Air Compressors

By Ron Marshall Jeff had been a maintenance technician long enough to know that low-pressure complaints rarely arrived alone. When one operator reported sluggish pneumatic cylinders, others usually followed with complaints about weak air tools, slow actuators, and inconsistent machine performance. That was exactly what happened one Monday morning in the assembly area, where production […]

By Ron Marshall, Contributing Editor Fred had been the plant engineer at the packaging facility for nearly ten years, and he thought he understood his compressed air system well. The compressors ran, the machines worked most of the time, and whenever there was a moisture problem someone usually changed a filter or drained a receiver […]

By Ron Marshall When a compressed air system struggles, the compressor usually gets blamed first. Pressure is dropping at the far end of the plant. Production tools are slowing down. Another compressor is running more often than expected. The energy bill is climbing. The first reaction of management is often predictable: “We need a bigger […]

Contributed by Ron Marshall Richard, the maintenance manager at a plant that manufactures powdered coatings, was used to dealing with heat. The curing ovens in the facility ran hot, and summer months always made the production floor uncomfortable. But one area of the plant seemed especially unbearable — the compressor room. Every time Richard stepped […]

By Ron Marshall When the phone rang in the summer a few years ago, Ron knew the project would be unusual. A sawmill nearly 1,000 miles away needed a compressed air assessment, but an injured knee made flying impossible. Normally, a project like this would require airports, hotels, and days spent carrying instruments through the […]

By Ron Marshall George ran the compressed air system at his plant for eleven years. If you would have asked him last spring how it was doing, he’d have shrugged and said, “Fine.” Two screw compressors, sharing the load, humming along the way they always had. Nobody calls a meeting about compressed air until something […]

Walk through almost any manufacturing plant and you’ll hear it, the steady hum of compressors, the hiss of air tools, the pulse of production. To many, it sounds like business as usual. But to someone who understands compressed air systems, that same sound can also mean one thing: Money leaking away! Compressed air is often […]

By Ron Marshall In many industrial plants, the real cost of compressed air isn’t just the air being used on the production floor, it’s the energy consumed when the compressor is running — but not producing useful air. Choosing the wrong operating mode for your compressor can be surprisingly expensive. It’s a bit like sitting […]

Joe stood in the middle of his plant, watching a critical machine sputter to a halt. His operator pointed at the gauge, which read 25 psi lower than the compressor’s display in the back room. To fix it, Joe did what most managers do: he bumped up the discharge pressure at the source. This boosted […]

By Ron Marshall Remember when your compressed air system was new? The compressors and dryers were shiny, the installation was perfect, and everything was finely tuned for optimal performance. But time takes its toll. Components wear out, sensors fail, and well-meaning adjustments can knock the entire system out of harmony, quietly costing you a fortune […]

By Ron Marshall When Lisa first took over as plant engineer at a food processing facility, she inherited a compressed air system that seemed to run well enough — or so everyone thought. The compressors were tucked away in a room at the far end of the plant, and as long as production lines kept […]

By Ron Marshall The steel plant had been running its compressors at 120 psi for as long as anyone could remember. The air system was powerful and reliable, or so it seemed. But when energy costs started climbing, management called in a compressed air auditor to see if there were hidden savings. When the auditor […]

When it comes to compressed air efficiency, misunderstandings are everywhere. Many plants operate under assumptions that lead to wasted energy, higher costs, and reduced reliability. Correcting these misconceptions can improve both performance and the bottom line. Here are some of the most common myths — and the reality behind them. Compressed air is free once […]

When Dana took over as production manager at a packaging plant, she quickly learned that compressed air pressure was a constant source of frustration. Operators often complained about pressure swings, too low during peak demand and too high during quieter shifts. The compressors seemed to be either racing at full throttle or idling wastefully. Energy […]

By Ron Marshall Compressed air filters are often forgotten components in industrial plants, but their role is critical. They not only protect downstream equipment and processes from contaminants but also affect the efficiency of the air compressor system itself. Neglecting filters can lead to poor air quality, rising energy costs, and unnecessary wear on equipment. […]

By Ron Marshall When Sarah took over as operations manager at a mid-sized food processing plant, she assumed compressed air was just another utility, important, but hardly worth much attention. Her team kept the machines running, and as long as production targets were met, she didn’t think twice about it. But when a compressed air […]

When Jorge walked through the compressor room at his manufacturing plant, the big machines caught his eye, the humming compressors, the dryers, the filters. But tucked away in the corner stood a piece of equipment he hardly noticed: a tall, steel air receiver tank. It didn’t have power cables, flashing lights, or gauges that demanded […]

Having daily, weekly, and monthly checklists helps you keep on top of things like filter maintenance and more. By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor Everyone thinks they know maintenance and believes they’re successfully running maintenance programs in their factory. This isn’t my first time around the rodeo, because despite my occasional and intentional confusion of metaphors, I…

By Ron Marshall When the main compressor at Bill’s machine shop suddenly failed, the entire plant seemed to grind to a halt. Operators stood idle, production schedules slipped, and the pressure was on to make a quick decision. Bill gathered his maintenance crew in the break room, where they weighed their options: repair the aging […]

By Ron Marshal When a compressed air auditor arrived at a midsize manufacturing plant, the operators were confident their system was running just fine. The compressors switched on every morning, the gauges read pressure, and the machines on the floor kept humming along. To them, that was all that mattered. But the auditor had a […]

By Ron Marshall With some imagination, your plant’s compressed air system can be compared to the circulatory system of the human body. The compressors act as the heart, pumping the lifeblood of compressed air to every corner of the facility. Just as the human body cannot function without the heart’s steady beat, production machinery cannot […]

When choosing a car, consumers rely on fuel economy ratings to compare efficiency. Miles per gallon or liters per 100 kilometers allow buyers to understand how far a vehicle can travel with a given amount of fuel. This standard measure is an essential tool for making informed purchasing decisions. Compressed air systems have a similar […]

Contributed by Dave Henning, Sales Manager, MCE Automation If you’ve ever found yourself stuck by the side of the road kicking yourself for putting off some crucial bit of auto maintenance, then you know firsthand that an unscheduled breakdown can be dramatically more inconvenient and costly than whatever you were putting off. When it comes […]