On July 7th, 2011 we received an email from John Roddick of Bruce Carscadden Architects in Vancouver regarding the installation location of one of our OL Series compressors for a dry pipe system John in working on. He asks:

“We have specified an OL Series Oil Less Air Compressor and were planning to locate it on our building roof. It will be in a shed (not exposed to the elements) but we do not plan to heat the space. Is this allowable with these units?”

Ray DeCecco, our customer service manager and dry pipe system air compressor expert responded:

“We recommend that our compressors (both oil less and lubricated) are not installed anywhere with temperatures going below 50F. Below 50F oil viscosity changes and proper lubrication can become an issue. Furthermore, NEVER install our compressors in an area below freezing. There are numerous problems that can occur in this case but the biggest of all is that the liquid generated during compression can freeze and once down stream can jam the system with ice plugs.”

So in short, do not install a General Air Products compressor in any area that is below 50F and NEVER below freezing. remember if freezing is an issue for your system please take a look at our Dry Air Pac which was designed specifically for these situations.

Thank you John for asking the question and for letting us post it here!

If you have questions regarding our fire protection air compressors, their installation, best practices or troubleshooting please feel free to call (800-345-8207),  email us with them or leave a comment below. We are always happy to help!