An air compressor is easy to ignore right up until it stops the job. The portable units bounce between vans, trailers and sites; the workshop unit hums in a corner and gets serviced when somebody remembers; and the receiver underneath it - a pressure vessel - quietly accumulates condensate and, in many countries, legal inspection obligations. Most firms do not lose compressors so much as lose the story of them: when it was last drained, whose van it rode out in, and whether that knocking started last week or last winter.
What you will learn
- Why compressors fall off the radar
- Labelling compressors
- What to record per unit
- Service logs and pressure-vessel inspections
- Portable units: vans, crews and check-outs
- Tools that make this easier
- FAQ
Why compressors fall off the radar
Compressors are background equipment - they support the work rather than being the work, and background equipment gets background record-keeping:
- They live in van racking. A small portable unit can sit in one van for a year, mentally reclassified from “company asset” to “part of the van”.
- Maintenance is invisible until it isn’t. Skipped oil changes and undrained receivers do not announce themselves; they show up later as a seized pump or a rusted tank.
- Fixed units belong to nobody. The workshop compressor has no holder, so no one owns its service schedule.
- Repairs scatter the paperwork. The pump rebuild invoice is in accounts, the filter receipts are in a glovebox, and none of it is attached to the unit it describes.
The pattern is the same throughout: the unit is fine, the record is missing. So build the record where the unit lives.
Labelling compressors
Start with what the manufacturer already gave you. The nameplate carries the serial number, tank capacity and maximum working pressure - photograph it and record those details on day one, because nameplates on units that live outdoors corrode into illegibility exactly when you need them.
Then add your own identity on top:
- Your asset ID on a QR label turns “the green compressor” into a specific unit with a history. Place it on the shroud or a flat face of the tank end - visible, but away from the pump head and motor, which run hot, and away from anything that weeps oil.
- Do not cover the nameplate. Your label and the maker’s plate answer different questions; keep both readable.
- Match stock to environment. Laminated polyester for workshop and van life; metal-backed labels for trailer-mounted units that live in the weather.
Tip: record the serial and the maximum working pressure from the nameplate into the register the day a unit arrives. It takes one minute while the plate is clean, and saves a wire-brush archaeology session years later.
What to record per unit
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Asset ID | The number on the label - what gets quoted when a unit is reported faulty |
| Make, model, type | Piston or screw, portable or fixed - determines service items and intervals |
| Serial number | From the nameplate; needed for warranty, parts and examination paperwork |
| Tank size and max pressure | Defines which jobs it suits and which inspection rules apply |
| Service parts | Oil grade, filter part numbers - the van stock to have before the service, not after |
| Last service date (and hours) | The baseline for “due or fine” decisions |
| Current holder or location | Van 3, workshop, or the site it went out to |
| Condition notes and documents | Examination certificates, repair invoices and fault photos on the record |
Service logs and pressure-vessel inspections
Compressor maintenance is mundane and relentless: drain the condensate, change the oil and filters, check belts and hoses. The register’s job is to make the routine visible - each entry dated, with what was done and the hour reading where the unit has a meter.
The receiver adds a layer most tools do not have. A compressed-air tank is a pressure vessel, and in many countries pressure systems above certain size and pressure thresholds fall under statutory examination regimes - in the UK, for example, a written scheme of examination. The thresholds and intervals vary by country, so check what applies locally; what does not vary is that the examination certificate should live on the unit’s own record, dated, with the next examination noted. An inspector, an insurer or a buyer will ask for it, and “attached to the asset” is the only filing system that survives staff turnover.
Portable units: vans, crews and check-outs
Fixed units need an owner for their schedule; portable units need a holder, full stop. The rule: every portable compressor is in the workshop or checked out to exactly one van, person or site.
- Issue: record who took it and when. Open-ended is fine for a unit that lives in a van - the point is that the register names the van.
- Transfer: crew swaps get logged as transfers, not handshakes.
- Return: capture condition and any faults at check-in, while the person who heard the knocking is standing in front of you.
- Recover: the open check-out list is your end-of-job sweep. Anything still out has a name attached.
The same van-stock logic applies to the rest of the load bed - pressure washers disappear into van racking by exactly the same route.
Tools that make this easier
A spreadsheet compressor log decays at a predictable rate: the service column is updated for the first three months, the location column was true once, and the examination certificate is in someone’s email. Spreadsheets are edited at desks, and compressors live everywhere except desks.
An asset management tool like AMPthilly keeps the record on the machine: each unit gets a profile with serial, purchase details, custom fields for things like oil grade and hour readings, and attached documents - certificates, invoices, fault photos. A printable QR label on the shroud opens that profile in any phone browser, no app install, where a crew member can check the unit in or out or report a fault with photos; faults become tickets tied to the asset, and the whole history stays on the record permanently. The free plan covers 3 users and 25 assets - enough to register every compressor and pressure washer you own before paying anything. See /features/ for the full picture.
FAQ
How do I keep track of air compressors across vans and sites? Register every unit with an ID, serial and label, and keep each portable one checked out to a single van, person or site. The check-out record is the system.
What maintenance records should I keep for an air compressor? Oil and filter changes with parts used, drain routine, belt checks, and repairs with invoices - dated, all on the unit’s record.
Where should an asset label go on a compressor? Shroud or tank end, away from hot and oily surfaces, and never over the manufacturer’s nameplate.
Do air compressors need formal inspections? Often, yes - receivers are pressure vessels and many countries mandate periodic examination above certain thresholds. Check local rules and keep certificates on the unit’s record.
How do I track who has each portable compressor? Check-out and return with one named holder at a time, transfers logged, and the open check-out list used as the recovery sweep.
The takeaway
Compressors reward boring discipline. Capture the nameplate on day one, label the unit, log every service against it, keep the examination certificate on the record, and make sure each portable unit always has a named holder. None of it is hard - and it is the difference between a register you trust and a fleet you rediscover every January.