Are Air Compressors Worth Fixing?
Do you have faulty air compressors and asking if they’re worth fixing? Here’s what to know.
Commercial compressor air systems are the backbone of numerous industrial activities or manufacturing. This involves the extensive use of air compressors in places like medical facilities, commercial food service centers, manufacturing plants, etc. This shows how crucial the considerable assistance of compressed air is to today’s manufacturing processes.
But what happens if your air compressor suddenly malfunctions, unexpectedly interrupting your day-to-day business operations? Downtime will cost you a lot, and you may be forced to come down to 2 choices: fix the faulty compressor or purchase a brand new one. Which of these options should you go for?
Costs – A Crucial Factor to Consider
Before making a choice, it is crucial to consider several factors, with cost taking the top of the list. The cost of a new commercial compressor is the #1 factor to consider, whether overtime or immediately.
A brand-new air compressor will be pretty expensive. It will also take a little more money and time to install the machine, test it, and see if it performs all expected business operations. Finally, you need to consider the overall costs of running this equipment – i.e., your electricity bill. In most cases, it is a major expense, approximately 75 percent.
But then, the cost of ownership of a compressor over a 10-year life span brings the original purchase price to about 10 percent of its initial and overall cost.
The age of the faulty air compressor, its energy efficiency, especially when comparing it to newer models, overall reliability, and former repair history are crucial factors to consider before making up your mind to fix or replace the air compressor.
Fixing the Air Compressor
The first thing to do when your commercial compressor becomes faulty is to get a professional to thoroughly go over the entire system. The breakdown could be caused by a burnt plug or shorted circuit that can easily be fixed within minutes, and operations can resume.
Not all compressor breakdowns are irreparable. Your local compressed air service technician can check out the equipment and inform you of what is wrong with it.
If your compressor is relatively new and has not logged in many operational hours, fixing it makes more sense than getting another new one. Moreover, if this particular model has not been usurped by newer technology and is generally reliable, repairing it is an excellent – and the best – option.
If your organization is still at the startup stage and you can’t really afford a new air compressor, fixing the faulty machine would be a great idea. This should also be your stand if the equipment generally performs its mandated daily operations smoothly and your employees are comfortable using it every day.
However, you should bear in mind that the costs of fixing a faulty compressor significantly increase as the machine ages. This is why you should consider any repair that will cost above 50 percent of the cost of a comparable replacement.
You should also consider the operational inefficiency of your current air compressor model over newer technology. Some older models are so inefficient that you will literally be throwing your money in the river regarding energy costs, etc.
If this is the case, you may have no choice but to go for the second option: replace the air compressor.
Replace the Air Compressor
But you may need to rethink this choice if the repair indicates much bigger problems. If it has broken down more than once, the likelihood of breaking down again down the road is incredibly high.
You shouldn’t be dealing with the headaches that downtimes cause, and you may lose good business if you have to keep your clients/customers waiting from time to time due to downtimes.
New and innovative air compressors are hitting the market every day. Many of these new compressors are more energy-efficient than those used in thousands of plants worldwide.
Purchasing this new technology will save you a lot of money on electricity bills.
It is often challenging to find compatible components of older air compressor models. This is because newer technology is always discovered and built into new compressor models. The older models are no longer in production and have been practically abandoned in favor of the latest ones.
So expectedly, the production of the components or parts of old model air compressors are no longer manufactured.
Therefore, if finding the parts or components for your old model air compressor is challenging, purchasing a new or latest air compressor unit may be in order.
The air compressor may also become too small for the load of daily operations it is forced to execute. You probably started using it when your company was small.
But as your organization developed and grew, you saw no reason why you should get a new compressor to match the new demands of your company since it is still functional.
However, if the faulty air compressor is somewhat too small for your organization, this is an opportunity to replace it with a newer model. Taking this step helps future-proof your business and may put you way ahead of your competitors.
This means faster production rates and turnaround times, zero downtimes, and happier employees and customers.
Finally, you should base your decision to purchase a replacement on the plans you have for your organization. What significant growth – in terms of production, employee onboarding, etc. – do you foresee for your organization?
Putting these into perspective will reveal whether you are making a good decision to buy a newer model compressor against fixing the old one you already own.
Conclusion
Compressed air systems regularly provide responsive and consistent power to numerous end-use applications, equipment, or machines. This essential power for production plant operations helps keep employees highly productive so that every process can be completed efficiently and safely.
Air compressors can suddenly malfunction, forcing you to fix them immediately or consider replacing them. You need to weigh the benefits vs. the drawbacks of fixing your air compressor and replacing it with a brand-new one.
So, are air compressors worth fixing? Yes, they are. But you may also consider replacing it if it is an old version and a newer or tech-based option is available. It is your choice to make or decide.
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