Tech Tip: Air Breather Maintenance

“Air breather maintenance is more important than you think. Ignoring it can lead to a nasty situation, which can be described as lubricating your crusher with ‘sandpaper-laced’ oil. Don’t forget to inspect air breathers weekly and clean out any dirt and debris. Then replace the air breather with a new one every month or two,” says Curt Theisen, crushing technical support engineer for Superior Industries. He explains why proper air breather maintenance is key to protecting cone crusher performance.

“Unfortunately, the air breather is a commonly neglected component,” says Theisen, as he shares the following example: When attending a crusher service training school, one of the participants wondered why his facility consistently had problems with dirty oil in the crusher lube system. He swore up and down that his crew was managing everything on the maintenance checklist.

When a fellow trainee offered to take a look at the crusher, it took only seconds for him to say, “I can tell you right now that you haven’t been checking your air breathers.” He pointed to the accumulation of thick, hardened dirt and debris sitting on top of the air breather itself. Obviously, no one had removed the air breather cap in order to inspect it in quite some time. Lesson learned.