Think about what might happen if an important mission-critical pneumatic system of yours suddenly went down for the count. Would you be able to do any work at all? How would your business adapt?
Fortunately, there are a number of steps you can take to prevent this kind of thing from happening. In many cases, all you need is an observant eye to reduce the risk of catastrophic failure. Modern pneumatic gear from SMC Pneumatics is quite reliable, so you should normally find that it doesn’t often break down when used as directed.
That being said, we invite you to take a look at the following reasons you might experience at least some degree of failure. Then you want to know about repairing or replacing the parts as necessary.
Reasons That Pneumatic Systems Fail
Some reasons are much more common than others, but we’ve taken the opportunity to include reasons for all different commonalities. Keep each of these in mind while you go through and check all of the components attached to your existing pneumatic installation.
1. Clogged Up With Contaminates
All air contains at least some degree of debris, and this is especially true of air in any situation where there’s an ambient supply of dust. In some cases, there’s also a chance that you might have gotten paint particles or another type of debris in your system. You’ll want to install the appropriate type of air filters to prevent this sort of problem from coming to a head.
Taking a few moments to clean up your operations. You might just need to clean the exterior of all of your pieces of equipment to ensure that you won’t have to deal with that much debris floating around in the stream of air fed by your compressor or cylinder.
Those who’ve taken the initiative and installed stainless steel components are more than likely in a better situation since they can usually clean these quite easily. It doesn’t often take much to wipe down stainless parts, and they have a lower risk of corrosion than other components. Nevertheless, this is a serious problem.
2. Pneumatic Parts Have Become Corroded
Oxidization is a constant threat of anyone who works with metal objects. All parts that contain iron, even those that are made from genuine stainless steel, have the possibility of corroding.
Iron oxide in the form of rust can eat away at pneumatic equipment. Keeping the humidity level down and replacing parts as they fail is an important part of maintaining any piece of compressed air-driven equipment.
Nevertheless, authentic stainless steel components do have a drastically lower risk of corrosion than those made from most other materials.
3. Not Properly Lubricated
In a majority of cases involving lubrication, technicians skimped on how much they applied and didn’t add enough to an air circuit. That eventually makes the components rub up against one another and either work at less than peak efficiency or flat out fail.
On the other hand, too much lubricant is not only a waste but it can also start to gum up the equipment since it might mix with debris and start to splatter. In extreme circumstances, lubricant oil can actually start to leak out of cracks and seams. It’s not exactly an easy mess to clean up, so it’s not something you want to fool around with.
By making sure to use a good solid lubricator filled with just the right type of material, you’ll go a long way toward increasing the longevity and efficiency of any piece of compressed air-driven equipment your organization elects to work with.
4. Operating Out Of Spec
One of the most dangerous things you could do with pneumatic equipment is to use it in a way that’s not consistent with its labeling. You should always make sure that any time you power up a device you aren’t exceeding the maximum recommended amount of pressure. The same goes for vacuum-based devices, albeit in the opposite direction. Doing so can greatly damage your system and potentially even cause injury, so always check the label before you do anything.
5. Springing A Leak
Eventually even the best nylon or PU air line is going to give out. Time wears out the finest things, so you need to be on top of any potential leaks. Replace all worn components and air hoses. Technicians should check all of their connections and pneumatic actuators each time they power up a system. Over time, skilled tech staffers may actually learn to listen for leaks. Escaping air makes an extremely noticeable sound that’s rather different from air being exhausted from any legitimate port.
6. Poor Maintenance Of Pneumatic Equipment
A majority of industrial and entertainment businesses have at least some kind of maintenance schedule in place, but unfortunately it can be difficult to stick to it. That means that people may often rush through their tasks in order to make room for other things they have to do that day. You might find that setting aside at least some time each working day to maintain your equipment can drastically reduce the chances of a catastrophic breakdown.
7. Insufficient Or Incorrect Maintenance Procedures
On the other hand, there are companies that dedicate plenty of time to maintenance but don’t really do what they need to be doing. Budget some time to go through all the documentation that came with the equipment you’re using to see if there are any adjustments you can make to your schedule. If you can’t find it, then you might want to use our handy database.
8. Clogged Air Filters
While you’re taking the time to check everything else, just spend a few moments wiping down the equipment and cleaning the filters out. In many cases, people will install a sufficient number of filters but they won’t actually ever clean them out. Clogged filters can be just as bad as clogged pieces of equipment, so taking just a few moments to wipe these down or replace spent ones can potentially double your flow rate and increase the amount of pressure built up in your system.
Replace Worn Pneumatic Actuators With Selection From SMC Pneumatic
Failures are never fun, and in many cases, they can potentially be very dangerous. Whether you need air hoses, actuators, pneumatic switches or other pieces of equipment to prevent breakdowns you can count on SMC Pneumatics to provide you with all of it.
No matter what kind of damage you might be dealing with, make sure to contact us using our online form so our experienced representatives can get you the equipment you need. You might even be able to keep your existing system running longer than you had ever thought possible