your HVAC equipment.

Also used in the retail food sector on display refrigeration equipment, the RAB air intake screen is the only product sold in the UK with the  backing of 50 years of manufacturing expertise.

And we are the only company to offer a full UK distribution and installation network using highly trained personnel with experience of refrigeration plant to complete the installations.


Not just a salesman with a drill but fully qualified fitters.

RAB Specialist Engineers are Safecontractor approved, as are all of our sub-contracted personnel.

So when it comes to expertise, training and safety why go anywhere else.

We like to think we are special because customer service and quality are paramount.

For a free survey or quotation for any ductwork modifications, insulation improvements or energy saving air intake screens then call 01635 248633 or email sales@rabse.com.

So remember, every picture tells a story don't it - with thanks to Stewart and Wood for the title

Some you win and some you lose

There are some contracts that you are destined never to win. This could be for a variety of reasons and whenever a contract is lost there is always that tinge of disappointment.

If you think that price, lead time and quality are as good as you can get it then it is simply not your turn.

Large projects can turn on a personal decision and, in most cases, the client is not necessarily obliged to select the most competitive option.

We wrote recently about the difference between confidence and a confidence trick; please take a look at http://www.rabse.com/apps/blog/show/41649151-confidence-or-confidence-trick .

There are some instances where confidence or competitiveness does not play a part in the decision.

And those are the contracts that you lose. As the title says "some you win and some you lose".

On another subject when you want an air intake screen then there really is only one company to buy from.

Permatron production line

We would say that of course because Richard Betts, Managing Director of RAB Specialist Engineers, found this product, negotiated contracts with the manufacturers and brought the first air intake filter screens into the UK.

 Not only that but it is the highest quality, external filtration system in the country made in the ONLY air intake screen factory in the USA.

Richard Betts meets Leslye Sandberg in 2013

Permatron Corporation making filters since 1957 and RAB Specialist Engineers make a great team.

In this instance you cannot lose and only win.

The north and south divide

I have spent so much of my career concentrating on business in the south that it was a bit of a culture shock to travel up to Yorkshire.

Although this is the home of my fathers family, it is not a place that I have travelled to regularly since my grandparents died.

There is a subtle difference between the north and the south, and this has nothing to do with house prices or the availability of work following the demise of the coal fields.

It is quite simply, friendliness.

No cold and frosty greeting from the hotel receptionist when you arrive after a 4 hour journey looking a little tired and weary.

Instead a warm welcome from someone who does this job every day but brings something different and is genuinely pleased to be of help.

North and South

The breakfast at this hotel was (in the words of Tina Turner) simply the best.

Sausages tasted like sausages rather than reheated cardboard, the bacon was thick and juicy and the mushrooms had actually been cooked in a pan with some butter rather than shown a microwave straight out of the tin.

So what of the business.

Once again the receptionist at this important client greeted me like a long lost neighbour and the meeting was held in an informal style with the engineering team.

Will I get an order? Possibly.

However, what I did get was a desire to live in an environment where people treat you with respect and show a genuine interest in what you have to say.

That is the true north and south divide.