Spring clean your compressed air system for a hassle free season

Warm weather, high humidity and spring time mean more water and more airborne particles - such as pollen - are present in the air. This requires your compressed air system to work harder in order to continue to produce high quality and dry compressed air. If your compressed air system isn’t well maintained and therefore ready for the warmer weather, it could lead to reduced efficiency through to costly downtime and even a lower life expectancy of your compressed air equipment.
The start of spring is therefore a great time to give you compressed air system the once over and undergo a general service to make sure it’s in tip top condition and ready to face the warmer weather ahead. Below we have provided you with some key areas of your compressed air system that should be checked as part of a spring clean;

1. Check your compressor
   Temperature and ventilation
   As the temperature starts to warm up its even more important to keep an eye on the temperature of your compressor as well as check that there is sufficient ventilation around it. Rising temperatures and poor ventilation will lead a compressor to overheat. The result unplanned – and costly – downtime to fix.
   Coolers
   Spring time is also a good time to check that the coolers - and especially your pre-filters - on your compressors are clean. If they are not clean there is a good chance that as we go from colder to warmer temperatures they will also overheat and lose efficiency. Replacing the pre-filter elements would also be a relatively low cost precautionary step to take as part of your spring clean.
2. Check your compressed air treatment equipment
   It’s important to check over all of your compressed air treatment equipment as well. The warm air of the spring and summer months will generally have higher humidity than the colder air of the winter months. This creates extra water in the air that your compressed air system will need to work harder to remove.
   Dryers
   Check the settings on your compressed air dryers. Some models will have winter and summer settings which will need to be changed. Make sure the condenser is clean and free from dirt and debris as this can cause the dryer to overheat.
   Filters
   Make sure your filters are clean. They will be working harder in spring to remove increased particles from the compressed air caused by e.g. pollen.
   Drains
   It’s also important to check your drains are clean and functioning properly so they can also get the extra water out of your compressed air that the warmer weather creates.
   Oil/water separators - condensate treatment
   Check the condition of your oil/water separators as they will be dealing with increased condensation through the warmer months. Ageing filters should be replaced to avoid catastrophic environmental repercussions.

Above are just a few areas to consider. In order to give your compressed air system a thorough once over, spring is the ideal time to get your compressed air system serviced to ensure it is in tip top condition and ready for the challenges that the warmer months will bring.