How to protect your air compressor from winter and summer challenges

 

Cold weather creates condensate challenges for drain valves

Now is a good time to think about getting your drain valves upgraded on the following:

• Air compressor aftercoolers
• Air receivers
• Coarse coalescing prefilters before refrigerated and desiccant dryers
• Fine coalescing prefilters after refrigerated and desiccant dryers
• Refrigerated dryer cold-points or outlets
• Desiccant dryer outlet

It can cause issues for your air dryers, drains, filters and oil too

Condensate can freeze and crack condensate drains and filters and also cause corrosion. 

During winter we get callouts about dryers freezing and blocking due to low ambient temperature, particularly in heavy frosts. The moisture freezes and then snowballs as more moisture freezes within the dryer.

This generally happens where the equipment is exposed to the elements, the gas pressures are incorrect, or if condensate drains have failed and do not drain the condensate away. 

We reset the gas pressures and advise customers to house the air compressor and dryer in a ventilated shed- not just under a roof. If we design an air compressor setup we would make sure your air compressor and dryer are not exposed to the elements.

Get advice on whether you need an additional air dryer or need to upgrade your air dryer. Compressed Air Controls can supply, install or retrofit ELGi AirMate Refrigerant and Desiccant Dryers and advise what the right dryer is for your industry. These dryers are available in flow ranges from 10 to 2900 cfm.

Think about a filter change

Winter’s lower temperatures can also cause the oil to thicken which makes your compressor work harder. We recommend changing your filter so your compressor can chug away happily through this challenging season.

Tape up outdoor drain lines 

Frozen pipes will cause your compressor to slow down or even cause unplanned stoppages. A way to prevent frozen pipes is by applying heat trace tape on exposed drain lines outside. Heat trace tape is easy to assemble by simply wrapping the tape around the pipes working to control the temperature, eliminating frozen pipes.

Keep an eye on the oil

Your air compressor works harder in the winter and may use more oil.

We can keep an eye on your air compressor remotely

This means if there is an issue we will be alerted so we can quickly address the issue and minimize downtime. This is an optional extra with AirCare✓.

Recover heat, save money

ELGi’s Heat Recovery System helps companies recover approximately 96% of the heat generated during the compression process which can then be utilized for heating of air and water. This in turn eliminates additional equipment requirements to heat water or air, thereby reducing CO2 emissions.

Summer's high humidity creates more moisture so you might need to upgrade your air dryer or need an additional air dryer

This moisture causes corrosion in the air piping and washes out pneumatic tools' lubricating oils which can cause them to work inefficiently.

If a pneumatic cylinder is provided with dry compressed air then it will last 10 times longer.

We can also provide you with advice on how to protect your compressed air site from spring's condensate challenges

How to keep your compressor working efficiently despite spring’s challenges: Clean, Check and Maintain.

Clean:

• The coolers
• The pre-filters- if they are dirty then replace them

Check:

• The compressors oil levels
• The compressor room’s ventilation. Pop a thermometer in the room; if it goes over ambient temperatures of 46 degrees C then you need more ventilation.
• The air filter: make sure it isn’t clogged as spring brings pesky pollen. You may be able to vacuum off contaminants or it may need replacing. Contact us for service kits.
• The drain. Summer’s heat is going to cause condensate so make sure yours is working properly.
• The oil/water separators will also be dealing with increased condensation through the warmer months so check their condition and   replace ageing filters. 

Maintain:

• The dryer. Clean the condenser and check the refrigerant level of your refrigerant dryer.

What is the easiest way to mitigate all of those issues?

 

Chat to Compressed Air Controls to see if you need to schedule a service and get more information on our predictive maintenance schedule AirCare✓.