Did You Miss Any of These Popular Posts in 2015 from Edmonton Valve?

Here are the topics that got the most attention from our readers this past year

While we always try to make our blog posts interesting, we never know for sure what's going to catch on with our readers. Here is are your top 5 reads for 2015.

Class consciousness

This past year, the most-viewed post was an April announcement for our Sample System Maintenance course five months later in September. We gave it a lot of advance publicity because we knew plenty of people would want to plan ahead for this two-day course. And we were right.

While that course has come and gone, we always have some kind of training available. At least once a month we offer Swagelok Total Support training seminars. These are hands-on, full-day classes led by an industry expert from Edmonton Valve & Fitting. We also have many videos for a quick refresher on how to do things right. For some in-depth online learning, we have Swagelok University. 

Keep posted on our blog for future training opportunities, including a Sample System Maintenance course coming November 2016!

Blast from the past

Our second most popular post went in an entirely different direction. That was Jason Wynne's story of how he acquired a Zippo brand lighter with the Swagelok logo on it. It's a kind of time-travel story, going back to the early days of eBay, and then further back to the early days of Swagelok.

Probing questions

Back in March we dove into the relative advantages of two probe types, welded and retractable. Welded probes are sturdier, but retractable probes are faster at getting samples into an analyzer. We looked at which probe is best for which kinds of application. We also revealed the secret of the mysterious symbol etched into the side of the retractable probe. Click the link to find out what it means.

Remember, Edmonton Valve & Fitting can do more than just provide the parts. We can build the whole sample probe module as one of our Pre-Engineered Subsystems. You pick out the type of probe you need, and we pair it up with a block-and bleed sample probe valve.

Wet or dry?

A similar post on pressure gauges attracted plenty of attention. The question of the day was: Should you use a dry gauge, or one filled with non-aqueous liquid? Here again, each has advantages for certain kinds of applications. Even with filled gauges, you have choices. Glycerin, with its higher viscosity, is commonly used in room-temperature applications. Silicone oil and low-temperature glycerin are often where temperature fluctuates or when icing is a problem. Other fluids are available through custom ordering.

Managers on ice

And finally we turn our attention to our post on Stacey Phillips, our Custom Solutions manager. Phillips helped create the department, and for a long time she was the department. She would give quotes to customers, process orders, then go in the back to drill panels, bend tubing and whatever else was needed to help the customer.

Doing it all by herself gave her a lot of insight into the kind of associates she wanted to work with as her department grew into a seven-person team.

General interest in our Custom Solutions department brought a lot of people to this post. But the photo of Phillips on the ice at our Friday lunch-break hockey games may have helped popularize this post too.

We have another full schedule of blog posts coming for the rest of 2016. There's no way to know which ones will end up being the most popular, but we'll always try to give you something worthy of your time and attention. 

Happy reading and Happy 2016 to all of our readers!

Additional resources

• Check Out Swagelok's Check Valves
• Swagelok's Calibration & Switching Module Adds Efficiency to Sample Conditioning
• The Five Laws of Swagelok Gauges

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