Air Wipe and Wire Dryer

Blower-powered 360° air wipes dry wire, cable, tube, pipe and extruded profiles without touching them, from 40 AWG wire to 48 in (1,219 mm) pipe. Replacing a compressed air wipe typically pays back in six months.

Interested in learning more?

Tell us about your process and we'll follow up with a recommendation.

Simplify the Drying Process with Sonic's Air Wipe System & Wire Dryer

Sonic ’s air wipe system delivers high-velocity, 360-degree drying for wire, cable, tube, hose, and extruded profiles operating at industrial line speeds. Our engineering and applications team works directly with manufacturers to size, configure, and integrate each system, ensuring optimal moisture removal, consistent product quality, and reliable performance across extrusion, coating, and processing lines. By replacing compressed air wipes, the Sonic Air Wipe and Wire Dryer achieves a typical six-month ROI, one of the shortest payback periods of any equipment purchase in a wire and cable facility.

Powered entirely by a Sonic centrifugal blower, the system provides uniform, non-contact drying around the full circumference of the product. This blower-driven approach reduces operating costs, eliminates variability from multiple nozzles, and delivers the steady, high-speed drying required for modern continuous manufacturing.

Request A Quote

Achieve 360° Dryness & Efficiency With Air Wipe Systems

High-velocity, blower-driven air surrounds the product with a 360° drying ring that removes water, cooling fluid, and surface moisture from wires, cables, tubes, pipes, hoses, and extruded profiles.

By replacing compressed air with a dedicated blower, manufacturers eliminate moisture and overspray at the source, resulting in cleaner downstream processes, improved product quality, and increased throughput.

The non-contact air wipe design provides stable drying even at extreme line speeds and in environments where surface tension, extrusion residue, or cooling bath runoff might otherwise compromise consistency.

Whether the product diameter is a delicate 40-AWG conductor or a 4-inch tube, Sonic provides an engineered configuration that delivers consistent performance with significantly lower operating costs.

Why Choose a Sonic Air Wipe System?

Compressed air wipes create unnecessary cost and variability. They consume large volumes of expensive compressed air, introduce high noise levels, and often require multiple nozzles to achieve full circumferential coverage, leading to uneven drying and increased downtime from adjustment or clogging. As line speeds increase, compressed air systems struggle to keep up, creating process bottlenecks and moisture-related defects.

A Sonic air wipe system eliminates these limitations by relying on a high-efficiency blower that delivers stable, repeatable airflow at a fraction of the operating cost. Plants benefit from reduced energy consumption, fewer maintenance interventions, and significantly quieter operation. The system’s robust design maximizes uptime, improves operator safety, and delivers consistent drying performance across all shifts and production runs.

Advanced Air Wipe & Wire Drying Solution for Industrial Applications

Sonic Air Systems industrial air wipe blocks

Wire, Cable, and Extruded Rubber Profiles

Continuous extrusion lines for wire, cable, and rubber profiles require fast, uniform moisture removal as products exit the cooling trough. A 360° air wipe delivers consistent, non-contact drying that improves surface quality and supports higher line speeds.

Metal Rolling, Forming, Fabrication & Finishing

Metal wires, rods, and shaped profiles benefit from controlled moisture removal before coating, galvanizing, marking, or finishing. The air wipe system strips water evenly across the surface, reducing defects and stabilizing downstream processes.

High Tech

Fine conductors and precision extrusions used in electronics and high-tech assemblies demand gentle, uniform drying that won’t distort sensitive materials. The air wipe system provides stable airflow at high line speeds, ensuring clean surfaces ready for insulation, coating, or winding.

Sonic Air Systems centrifugal blower and air knife components for plastic and rubber processing

Plastic, Rubber, Film, and Foil

Extruded polymer profiles and narrow materials require reliable moisture removal to prevent blemishes, adhesion issues, or contamination during downstream operations. A blower-powered air wipe produces clean, controlled airflow that improves product consistency and reduces scrap.

Air Wipe Technical Specifications & Models

The Sonic Standard Air Wipe Dryer

0.05 to 4" (1.25 mm to 101.6 mm) Dia - 200 to 1,000 FPM (61 to 300 m/min)

Sonic offers several variations of this rigid extrusion or jacketed cable dryer for 0.05” to 4" (1.25 to 101.6 mm) diameters at 200 to 1,000 FPM (61 to 300 m/min). These air wipe modules come in 12" (304.8 mm) long increments with polymer enclosures to capture blown-off moisture and reduce sound. The easy-access clam-shell enclosure, with manual latching, eliminates close clearance line threading, and the auto-pneumatic option opens the cover to allow knots to pass without binding or jamming. The internal wire clearance ranges from 2 to 8 times the extrusion diameter. Sonic blower models range from 3 to 20 HP (2.2 to 15 kW). The complete cable dryer module is all prepackaged with the blower connections and adjustable height mounting stand, ready to assemble in minutes.

The Sonic High-Speed Wire Drying Solution

40 to 00 AWG Wire - 1,000 to 10,000 FPM (300 to 3,000 m/min)

Replace compressed air wipes for fiber optic and metallic cable from 40 AWG through 00 AWG (average wire gouge) with extruder speeds of 1,000 to 10,000 linear feet per minute (300 to 3,000 m/min). The dryer module is enclosed in a 42" (1,067mm) long polypropylene moisture and sound reduction enclosure (as low as 80 dbA available) with either a manual or pneumatically operated clam-shell split housing design for unobstructed access. Several split ceramic eye guides are located along the wire travel center line for easy threading. Sonic blower model and motor power for this application range from 15 to 25 HP (11 to 18.5kW). The complete cable dryer module is all prepackaged with the blower connections and adjustable height mounting stand ready to assemble in minutes.

The Sonic Extruded Shape Air Wipes

0.25" to 2" (6.35 to 50.8 mm) Dia - 10 to 200 FPM (3 to 60 m/min)

This "air ring" design is for any continuously water-cooled non-wire core products which are unsupported, have low tension, and are without internal stiffening components within the extrusion. These air wipes provide a 2.75" (69.85 mm) ID adjustable 360° air slot to deliver lower velocity air, at a more uniform flow, to dry while preventing turbulence to soft extruded shapes. Sonic blowers for this application range from 3 to 15 HP (2.2 to 11 kW).

The Sonic Tube and Pipe Drying Air Octagon

6" to 48" (152.4 mm to 1,219.20 mm) Dia - 10 to 100 FPM (3 to 30 m/min)

This "air ring" design is for any large-diameter continuous plastic, metal tube, or pipe manufacturing process. The custom Sonic Air Octagon for large diameters is generally used after cooling, washing, or hydrostatic pressure testing. Sonic developed these air rings to deliver a 360° air wiping action. The Air Octagon is powered by a high-speed Sonic blower, which delivers high-impact air velocities prior to welding, ink coding, coating, or painting. Sonic blowers for the Air Octagon range from 15 to 50 HP (11 to 37 kW).

Specification Sheets

Checking access...

Coating Control Air Knife

The Coating Control Air Knife sets coating thickness without touching the product, using a uniform, adjustable air stream to strip excess liquid. Stainless steel, in widths from 1 to 192 in (2.5 to 487.7 cm).

See the specs!

Sonic Sanitary and E-Z-Clean Air Knife for industrial drying and blow-off

Sanitary Air Knife and E-Z Clean

Fully welded 304L stainless steel air knives for food, pharmaceutical and medical manufacturing. Tri-Clamp fittings let the E-Z Clean air knife come apart quickly for cleaning, and the design is built for compliance with USDA, 3A, FDA and FSMA requirements.

Request info!

Ion-Air Knife for Static Neutralizing

An ionizing air knife that neutralizes static and blows off dust and debris in one pass, at adjustable air velocities from 10,000 to 38,000 FPM. It is up to 4x more energy efficient than compressed air.

Get a quote!

Sonic XE

Developed in 1994, the Sonic XE is a one-piece, teardrop-shaped air knife made up to 200 in (5,080 mm) long. Slot width adjusts from 0.010 to 0.250 in, velocities reach 38,000 FPM, and power use is up to 75% lower than compressed air blow-off.

Download Operations Manual

A close-up photograph taken inside an industrial manufacturing facility, showing a continuous metal sheet being processed between arrays of multiple needle-like nozzles, which apply focused heat or a process fluid as part of a curing, pre-heating, or precise application stage on a production line. The machine includes heavy grey structural beams and polished steel components, with a warm glow from the process zone.

View Case Studies

Case studies01 / 02

Sonic Compounds Success with Plastic Strand Dryer up to 200 FPM

Wire Drying Systems Help Amp Up Capacity in Wire & Cable Production

READ ALL CASE STUDIES

Frequently Asked Questions

It depends mostly on those two numbers. The Standard Wire Dryer covers 0.05 to 4 inch diameters at 200 to 1,000 FPM, the High-Speed Wire Dryer handles 40 to 00 AWG wire up to 10,000 FPM, and larger tube or pipe runs move to the Air Octagon design.

Yes, that's the point of the design. The manual or pneumatically operated clam shell housing opens to let a knot or splice pass through without binding, and the pneumatic version does this without stopping to manually rethread.

The High-Speed Wire Dryer's sound reduction enclosure brings noise down to as low as 80 dBA, a meaningful drop from typical compressed air wipe noise at similar speeds.

Up to 10,000 feet per minute for wire in the 40 to 00 AWG range, which is why it's the model most often specified for fiber optic and high speed metallic cable lines.

Yes. Because the 360 degree airflow is non contact, there's no physical pressure or abrasion against the cable's coating the way a wiping die can cause. This is one of the more common wire and cable applications precisely because it protects delicate coatings while hitting high line speeds.

Bring your line requirements to Sonic.

Share the product, line speed, dimensions, and operating environment. Sonic’s engineering team will help shape the right air delivery system.

Want a recommendation?

Share a few details about your process and we'll follow up with next steps.