How to get the most out of your Air Compressor

Get the most out of your Air Compressor by establishing a regular, well-organized maintenance program and strictly following it.

Such a program is critical to maintaining the performance of a compressed air system and will save you time and money in the long haul. You should use the standard recommended minimum maintenance procedures for air-cooled reciprocating compressors as listed in the checklist below.

One person should be given the responsibility of ensuring that all maintenance is performed properly, on schedule, and is adequately documented.

IMPORTANT:
Before performing any maintenance function:
• Switch main disconnect switch to "off" position to assure no power is entering unit.
• "Lock Out" or "Tag Out" all sources of power.
• Be sure all air pressure in unit is relieved. Failure to do this may result in injury or equipment damage.

DAILY MAINTENANCE OR (every 8 hours)
1. Check oil level of both compressor and engine if so equipped. Add quality lubricating oil as required.
2. Drain moisture from tank by opening tank drain valve located in bottom of tank.
3 Check for any unusual noise or vibration
4. Turnoff compressor at the end of each day's operation. Turn off power supply at wall switch.

WEEKLY MAINTENANCE OR (every 100 hours)
1. Clean dust and foreign matter from cylinder head, motor, fan blade, air lines, intercooler and tank.
2. Remove and clean intake air filters.
3. Check V-belts for tightness. The V-belts must be tight enough to transmit the necessary power to the compressor

MONTHLY MAINTENANCE OR (every 500 hours)
1. Change crankcase oil if using CHAMPLUB hydrocarbon based reciprocating oil.
2. Check entire system for air leakage around fittings, connections, and gaskets, using soap solution.
3. Tighten nuts and cap-screws as required.
4. Check and clean compressor valves, replace worn or damaged assemblies & gaskets
5. Pull ring on all pressure relief valves to assure proper operation.

ANNUAL MAINTENANCE OR (every 4000 hours)
1. When CHAMPLUB synthetic lubricant is used, lubricant change intervals may be extended to every 4,000 hours or annually whichever occurs first (change more frequently in harsher conditions).
2. Maintain lubricant level between high- and low-level marks on bayonet gauge. (Discoloration or a higher lubricant level reading may indicate the presence of condensed water). If lubricant is contaminated, drain and replace.

Click Here to Download a Free Reciprocating Maintenance Service Record Checklist Sheet

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Or click here for SERVICE KITS and Lubricants

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Four keys to maintaining an efficient compressed air system

Key #1: PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE
"What is the key to maintaining an efficient compressed air system?"
The best reply would have to be -- Preventive Maintenance.

WHAT IS PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE?
According to "Wikipedia": Preventive maintenance (PM) has the following meanings:
"The care and servicing by personnel for the purpose of maintaining equipment and facilities in satisfactory operating condition by providing for systematic inspection, detection, and correction of incipient failures either before they occur or before they develop into major defects. Maintenance, including tests, measurements, adjustments, and parts replacement, performed specifically to prevent faults from occurring."

*Source: from Federal Standard 1037C and from MIL-STD-188 and from the Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms

Preventive maintenance activities include partial or complete overhauls at specified periods, oil changes, lubrication and so on. In addition, workers can record equipment information and deterioration so they know to replace or repair worn parts before they cause system failure.
The ideal preventive maintenance program would prevent all equipment failure before it occurs.

BENEFITS OF PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE:
-Improves system reliability and helps keep equipment working and/or extend the life of the equipment.
-Decreases system downtime and actively helps prevent unbudgeted maintenance expenses from cropping up.
-Decreases the cost of having to replace equipment as often.
-Records operational data that can help you troubleshoot an emerging problem (called "Data Trending")
Data trending is the recording of basic operation parameters including pressures, temperatures, and electrical data. For example, a slowly increasing temperature indicates a variety of maintenance requirements including cooler core cleaning, overloading of system and possible mechanical problems. Another example might include slowly decreasing pressure, indicating increased system flow requirements, reduced compressor performance or increased system leakage. Make sure someone is looking at this data on a regular basis. If the data is never reviewed then the benefit is lost.

THE VALUE OF PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE:
To determine how valuable regular air compressor PM is to you and your business... you need to know what your "down-time" is worth. In some operations, down-time can cost hundreds, even thousands of dollars an hour.

There are many misconceptions about preventive maintenance...one being that it costs too much.
This line of thinking says regularly scheduled downtime for maintenance costs more than operating the equipment until repair is absolutely necessary...or until the equipment breaks. This may be true for some components, but don't forget to consider the long-term benefits and savings associated with preventive maintenance that have been previously mentioned.
If regular Preventive Maintenance can help reduce unexpected downtime that results in loss of production, time and materials or the ruining of an expensive plant process--then it is well worth the investment. Not to mention that unscheduled shut-downs can be extended if the correct equipment parts or repair technicians are not readily available.

"How effective is your PM program?"
The answer is: "If your PM program isn't finding problems, it isn't effective."

Key #2: CORRECTIVE MAINTENANCE
Corrective maintenance, usually called "repair", is conducted to get equipment working again or fix any problems found during Preventive Maintenance.
The primary goal of maintenance is to avoid or reduce the consequences of failure of your compressed air equipment. PM is designed to preserve and restore equipment reliability by replacing worn components before they actually fail.

Key #3: ASSESSING YOUR EQUIPMENT:
When to maintain and when to replace.
Here are several factors to consider when assessing your compressed air equipment:
-How critical is your compressed air equipment? If equipment fails, what is the impact on production or safety.
-What is the age & history of your equipment.
Equipment histories will prove that most failures occur during infancy (newly installed or recently overhauled) and old-age (self-explanatory).
How many times has this equipment failed in the past?
-How much do you trust this equipment to perform as designed when scheduled to run?
-Do you need newer technology on your equipment?
Assessing the answers to these questions will help you determine when your older equipment needs fixing or replacing. Preventive Maintenance will help your equipment last longer, run better, and save you loads of money in the long haul.

Key #4: KNOWING YOUR EQUIPMENT WHAT IT NEEDS:
-Every piece of compressed air equipment should come with a set of MAINTENANCE INSTRUCTIONS and some type of operations& parts manual. Your operators should review the equipment information and keep it handy for future reference. If you purchased used equipment and don’t have the manuals, contact your equipment distributor for a copy.
- Follow the maintenance guidelines for your equipment.

Click here to view and download a Preventive Maintenance Checklist

Top 7 Air Compressor Related Formulas

Anyone who works with or helps maintain an industrial air compressor should have these valuable compressor related formulas. Print them out and keep them handy…you might need one of them next week!

1. Formula To Find: Belt Length
Compressor Flywheel OD + Motor Pulley OD X 1.57 + 2 X Shaft’s Center To Center Distance In Inches

2. Formula To Find: Motor Pulley OD
Compressor Flywheel OD X Compressor Rpm’s / Motor Rpm’s

3. Formula To Find: Tank OD
Measure Circumference / 3.1416

4. Formula To Find: Volume Of Tank In Gallons
Tank OD X OD X .785 X Tank Length In Inches / 231

5. Formula To Find: PSIA Pressure
14.7 + Gauge Pressure

6. Formula To Find: Compressor CFM Using The Time Method
Tank Gallons X .536 X PSIG Increase / Total Seconds

7. Formula To Find: Motor Max AMP Draw Before Damage Begins
Motor Data Plate AMPS X Data Plate Service Factor


FORMULA SYMBOLS & DEFINITIONS:
/ = divide
X = multiply
+ = add

AMPS = Abbreviation of the plural for Ampere, a unit of electrical current

CFM or cfm = Abbreviation of Cubic feet per minute - a unit of measurement of the flow of a air/gas or liquid that indicates how much volume in cubic feet pass by a stationary point in one minute.

OD = Abbreviation for Outside diameter is a dimension commonly used to specify the size of tubing or pipe.

PSIA or psia = Abbreviation for Pounds per square inch absolute (including atmospheric pressure)

PSIG or psig = Abbreviation for Pounds per Square Inch Gauge

RPM or rpm = Abbreviation for Revolutions per minute is a unit of frequency of rotation: the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis. It is used as a measure of rotational speed of a mechanical component.

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