An Air Compressor Maintenance Guide for Businesses in Trafford Park and Greater Manchester
In the industrial centres of Trafford Park and across Greater Manchester, compressed air is the indispensable fourth utility that drives production.
At Search Air, with over 78 years of experience supporting regional industries, we understand that the reliability of this utility depends on one vital discipline: professional air compressor maintenance.
Treating maintenance as just another line-item expense is a critical oversight. A proactive maintenance programme is, in fact, a strategic investment. It allows you to boost everything from operational resilience, to profitability and workplace safety.
Why Maintenance Matters for Local Industry
Neglecting proactive care for your compressed air system leads to predictable and compounding costs.
For the automotive and manufacturing firms that are the backbone of Trafford Park’s economy, a professional maintenance strategy delivers clear returns.
- Slash Energy Bills: A dirty, poorly maintained compressor has to work harder and uses more energy. Air leaks in the system can account for a staggering 20-30% of the total compressor output, which is used to compensate for lost volume. In turn, the machine must run for extended periods to maintain pressure. Regular filter changes prevent reduced pressure, which causes the motor to work overtime. It’s as simple as that. Good maintenance = less energy use.
- Maximise Uptime & Productivity: Unexpected downtime can bring production to a standstill. Miss a window, and you risk missed deadlines and even lost customers. With a preventive maintenance plan, servicing happens during planned shutdowns. Keeping you in control of your schedule.
- Extend Equipment Lifespan: An industrial air compressor is a major investment. So protecting it is only logical. Regular servicing with the right lubricants and parts keeps critical components like the airend and motor bearings from wearing out too soon – giving you a longer lifespan and a more reliable performance.
- Preserve Product Integrity and Brand Reputation: For Greater Manchester’s food and beverage producers, unfiltered air is a hidden threat. A strong maintenance plan – covering regular checks of oil separators and filtration – is essential. It keeps you compliant with food safety and quality standards like ISO 8573-1 and safeguards your brand reputation.
Identifying the advantages is one aspect. Businesses need to institute a systematised, forward-looking maintenance regime to capture the value.
Key Maintenance Tasks: Daily to Annual
Maintenance works best as a mix. Daily checks catch the small issues before they grow. Scheduled servicing takes care of the rest, keeping performance steady. For anything specific, the manufacturer’s manual is your guide.
Daily & Weekly Operator Checks
The first line of defence is your on-site team.
Routine, simple checks can identify developing problems before they escalate into full-blown failures. These include:
- Visually inspect for oil and air leaks.
- Check oil level in sight glass.
- Drain condensate from receiver tank and filters (if not automatic)
- Observe gauges for normal operating temperature and pressure
- Listen for abnormal noises or vibrations.
- Keep intake vents clean to prevent dust from clogging coolers
- Inspect inlet air filters and clean or replace as needed.
Professional Scheduled Maintenance
More involved maintenance is technical in nature and should be accomplished by a certified technician at intervals based on operating hours or calendar time.
- Air/Inlet Filter: Replace regularly to keep contaminants out of the lubricant – a simple step that protects the bearings and other moving parts from wear and damage.
- Oil Filter: This helps remove contaminants from the lubricant, and changing it on time helps safeguard the bearings and other moving parts against damage and premature wear.
- Lubricant / Oil: This is absolutely critical for cooling and sealing. But if there is any oil left in the system for too long, it can be an issue. It degrades and can lead to varnishing, overheating, and catastrophic failure of many components.
- Air / Oil Separator: Replaced to prevent oil carryover into the air line, which would contaminate and damage downstream components.
- Cooler Cleaning: This removes grime that has built up on the cooling fins. Failure to clean the cooler is the primary cause of overheating and shutdown.
An Air Compressor Maintenance Guide for Businesses in Trafford Park and Greater Manchester
Compliance with UK Regulations (PSSR 2000)
Operating a compressed air system in the UK is a legal matter. The Pressure Systems Safety Regulations (PSSR) 2000 are in place to prevent serious injury from the hazard of stored energy, and compliance is mandatory.
The regulations are triggered if your system contains compressed air at a pressure greater than 0.5 bar. A key threshold is the calculation of ‘bar litres’ (safe working pressure in bar × vessel volume in litres). If any pressure vessel in your system has a product greater than 250 bar litres, you are legally required to have a Written Scheme of Examination (WSE).
The WSE is a formal document, certified by a “Competent Person,” that details the parts of the system requiring examination, the nature of the examination, and the maximum interval between inspections.
Failure to comply can result in intervention by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), significant fines, and invalidation of business insurance policies.
Legal compliance is only one side of the equation. Significant cost savings are possible through strategic system optimisation.
Optimising Energy Efficiency with Leak Detection and VSD
A well-maintained compressor is the foundation of an efficient system, but proper optimisation unlocks significant financial advantages.
- Leak Management: Air leaks are a constant drain on energy. A professional survey using ultrasonic detectors – offered as part of our compressed air leak detection service – can identify leaks that cost thousands annually in wasted electricity.
- VSD Technology: Traditional compressors run in extremes. They are either off or at full capacity. A Variable Speed Drive (VSD) compressor works differently. A good example is the Atlas Copco GA VSD+ series. It adjusts motor speed to match real-time demand, cutting out wasteful idling. The result is big savings, with energy use reduced by 35–50%. For businesses with variable loads or shifting schedules, the payoff is fast – often achieving ROI within 12 to 18 months.
- Advanced Monitoring & Recovery: Modern systems give manufacturers powerful ways to boost compressor efficiency. Atlas Copco’s SMARTLINK remote monitoring, for example, delivers real-time alerts and energy data straight from your equipment. There’s also the matter of heat. Around 80–90% of the electrical energy a compressor uses is turned into heat. But that doesn’t have to go to waste. With the right setup, this energy doesn’t go to waste – it can be recovered and reused. Common uses include heating washroom water and warming warehouses. The recovered energy can also be fed back into the system to preheat boiler water.
Troubleshooting Common Compressor Issues
Even with a solid plan, problems can still crop up from time to time.
In this guide, we’ll take you through some common problems and how on-site teams carry out the first round of diagnostics.
- Problem: Compressor Won’t Start
- Possible Causes: No power, tripped circuit breaker, low oil level safety switch, faulty pressure switch.
- When to Call a Professional: If power is confirmed and the unit only hums or immediately trips the breaker, indicating a potential motor or capacitor failure.
- Problem: Low/No Air Pressure
- Possible Causes: High air demand, major system leak, clogged intake filter, slipping belts.
- When to Call a Professional: If pressure builds slowly or not at all after basic checks, this may indicate internal wear or a control system malfunction.
- Problem: Overheating / High-Temp Shutdown
- Possible Causes: Poor ventilation, blocked coolers, or using the wrong oil type.
- When to Call a Professional: If overheating continues even after cleaning the coolers and checking oil levels, it likely points to an internal fault such as a failing thermostatic valve.
- Problem: Oil in Air Lines (Carryover)
- Possible Causes: Too much oil in the sump, a failed air/oil separator, or a clogged oil return line.
- When to Call a Professional: If the issue doesn’t clear up after adjusting oil levels, the separator probably needs replacing. This is a job for a qualified technician.
Why Partner with a Local Expert like Search Air
Choosing the right maintenance partner is key. As a local provider of air compressor services in Manchester, Search Air offers benefits that go beyond simple repairs. Our commitment is secured by our structure as an Employee Ownership Trust, ensuring every team member is invested in your success.
Representing Atlas Copco as a Premier Distributor gives you access to the best technology in the market. Atlas Copco’s products offer a better lifecycle cost of ownership than our competitors, and our digital tools are utilised by the region’s most heavily regulated industries.
Our emergency repairs are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our energy efficiency audits and customised service plans help keep your system operating productively and compliantly. These plans offer budgeting certainty and clarify your total air compressor maintenance costs.
Get Expert Maintenance Support in Greater Manchester
Ready to reduce costs, increase uptime, and ensure full legal compliance?
- 📞 Book a free compressed air energy audit.
- 📋 Request a PSSR Written Scheme consultation.
- 🔧 Schedule planned maintenance for any compressor brand.