You may wondering how long does an air compressor last before spend large money and investments on it. This is a wise choice and can help you get the most out of your investment because the air compressor especially its maintenance costs can be very high.
So how long does an air compressor last? And how to extend the life expectancy of an air compressor? Let’s talk about everything you need to know about air compressor life expectancy.
How long does air compressor last?
How long does an air compressor last depends on many factors. Generally speaking, if in good conditions, the life of an air compressor is between 5 and 25 years. In reality, the average life of an industrial air compressor is generally 3-8 years, while the average life of air compressor for home is generally 7-9 years.
Estimated air compressors life expectancy for reference only:
- Centrifugal air compressor: Lasts more than 200,000 hours (around 25 years)
- Rotary screw air compressor: Lasts more than 100,000 hours (more than 10 years)
- Oil-free rotary screw air compressor: Lasts 70,000 hours (8 years)
- Reciprocating air compressor: Lasts 50,000 hours (6 years)
- Portable air compressor: Lasts about 40,000 hours (5 years)
However, these are only estimates under ideal conditions, during actual air compressor applications, the life expectancy of air compressors depend on various factors, including the equipment quality, usage, maintenance, and environmental conditions.
Therefore, understanding the factors that will affect your air compressor life expectancy is also important, in this way you can do necessary adjustments to ensure it works well and has a long service life.
What factors affect the air compressors life expectancy?
Equipment quality
High-quality air compressors generally use better materials, and excellent air compressor manufacturers will also optimize the structure of the air compressors they produce, which makes their air compressors usually have a longer life expectancy. Choose reliable brands and suppliers to ensure that the quality and performance of the equipment can meet the needs; air compressors with poor materials and structures will not only have a shorter life, but also require frequent repairs or replacements, increasing the production cost of enterprises.
Compressor overload
Run air compressor within its normal working load range can effectively extend its life, while long-term overload operation will accelerate the wear and damage of the air compressor, sometimes may cause air compressor tripping. So select the right air compressor according to the actual gas consumption and work intensity of your factory, and avoid frequent failures caused by air compressors overloading. Know more about air compressor overload tripping and how to fix it.
Working environment
Appropriate working environment has a positive effect on the air compressors life expectancy, such as suitable temperature, environment humidity, good ventilation conditions, etc., while inappropriate working environment will cause damage to the machine. For example, if there is a lot of dust in the ambient air of compressor, it will increase the difficulty of the work of air filter element and reduce its service life. If the damaged accessories are not replaced in time, the cylinder of the air compressor and even the gas tank will be damaged.
Oil quality
Using inferior compressor oil or the oil that is not recommended and suitable for your air compressor will reduce its long-term operating capabilities and efficiency. Inferior oil will not only increase the carbon deposits and air leaks in the compressor, reduce the quality of compressed air, but will also reduce the air compressors life expectancy.
Insufficient cooling
Air compressor overheating can cause compressor dysfunction, performance degradation, accelerated metal aging inside the machine, and various air compressor failures. Insufficient cooling is one of the biggest threats to the air compressors life expectancy.
Poor maintenance
Failure to perform regular maintenance and care on the air compressor will also reduce its expected life. Poor equipment cleaning, lubrication, and untimely replacement of wearing parts can reduce the air compressors life expectancy.
How to extend the air compressor life expectancy?
The key to extending the service life of the air compressor lies in regular maintenance, daily inspections, proactive precautionary measures, and good operation habits. All can help extend the life of your compressor and maximize your investment.
Regular maintenance: includes regular repairs and replacements of parts to ensure that the air compressor is always in the best working condition, avoid equipment failure, and thus extend its service life.
Daily inspection: Check the equipment’s operating status, oil level, air pressure and other parameters daily to see if they are normal, clean the inside of the equipment regularly, keep the equipment dry, and record operating data for analysis and prevention of failures. To ensure the normal operation of the compressor, it must be fully lubricated. Check the oil level of the compressor at least once a day or every time it is used.
Clean the cooler: Every 2000 hours of operation of the air compressor, clean the dust on the surface of the radiator to improve the heat dissipation efficiency of the radiator. But remember, do not use hard objects such as iron brushes to scrape off dirt on radiator to avoid damaging it.
Working environment: The air compressor should be kept clean and tidy, and avoid using the air compressor in high humidity and in the storage of flammable and explosive gases. Regularly replace filters, including air filter elements, oil filters, etc., to reduce pollutants from entering the air compressor.
Usage habits: When the air compressor fails, the power supply should be cut off in time to avoid equipment damage, and professional maintenance personnel should be contacted to deal with it, to avoid unprofessional operation when disassembling the air compressor by yourself, causing unnecessary damage to the air compressor.
In addition, there are some specific maintenance tips that can help extend the service life of the air compressor:
- When repairing and replacing various parts, it must be ensured that the pressure in the air compressor system has been released, it has been isolated from other pressure sources, the switch on the main circuit has been disconnected, and the necessary safety signs have been made.
- Perform manual exhaust tests on the safety valve of the air storage tank on time to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the safety valve.
- The staff responsible for the equipment should be professionally trained to master the structure, characteristics and functions of the air compressor and post-processing equipment, and understand the simple techniques of operation and maintenance.
- The air compressor should be placed in an area away from steam, liquefied gas and smoke, and the air inlet should be equipped with a filtration system.
- The replacement time of the compressor cooling lubricant oil depends on the use environment, humidity, dust and whether there are acidic and alkaline gases in the air. The new oil of the newly purchased air compressor must be replaced after the first 500 hours of operation, and then replaced every 4000 hours according to the normal oil change cycle. Machines that run less than 4000 hours a year should be replaced once a year.
- The oil filter must be replaced after 300-500 hours of operation for the first time, after 2000 hours of use for the second time, and then every 2000 hours at normal time.
- When repairing and replacing the air filter or the air inlet valve, be sure to prevent any debris from falling into the main engine cavity of the compressor. During operation, close the main engine entrance. After the operation is completed, turn the main engine several times by hand in the direction of rotation to make sure there is no obstruction before starting the machine.
- The tightness of the belt must be checked every 2000 hours of operation. If the belt is loose, it must be adjusted until the belt is tightened; in order to protect the belt, it must be prevented from being scrapped due to oil contamination during the entire process.
Every time you change the oil, you must also replace the oil filter. For more information and operating points about air compressor oil change, please refer to.
By following above tips, you can effectively extend the service life of the air compressor while ensuring the stable operation of the equipment and improving production efficiency.
Contact the air compressor experts at Kotech
Kotech is the first choice for all your air compressor needs. Our team of experts is experienced and professional, and can help you solve any problem you may have on air compressors.
From selection to installation to maintenance, we can provide a complete guide including optimal advice and solutions for your project.
Contact us today to learn more about the air compressors we manufactured.