Compressors are complex machines with their systems generating the power that fuels businesses and manufacturers all around the Region. Like any machine, they need regular maintenance and repairs to stay productive or they could break down. Victor Blowers, a service technician at CompressAir, is an expert at that maintenance and works around the clock to keep compressors all around the Region running smoothly.
Blowers started his career in the compressor industry six years ago, but not as a technician. He started off working at a manufacturer, doing tech support and training for a company making mobile air power. Eventually, he decided to shift directions and joined the team at CompressAir three years ago.
“I’d been in the industry for a little while before coming to CompressAir, so I knew the basics of an air compressor, just on a smaller scale,” he said. “I’d wanted to move on to the hands-on, technical part of the field and CompressAir really stood out in how thorough they are with their services.”
Blowers is skilled with handiwork and had a strong foundation of mechanical and electrical knowledge which helped him in his early days at CompressAir. He quickly found, however, that the most important trait for a technician is a willingness to learn and adapt quickly to new situations and techniques. It is a trait that is particularly useful when responding to emergency breakdown calls.
“Typically, we don’t have a lot of information when we’re headed out to a call,” he said. “We get there, the compressor is down, and we have to find out what the problem is. That means every call is different, but knowing things like the environment the compressor is sitting in, or what the weather is like that day can help us start solving the problem.”
Breakdowns calls are not easy and can happen at any time of the day, but they also provide one of the job’s greatest satisfactions – getting a broken compressor running again.
“The feeling of bringing a facility back to life is hard to describe,” Blowers said. “You kind of feel like a superhero. Some of these facilities lose hundreds of thousands of dollars an hour without their air, then you get to show up and save the day.”
Those moments also highlight Blower’s favorite aspect of the job - working in a field that is so essential to manufacturers of all kinds.
“Compressed air is a manufacturer’s fourth utility, without it, a company can’t continue their processes,” he said. “It’s very interesting to me because I think most people outside of the industry don’t realize how important compressed air really is. I get to see all the different industries that need compressed air and their unique ways of using it for their processes.”
When he is off the clock, Blowers enjoys spending time with his wife and two sons.
To learn more about CompressAir, visit compressair.net/.
