Maintenance is something that can have two different forms; preventative and reactive. At home, I try to ensure I perform preventative maintenance on my major appliances. For instance, I clean the coils on my A/C condensing coils at least once a year, if not twice. I change the intake air filter on the air handler once a month because it is a 1″ thick filter, which is the manufacturer’s recommendation. When it comes to our aging vehicle fleet of two, I do a combination of preventative maintenance such as tire rotations, fluid checks and changes, as well as reactive maintenance such as thermostat replacements and sensor changes when they go bad.
Regarding industrial facilities, the same kind of maintenance can be found. I have worked in facilities where the only type of maintenance that is done is in fact reactive. You know the old adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” That is legit how some of these facilities I have been through function. In fact, they will take parts off a broken production line that they are waiting on the parts for and put on another machine when it breaks down just to keep something going. The inventory of replacement parts was non-existent on-site and would cause downturns due to mechanical failures often. This has resulted in low up-time scores, which also sends production costs through the roof because they are trying to make up for downed lines by running overtime and increasing speeds on the lines that aren’t down.
While preventative maintenance can seem like it is costly and troublesome because it can take a machine out of production, I assure you it is still cheaper and easier than having that emergency maintenance call that comes after hours on a Friday. This is one of the main reasons we talk about installing point-of-use filters on systems that require clean compressed air. If you start to see more than a 5 psig drop across a filter, then you should look at replacing the filter element to ensure optimal performance like the video below showcases for model 9004. Should something like a main dryer fail, these point-of-use filters will help to collect any bypass or remnants in the system from just such a failure of up-stream equipment.
If you would like to discuss other preventative maintenance steps, like monitoring the usage of a system to see leakage when it starts, or how to clean and maintain your EXAIR products, contact an Application Engineer today.
Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF
1 -PEO ACWA, 1/14/2019, Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Mechanical Technician, retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/acwa/39775534373/in/photostream/
