Combining over 20 years of expertise, resources and skills, Plummer Compressors provides services that are tailored specifically to support your business efficiently and effectively.

Something’s in the air

Oftentimes clients will approach Plummer due to issues with air quality or air pressure. This may be an issue you’ve experienced intermittently that has slowly grown over time, or perhaps is fine one day but not the next – with no clear cause. Low air pressure is usually a key signifier to an issue, which may be a factory-wide problem or more likely an issue isolated to one machine.

What are the first steps?

When you engage the services of Plummer, the first step is to always discuss and understand your problem, which will be unique to you and your business. This can be conducted by phone to identify key issues, after which we may offer suggestions to help you identify the root cause of the problem. This is a great way for business owners and managers to be more aware of issues they may face going forward so that they can troubleshoot and rectify any problems before they become critical.

If the problem is more complex or requires more resources than you have available, Plummer can organise a site visit to help scope the issue. During the site visit, it’s imperative for Plummer to be shown everything which may help the investigation including the machine/s in question, what exactly is happening, and when it is happening. There are generally a lot of questions asked during these site visits to ensure we have a detailed knowledge of your operations. By viewing the actual machine(s), we will be able to gain valuable insights into air usage and how the air supply to it is configured.

Proposing a tailored solution

After completing a site visit, we will likely have a good sense of the potential root causes. Sometimes it can be a little more challenging if a problem is intermittent, but if this is the case we can offer data logging which is usually conducted during a time period sufficient to capture most operations within the factory. Care needs to be taken to record the correct information e.g. pressures and airflow, at what location and what time resolution.

Compressed air systems are dynamic systems, so pressure will vary with compressed air flow rate. What may be fine one day, maybe a problem on the next due to differing air consumption. It is not uncommon for site personnel to have a good sense of what the problems are, but having actual data and graphs typically proves pivotal to support recommendations for remedying the issues at hand.

Plummer Compressors is well-positioned to provide accurate data and expert analysis with multiple pressure, flow, and compressor data loggers available.

Services customised to your needs

We are big believers in tailored and customised solutions. No two factories are the same, and therefore our services are customisable to suit the needs of the issue at hand as opposed to a one-size-fits-all solution.

Plummer Compressors prides itself on providing accurate information and data regarding the pros and cons of various solutions. Our mission is to ensure the best outcome and service for each individual situation and customer, rather than shoehorning clients into a fixed product or service.

By educating our customers and compressed air users as we work together on a solution, we aim to ensure they have accurate and relevant information to make the best decision for their needs. We empower our clients to understand the problem, the solution and how it works best for their needs.

Through our consultation process and site visits, we engage with each client to obtain all the relevant information and date required. By combining this with our expertise, knowledge and training, the Plummer Compressors team is well-versed to provide the best advice for each of our customers on a case-by-case basis.

24/7 Support

Our customers benefit from 24-hour support for air compressor breakdowns and maintenance.  Calls to one number – 09 2743550 – reach our technicians along with our extensive range of stand-by air compressors to restore your production facilities promptly.

New Compressor Not Required

Project Description:

Metalcraft Insulated Panels Ltd requested the services of Plummer Compressors to investigate an intermittent problem with their compressed air system. It was suspected that the compressor may have become too small for the growing requirements of the factory.
In order to properly understand the situation Plummer Compressors recommended that a data logger be installed on the air compressor to record actual factory air demand over the course of a week or more.

Analysis of the data revealed the following:

• Compressor average duty cycle was less than 40%
• Nil production demand was approx. 15% of compressor capacity
• Intermittent large spikes in demand were noted

Plummer Compressors carried out further investigation to identify the source of the  spikes in air demand and ultimately it was traced to a vacuum lifter for sheets of metal,  which has 52 vacuum cups with 26 compressed air powered venturi vacuum pumps. 

Three issues became apparent during our observations & research:

Old Style Vacuum Cup

1. Some of the vacuum cups were in a deteriorated condition
2. The vacuum cups were a convoluted type that were not always holding the sheet in a stable manner, whereas the original cups were the flat type
3. During lifting of shorter sheets of metal some of the vacuum cups do not press on to metal sheet but are left exposed – creating a huge vacuum leak

Metalcraft carried out Plummer Compressors recommendations to replace the vacuum  cups with flat cups with an internal shut-off valve that open only on contact with a lifting  surface. There was no loss in cup performance even with ridges on the metal sheets.  Air pressure to the new cups could be reduced due to the improved performance with no  open cups, which resulted in a decrease in air consumption. 

Follow-up logging showed a drop in peak air demand, leaving spare compressor  capacity for future requirements. Metalcraft were very happy they called on the  expertise of Plummer Compressors to analyse, diagnose and resolve their problem  without pressure for the purchase of a new compressor.