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Testing Your Air Pressure Switch Performance

Have you tested your air pressure switches and valves recently? While many valves are designed to open and close instantaneously, over time, the opening and closing process can become warped and take much longer than originally designed. This can cause serious problems with machinery, leading to leaks, machinery malfunctions, or even entire mechanical failure. By testing your air pressure switches and valves for their opening and

Testing the switches and valves is easy. Simply manually open the valves and time how long it takes them to close back up. In the case of some steam isolation valves and other air valves, it is possible that it could take the valves several minutes to several hours to close. One company that tested their valves saw one valve that remained open for over 4 hours after the factory told it to close.

Improper valve functioning can be caused by a variety of factors. One cause could be corroded parts. Corrosion can cause a part to expand by up to 20 percent, which can make the normal functions of an air pressure switch or valve harder. Older parts often tend to have more air pressure valve problems than newer systems. Springs and other moving parts slowly deteriorate over time, and it they are not monitored and maintained correctly, they will eventually fail.

If your valves and pressure switches are not performing up to speed, try replacing the components in the system. Replacing older technology with new and broken parts with working parts will go a long way toward increasing the performance of every valve and air pressure switch in a factory. Yearly maintenance on each valve and pressure switch can help prevent these problems from forming and prevent future damage and expense.