Air Compressor Maintenance Checklists

worker conducting air compressor checks

Air Compressor Maintenance Checklist - Reciprocating Compressor

An air compressor maintenance checklist is used for the routine preventive inspection of air compressors. It helps engineers and safety officers and technicians to conduct daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly compressor preventive maintenance to ensure the efficient operation of air compressors. The audit checklist contains:

  1. Inspect regulator filter condition
  2. Check ambient temperature
  3. Inspect oil level and leaks
  4. Check for weird noise and vibration
  5. Check online/offline pressure
  6. View electrical connections
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air compressor maintenance checklist

Published 1 Mar 2024 Article by SafetyCulture Content Team | 4 min read

What is Air Compressor Maintenance?

Air compressor maintenance is the routine servicing of industrial air compressors. Using a digital checklist, engineers and safety officers conduct air compressor preventive maintenance on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis to ensure the optimal operation of air compressors.

Why Conduct Air Compressor Maintenance?

All air compressors need preventative maintenance to facilitate efficient energy distribution. Failing to conduct air compressor maintenance can result in unusable equipment and unnecessary delays. Additionally, faulty air compressors are not safe to use and may even cause harm or injury to workers.

1. Maintain efficiency

Air compressors are expected to operate at optimum levels within the expected run time. Scheduled air compressor maintenance by engineers can help catch issues that lead to inefficiencies, such as prolonged run time or lower compressor capacity caused by possible leakage from safety relief valves or suction valves.

2. Ensure safety

Depending on the air compressor type, unchecked air compressors can have condensed water buildup which can lead to internal corrosion and cause equipment to weaken and explode unexpectedly. Overheating of air compressors can be caused by clogged components or lack of ventilation. Conducting air compressor preventive maintenance checks can help safety officers proactively catch problems to avoid compromising the safety of workers.

3. Ensure compliance

International standards such as ISO 45001 for occupational health and safety , and OSHA standards for equipment require maintenance to ensure the safety of employees. Conducting regular preventive equipment maintenance inspections of air compressors and having proof through recordkeeping can help organizations stay compliant with international safety standards.

Perform maintenance inspections with this Air Compressor Maintenance Checklist. Download and customize for free:

Air Compressor Maintenance Checklist

3 Air Compressor Maintenance Tips

Conducting air compressor maintenance and audits, however, have some challenges, and not doing them consistently will lead to costly breakdowns. The reliability of these tasks usually falls on the safety officers and technicians. Perform routine air compressor preventive maintenance or necessary predictive maintenance by following the tips below.

1. Read the air compressor manual

It’s important to read the air compressor manual first before doing anything to the machinery because it may have additional tips that can help solve the issue and can guide the maintenance process. Even if the air compressor will be serviced by someone else, it still helps to browse through the manual to get the most use out of the air compressor and retain its warranty.

2. Check and change the oil

For air compressors that use oil, make sure that there’s adequate lubrication before operating the device. This has to be performed daily since “fresh” oil is needed for the air compressor to work. Start by turning off the air compressor. Next, remove the fill cap and the drain plug. Place a container underneath to drain the oil. Attach the new drain plug and add in the new oil. Finally, attach the new fill cap.

3. Check and change the air filter

A clean air filter is crucial to the functioning of the air compressor e.g. a clean air conditioning system. While the air filter is designed to trap and hold impurities, if not inspected, it could cause the air compressor to produce less air, and the compressed air that it does produce may even be contaminated. To make sure the filtration process is clean, allow the compressor to get cooled off, check the air filter, loosen the top screw, and remove the filter element. If it is full of dirt, put in a new one.

Other air compressor routine maintenance tips to follow:

A Digital Solution for Air Compressor Maintenance

Preventive maintenance checks of air compressors help keep them efficient and safe to operate. Proper recordkeeping of air compressor maintenance, however, is sometimes neglected or not completed regularly. SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor) , the world’s most powerful inspection app and maintenance software, is a mobile solution that can help address these challenges and more:

Inspections Not Conducted

Air compressor maintenance work can be regarded as inconvenient and not given due priority because of other urgent daily tasks.

The SafetyCulture solution:

Lack of Scheduling

Routine daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly maintenance schedules and checks can be forgotten.

The SafetyCulture solution:

Overlooked Issues

Issues can stay unchecked and unreported.

The SafetyCulture solution:

No Recordkeeping

Daily maintenance checks are filed and forgotten if they are even logged at all.

The SafetyCulture solution:

Get started for free with SafetyCulture today or download one of our featured air compressor maintenance checklist templates below.

Top Air Compressor Maintenance Checklist Templates

Inspection template Powered by

Air Compressor Preventive Maintenance Checklist Template

Use this air compressor preventive maintenance checklist to inspect multiple air compressors in operation. Use the dynamic button to enter as many compressors as possible. Take photos and add notes for each equipment.

Inspection template Powered by

Air Compressor Safety Inspection & Maintenance Checklist

An air compressor safety inspection checklist is used for periodic maintenance checks of air compressors to ensure their continued safe operation.

SafetyCulture Content Team

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SafetyCulture Content Team

SafetyCulture Content Team

The SafetyCulture content team is dedicated to providing high-quality, easy-to-understand information to help readers understand complex topics and improve workplace safety and quality. Our team of writers have extensive experience at producing articles for different fields such as safety, quality, health, and compliance.

Explore more templates

Air Compressor Preventive Maintenance Checklist Template

Use this air compressor preventive maintenance checklist to inspect multiple air compressors in operation. Use the dynamic button to enter as many compressors as possible. Take photos and add notes for each equipment.

Air Compressor Safety Inspection & Maintenance Checklist

An air compressor safety inspection checklist is used for periodic maintenance checks of air compressors to ensure their continued safe operation.