RY-EA-N3 Stainless Steel Eyewash Nozzle with Woven Mesh Strainer

RY-EA-N3 Stainless Steel Eyewash Nozzle with Woven Mesh Strainer

Product Overview

The RY-EA-N3 is an eyewash nozzle machined in stainless steel, with a finely woven stainless mesh set into a recessed seat and held by a slotted retaining ring. The body is a turned cylinder that tapers to a conical base with a threaded connection underneath. Where a plastic nozzle uses a perforated plate, this one uses mesh — a much finer filter and a softer, more diffused stream, at the cost of loading up faster. It is supplied as a spare nozzle for metal-headed stations and for sites that have moved away from moulded plastic because of heat, solvent exposure or repeated breakage.

Woven Mesh Instead of a Perforated Plate

The choice of mesh over drilled holes changes what the nozzle does in three ways, and only one of them is an improvement in every situation.

Finer filtration and a softer stream. Woven mesh has far more open area in far smaller apertures than a perforated plate, so it catches grit that would pass straight through drilled holes, and it breaks the flow into a gentle, even sheet — which is exactly what an eyewash should deliver to an eye that has to be held open in it.

Faster loading, and no poking. That fineness is also the weakness. Mesh loads up sooner than a plate, and it must never be cleared with a wire or a pin: the weave is pushed through and permanently deformed, after which the stream distorts and the filter stops filtering. Cleaning means back-flushing, soaking, or taking the retaining ring out and cleaning the disc flat.

Flow resistance. A fine mesh adds resistance. A nozzle swapped onto a station that was previously fitted with a coarse plate can reduce the delivered flow, so the station has to be flow-tested after the change rather than assumed unchanged.

The retaining ring is a service feature. The slotted ring is there to be undone with a spanner so the mesh can be lifted out and replaced. That is a real advantage over a moulded nozzle, where a blocked orifice means a new nozzle; here the cheapest part is the one that wears.

No cap is supplied. The nozzle in the photograph has no flip cover, and this matters: an open nozzle collects dust, grit and overspray between uses, and the first user gets it in the face. If the station's existing cover is being retained, it must actually fit this body; if not, a cap or cover has to be specified with the nozzle. Buying a bare nozzle to replace one that had a cover quietly removes a compliance item.

Stainless carries caveats. It tolerates hot flushing and impact far better than a moulded body, and it does not go chalky in sunlight. It is heavier on the head, it tea-stains rather than corrodes, and in chloride-rich or coastal air 316 should be specified.

Key Features

• Machined stainless steel body with a turned cylindrical form and conical base.

• Finely woven stainless mesh giving finer filtration and a soft, even stream.

• Mesh set in a recessed seat with a slotted retaining ring, removable with a spanner.

• Replaceable mesh disc, so the cheapest part is the one that wears.

• Threaded connection at the base, fitting the existing spray head or manifold.

• No plastic to crack, chalk or degrade under UV.

• Tolerates hot flushing and knocks better than a moulded nozzle.

• Polished exterior that wipes clean and shows residue, making inspection straightforward.

• Supplied as a spare nozzle; cover or cap to be specified separately where required.

Technical Specifications

Fitting

1. Isolate the station supply, lock the valve off and operate the station to release pressure before removing the old nozzle.

2. Check the thread on the new nozzle against the head or manifold, and check the seat is clean and undamaged.

3. Fit with the correct sealant or washer for potable-quality water; tighten by hand plus a part turn, using a correct-size spanner on the body flats rather than grips.

4. Confirm the retaining ring is firm and the mesh sits flat in its seat, not pinched at the edge.

5. Restore the supply slowly, run the station and check the stream is soft and even, then rotate the nozzle to aim it at the eye position.

6. Measure the flow at the station with the new nozzle fitted and compare it with the previous reading; fit the cover or cap if one is required.

Maintenance and Inspection

Weekly: operate the station for at least three minutes and confirm the stream is full and even on both nozzles; check the cover or cap is present and seats.

Monthly: back-flush the nozzle and look at the mesh against a light; check the retaining ring has not loosened.

Quarterly: undo the retaining ring, lift the mesh out, soak and rinse it flat, refit and re-aim; replace any mesh that is torn, pushed in or permanently loaded.

Annually: replace the mesh disc as a service item, check the body thread and seat, and re-check the station flow against the commissioning figure.

Standards and Compliance

This nozzle is a component of an emergency eyewash; the installed station must meet ANSI Z358.1-2014 in full — fifteen minutes of flushing with tepid water at 20–37 °C, hands-free activation, nozzles at the required height above the floor and clearance from the wall, unobstructed access within ten seconds of the hazard, and a controlled twin stream at a velocity the casualty can tolerate. Nozzle replacement does not by itself make a station compliant: the aim, the height, the flow and the presence of covers must all be verified afterwards. A bare nozzle fitted where a covered one was removed leaves the station with an open mouth and is a finding at inspection, even though the nozzle itself is correct.

Applications

Replacement of blocked or damaged nozzles on stainless and metal-headed eye wash stations, sites where moulded plastic nozzles have cracked or degraded, stations on lines that are periodically flushed hot, and hard-water sites where a replaceable mesh is preferable to a nozzle that has to be thrown away.

Ordering

State the model RY-EA-N3, the thread size or the make and model of the head it is to fit, the quantity (two for a twin head), whether stainless 316 is required, and whether a cover or cap is to be supplied with it. Confirm whether spare mesh discs and retaining rings are to be included. If the nozzle is replacing one that had an integral cap, say so — the cover arrangement has to be resolved at the same time, not after fitting.