air compressor maintenance
For an air compressor, you need to implement a maintenance program. Cleaning and maintaining your air compressor is a simple task that can help you reduce expenses, extend the life of your equipment, and improve the health and safety of your home or business.
For example, when maintenance personnel notice a slight crack in a compressor belt, replacing the belt can help your company prevent a situation where the belt breaks, the compressor stops working and production stops.
BISON WIll give you some helpful tips on how to properly maintain your air compressor so it will give you years of optimal service.
Your Uptime: Maximized
The biggest advantage of a maintenance plan is that it reduces the frequency of system repairs and parts replacement, which saves a lot of money. A properly maintained compressor can typically run steadily for thousands of hours, and performance issues are usually rare.
benefits of maintaining a compressor
- Save money
- Longer service life
- Maximum productivity efficiency
- Quality of air
- Find problems in time to avoid danger
The most important step: Read the user manual
Regardless, an air compressor owner’s manual can help you fix some of the more common everyday problems the right way and avoid the types of mistakes that can void your warranty.
Air compressor maintenance tips
Daily pre-checks
Checking your compressordaily will help you avoid costly equipment breakdowns. You should always double-check the in/out put of the device. As part of their daily pre-inspection, you should inspect hoses for kinks, inspect wires for cuts and fraying, inspect pipes for damage, and make sure connections are secure. Then, check the controls, gauges, accessories, and instruments to make sure there are no loose fittings or damage.
Tighten the nuts and bolts
As the air compressor wears out, some nuts and bolts are bound to come loose after months of daily use. This looseness is usually the result of vibration, which is exacerbated when an air compressor is used to power heavy tools.
To determine if a loose nut or bolt is indeed the problem at hand, manually test each fastener to see if there are any problems. Holding the wrench firmly, twist the loose fastener until you feel the bolt tighten. Only turn the nut to a position where it no longer moves. If you try to overtighten the nut, you may strip the bolt.
Clean the intake valve
In order for an air compressor to run at full capacity, it must have a clean intake. When you use the compressor for weeks on end, dust particles and other elements that combine with air are bound to be drawn into the vents.
For example, pneumatic sanders and woodcutters inevitably produce hard dust particles that can quickly accumulate inside the vents. Besides, The intake valve can also become dirty in a work environment with various air-bound particles.
To ensure the quality of the incoming air, clean the intake valve at least every three months regardless of the workplace setting.
Check the hoses
The hose is the element of an air compressor assembly that is most susceptible to damage. As a component that transmits compressed air between the machine and a given endpoint, the hose should be solid and tight but loose and flexible. As a result, hoses are subject to a lot of work and are prone to stress over time.
Inconsistent air pressure can exacerbate the problem. If the pressure is too high, the hose will stretch while transferring air from the machine to a given air tool. If the overpressure period is followed by a period of underpressure, the hose will contract slightly. Bending and folding can easily cause damage as the hose moves around.
Check the hoses regularly to ensure the compressor does not lag due to hose wear. If you notice creases or signs of wear, replace the hose with a new one. If ignored, a worn hose can make your air compressor inefficient.
Change the oil
Air compressors don’t always use oil. The oil must stay fresh and plump to keep the various engine parts moving smoothly. In wet work environments, the oil loses its viscosity and ultimately fails to provide proper lubrication to the various internal components of the air compressor. This lack of lubrication can cause metal friction and stress along moving metal parts, which can wear out and fail before they appear.
At the beginning of each service cycle, top up the oil. Change the oil every quarter or after approximately 8,000 hours, whichever comes first. If you have left the machine dormant for several months, replace it with a new oil supply. For effective circulation, the oil needs to have the right viscosity and be free of impurities.
Replace the oil/air Separator
Oil-lubricated air compressors operate internally with an oil mist. In other words, the compressor works with the air to disperse the oil inside the machine. However, before the air leaves the machine, oil is extracted from the air through an oil separator. Therefore, the machine remains lubricated while the air remains dry at the endpoints.
Therefore, if the oil separator stops working properly, the air may become contaminated with oil. The presence of oil mist can be catastrophic for various pneumatic functions. In applications involving the use of air-powered spray tools, oil mist can infect paint and result in a speckled, non-drying coating on a given surface. Therefore – to ensure that the compressed air remains pure and oil-free – it is essential to change the oil filter after every 2,000 hours of use or less.
Replace the air filter
Compressor aie filters are designed to withstand heavy loads. Without a filter, dust and other impurities can easily drag down the air compressor and reduce the performance of air tools.
Air purity is critical for applications using pneumatic painting and drying tools. Just imagine what these applications would look like without this air filtration process. For example, painted surfaces may end up being spotted, sandy, or inconsistent in other ways.
Therefore, it is crucial to replace the air filter every year.
Drain the condensed water from the water tank
An inevitable by-product of compressed air is water, which accumulates inside the machine in the form of condensation. The water tank inside the air compressor is designed to draw water out of the outgoing air. By doing this, the air will still be dry and unpolluted when it reaches the finish.
In situations where the endpoints are prone to water damage, waterin compressed air is especially problematic. The effectiveness of pneumatic paint applications might also suffer from water. For example, in an auto assembly plant, paint coats and finishes on an automobile production line can end up weak and speckled if too much waterdilutes the paint.
As is the case with air filters, the water tank will eventually fill up. If the tank gets too full, the water can move to other parts of the machine and re-infect the air. To make matters worse, the water can rot and spread odours and impurities through the compressed air system. Therefore, it is critical to drain the water tank regularly.
Clean the compressor oil tank
Fuel-powered air compressors require additional annual maintenance. The problem here involves fuel particles, which build up in the tank and become toxic over time. If the fuel tank itself is not cleaned once a year, the fluid that is the lifeblood of the machine can eventually become toxic.
To clean the oil tank, drain it off any remaining gasoline, then dry and wet vacuum the inside of the tank. Depending on the oil tank’s design, the filter may need to be replaced to remove any remaining debris.
Check the air compressor shutdown system
Sometimes an air compressor needs to shut itself off to protect itself. A typical example is when a machine overheats and cannot function fully. If working in such conditions, the inside of the machine may overheat, eventually causing parts to fail. The bigger the machine, the bigger the losses in this case and the higher the cost.
Most compressors are equipped with a safety shut-off mechanism for internal protection. However, the mechanism itself may sometimes fail to activate. In wet operating conditions, where the high intensity of a specific operation and the pressure it puts on the compressor are mixed with the ambient air temperature, the shutdown can be a significant issue.
Check your owner’s manual for instructions on checking your security system and ensuring it’s functioning properly.
Lubricate motor bearings
With constant motion, you must ensure the bearings are well-lubricated to keep the motor running at full capacity. If there is not enough lubrication, the bearings can seize.
Check the belt
Air compressor maintenance schedule
BISON offers an air compressor maintenance plan. This will help you remember which maintenance tasks need to be done in a given event. With timely, proper maintenance, you can avoid compressor failure and financial risk.
