4 Air Compressor Mistakes

4 Air Compressor Mistakes

Do you make any of these mistakes below here when it comes to air compressors?

They're common. we've seen every one of these mistakes in my years in the air compressor business.

Luckily, Rastgar can prevent you from making these mistakes.

1. Ignoring daily and weekly maintenance
We know you don't actually WANT to have a compressor… but you need the compressed air! Air compressors are often forgotten about until a problem appears.

Many problems with air compressors gradually built up, they don't always just pop up out of nothing!

Of course, if you never visit your compressor to do some basic checks, you would only find out when it's too late!

Visit your compressor daily (or at least 2 times a week) and check all basic maintenance points.

2. Not keeping records
A history of your compressor is very useful when troubleshooting problems.

It's a good idea to note down the most important things every week for example. And, keep records of each and every maintenance done on the compressor: what was changed, where there any problems, what oil was used, etc.

Here are the main things to keep records of:

• Date / time
• Running hours (loaded/unloaded)
• Outlet pressure
• Ambient temperature
• Element outlet temperature
• Dew point temperature of air dryer
• Was condensate drained from all drains? How much water came out?
• Is compressed air clean and free from water, oil, rust, dirt?

Make a checklist, print it out and attach it to your compressor. You can add fields as you like. For example, if you have a VSD (variable speed) compressor, add a field for RPM or speed/capacity percentage.

Fill in the list least once a week.

3. Not knowing your real compressed air requirements
This is mainly an issue about money.

It costs money (a lot!) to compress air and to dry and clean it.

The easiest way for you to save on your compressed air costs is to reduce the pressure!

Every 1 bar (15 psi) pressure reduction  can result in yearly savings of around $10.000 for an average industrial compressor!

Do you really need 7 bar pressure?

The same can be said for water-removal filters, oil-removal filters, air dryers… do you really need them?

It's not just the cost of the filters. Every filter creates a pressure drop in the system. And without this pressure drop, you can lower your compressor's pressure setpoints.

This way, you save on running costs! 

4. Not having a backup plan
Imagine what would happen if your compressor decided to call it quits, right now?

How many hours would you be without compressed air? What would this mean for your business in terms of downtime and costs?

What if you're compressor is broken beyond repair? Do you have space and a connection for a rental compressor?

And for smaller problems, how long does it take for the compressor company to show up?

For smaller problems it's great to have some basic compressor troubleshooting skills yourself.

our experience (from back when I was a compressor mechanic) is that most compressor problems are relatively easy and quick to fix.


For example, one of the biggest air compressor problems is overheating. This is really a simple problem to diagnose, if you know what you're looking for.

With the troubleshooting guide, you just follow the flowchart and check each part one by one with the included simple instructions.