Preparing your Cooling Water System or Air Compressor for the Christmas break

Often the only time of the year a factory stops production is over the Christmas break, this may be for Christmas Day and Boxing Day or it may be for the whole period from Christmas Day right though until after New Year. Unfortunately this co-incides with some of the coldest weather of the year and when we have compressors that have run all year at + 70 degC shutdown and they cool all the way down to freezing which can give rise to condensation issues on the electrics and motors.

Here at Glaston we offer bespoke solution to help shutdown your cooling water system, or air compressor in the correct manner ensuring it is reliable on restart when required – the main points we consider are as follows:

• Make sure you shut the air compressor down in accordance with the instruction book for the particular piece of equipment. This will ensure that the unit is stopped in the correct manner – don’t be tempted to shutdown using the emergency stop unless there is an actual emergency. Emergency stopping causes the compressor to stop whichever mode it is in and this isn’t good practice as it causes undue stress. By stopping via the emergency stop also means that you / or another have to reset it when starting up again.

• If possible block any vents into the compressor room to help keep the compressor room above +5 DegC – if you have risk of the room falling below zero then we would strongly recommend additional room heating for frost protection.

• If you are operating water cooled compressors make sure your water is correctly treated with antifreeze. If not and the temperature drops, as with any water supply, it will and cause damage to the compressor and the cooling water system itself which isn’t easily repaired and can be very costly.

• Drain all air receivers to make sure there is no condensate left to sit and freeze in cold weather.

• When re-starting a compressor back up after the break, release the air to the factory slowly and in a controlled manner as rapidly refilling the system could damage your system the compressor and its ancillary equipment.

If you have any question and advice then please contact us here at Glaston.