How to Choose the Right FRL?
14 dicembre 2017
FRL units ensure the air quality for your tools, optimizing tools performance and lifespan.
4 things to consider when buying a Filter Regulator Lubricator:
1. Consider your environment:
- For tough industrial environments, such as foundries, shipyards, oil & gas and heavy machinery, we recommend to use metallic FRLs
- Whereas for small industries, including vehicle service environments, Composite FRLs would be a better choice.
2. Select the right type of FRL
- In most cases, you would choose between FRL units with 2 or 3-stage. Did you know that both solutions can do the same job? Both solutions deliver the same three 3 functions (Regulation, Filtering, Lubrication). The main differences between those two types of FRLs are aesthetics and compactness. In some cases, where higher dynamic pressure is needed, we would recommend 3-stage unit.
- In specific environments, you might only need to do one or two functions: filter, regulate or lubricate air. In this case, you can choose a 1-stage FRL, ensuring the needed function (or a combination of filter/regulation without lubrication). .
Working in a body shop environment? Oil and paint don’t belong together! We advise to use a filter/regulator combination unit, as you should avoid having oil in your working environment.
3. Include your airline installation thread & standards into the mix:
- Identify thread size: ¼, ½, 3/4 , 3/8
- Identify sealing type: There are some regional differences as well as industry preferences. When many pressure systems use BSP (British Standard), in the oil and gas industry you would more often use NPT (National Pipe Thread).
4. Take into account the air flow needed by the tool:
Air flow requirements, are given in liter per second (l/s) or in cubic foot per minute (cfm), and are provided by the tool manufacturer. Therefore, it is important to always refer to the air tool manufacturer recommendations, and to select an FRL with an air flow capacity superior to the tools requirements.
As a reference, for Chicago Pneumatic you should look at the “air consumption @ load” value in our catalog, which gives you the air flow needed to run the tool correctly.
And do not forget, to ensure the best performance of your tool, use one FRL per tool!
