Avoid a cruel summer impacting your air compressors

Summertime! School is out. Families are taking vacations. But it’s also a time when your compressed air system can break down. Don’t let the cruel (cruel), cruel summer (apologies to Bananarama) take down your facility. Follow Kaeser’s tips on keeping your compressors cool this summer. Of course, you can always count on Elevated Industrial Solutions to help you implement the changes to avoid issues as well as give our expert advice in Ohio, northern Kentucky, Michigan, and South Carolina.

Kaeser provides the following tips to include in your maintenance routine to avoid issues.

1. Check the lubricant, change the lubricant

Lubricant is vital to your compressor’s performance and longevity. We offer lubricant sampling to ensure your oil is in proper working condition. Contaminated lubricants can lead to compressor failure and costly downtime. Kaeser indicates that compressor lubricant serves critical functions:

1. Lubricates bearings
2. Absorbs/removes the heat of compression
3. Forms a liquid seal in the airend for efficient compression
4. Prevents metal-to-metal contact
5. Removes particulate contaminants

That’s why changing the oil is so important. Kaeser says that keeping on a schedule (including oil changes) maintains “proper viscosity for better lubrication and removes moisture, acids, wear metals, and other contaminants.”

2. Change the filters

Air filters and inlet filters keep your air compressor running efficiently and effectively. That in turn keeps the compressor working at the optimal temperature. It even helps the oil, according to Kaeser, be cleaner and run longer. (See above why that matters.)

Filters are typically checked during preventative maintenance.

3. Check your belts

Just like in your car, belts wear down. Unlike with your car though, belts for compressors are running most of the time! That means those belts wear out faster. Check them for cracks and wear. If you don’t know when the belts were serviced, service them now and record that change. Or – as Kaeser notes – at least keep a spare belt on hand.

4. Keep air moving

When a room isn’t well-ventilated, it gets hot! That heat can cause your compressors to operate at higher temperatures, which leads to a higher probability of compressor failure. Kaeser indicates that poor ventilation can also reduce oil life and decrease compressor efficiency.

What can help? Kaeser indicates the following could decrease the temperature of your compressed air room:

• Adding properly sized louvers and dampers
• Using thermostatic controls
• Adding ductwork to remove exhaust heat from the room
• Reducing or removing other heat sources from the room

5. Check drains

Just like during winter, you’ll need to check the drains again. They should efficiently remove water from your compressed air system. Use the test button if you need to. Also, don’t forget to adjust the timer if you have one.

Preventive maintenance matters

If you’ve had maintenance done at your facility before, you know many of the items above are included in that preventive maintenance. And depending on the environment of your facility, we come as often as you need. (Some customers need monthly maintenance!)

At Elevated, our service technicians can come to your location and conduct a variety of tests to ensure your compressed air system is ready for the extreme heat, including:

• Checking and/or replacing lubricants
• Gauging the temperature of your system
• Inspecting belts and replacing them as necessary
• Conducting air tests to verify appropriate ventilation and circulation
• Verifying drains and condensate management systems are working properly

Because we care about our customers, we notify them in advance to get on the schedule. That makes your job easier – you don’t have to think about when maintenance needs to happen next. Plus, the Elevated team provides ideas of what’s needed before we conduct that preventive maintenance.

To get scheduled for your summertime maintenance in Michigan, western Ohio (from Toledo to the Dayton/Cincinnati area), or South Carolina, contact us. We still have openings. But hurry, we’re booking up fast!