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Compressed air leak survey log

A compressed air leak survey is a walk through the plant, usually with an ultrasonic detector, to find leaks, tag them, size them and fix them. Compressed air is expensive to make, and a leak costs money in every hour the compressor runs, including nights and weekends. This template covers the whole job: a walk sheet to log each leak, tags to print and attach, cost inputs and a size table that turn a leak into a flow and an annual cost, and a tracker with a fix-by date, a fixed date and a verified check. The Excel version works out the cost of each leak from your hours, your compressor's specific power and your electricity price, and summarises cost found and cost saved by area and size. The PDF has the walk sheet, the tags, the inputs and a worked example.

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Page 1 of the compressed air leak survey logFields for survey date, walked by, area, detector and plant running above a table with columns for tag number, area, location, type, size, measured flow, fix by, fixed on, fixed by and verified.
Survey walk sheetPrintable leak tags with stubSize class to flow tableAnnual cost per leakFix-by, fixed and verifiedCost found and saved
Filled-in Compressed air leak survey log: a made-up plant with 35 leaks found in one walk
The same sheet filled in with the worked example (page 4 of the PDF, illustrative numbers). Open full size (opens the picture in a new tab)

When to use it

When to use a leak survey log

  • For a leak walk on a weekend or a quiet shift, so that every leak found is recorded, tagged and given an owner.
  • To show what leaks cost with a figure for each one, so that maintenance can fix the costly ones first.
  • To track the fixes, the dates and the cost saved, and to repeat the walk and compare.
  • As part of an energy programme or a compressed air review, to feed an energy loss list.
  • Not for measuring compressor efficiency or sizing a compressor. This logs and costs leaks only.

How to fill it in

  1. 1

    Set the cost inputs

    Enter the hours the compressor runs in a year, its specific power in kW per cfm and your electricity price. Check the flow given for each size class against your own measurement or your supplier's orifice table.

  2. 2

    Walk when it is quiet

    Go at a break or on a weekend with the compressor running and the machines idle. Use an ultrasonic detector, or soapy water on joints. Never put a hand on a high pressure leak.

  3. 3

    Tag every leak where you find it

    Print the tags, cut them out and attach one to each leak, with the number, the area, the place on the equipment and the size. Write the same number on the walk sheet.

  4. 4

    Log and size

    One row per leak: area, location, type (fitting, hose, coupling, drain, seal, regulator, valve), size class and a fix-by date. The sheet works out the flow and the annual cost.

  5. 5

    Fix the biggest first

    Rank by cost, not by how easy the leak is to reach. When one is fixed, enter the date and who fixed it. Another person checks with the detector and marks it verified.

  6. 6

    Repeat the walk

    Leaks come back. Walk again on a schedule, compare the cost found, and find out why a leak started: a worn hose, a missing clamp or an open drain.

A filled-in example

Illustrative, not a benchmark

An invented plant walks its five areas on a Saturday and finds 35 leaks: 3 large, 12 medium and 20 small.

  • At 6,000 operating hours a year, 0.185 kW per cfm and $0.12 per kWh, one cfm of leakage costs about $133 a year.
  • The 35 leaks add up to 140 cfm and $18,648 a year, which the walk reports as about $18,600.
  • Ten days later, 21 of the 35 leaks (60%) are fixed. The large leaks and ten of the medium ones were done first.
  • Those 21 fixes already save $15,718 a year, 84% of the cost found. The 14 open leaks are small or medium.

Fixing the leaks in order of cost, not in the order they were found, is why 60% of the leaks account for most of the money. The tracker shows the other 14 and their fix-by dates.

Common mistakes

  • Walking a noisy plant

    Leaks are hard to hear over running machines. Walk when the plant is quiet, with the compressor loaded, or use an ultrasonic detector that filters the noise.

  • Tagging but not logging

    A tag with no entry in the log means nobody sees the total or the age of the leak. Every tag has a row.

  • Fixing the easy ones first

    A hissing quick-connect at head height gets fixed in a minute, but the large leak behind a guard saves more. Work down by cost.

  • No verification

    A leak marked fixed by the person who fixed it is not checked. A second look with the detector catches the leak that was only moved.

  • Assuming leaks stay fixed

    Hoses wear, couplings loosen and drains get left open. A one-off walk saves money for a few months; a repeated walk keeps it.

Download the template

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Run this template in LeanSuite

In LeanSuite a professional maintenance tag becomes a work order with photos, location and equipment ID attached, rules route it to the right technician and set its due date by priority, and the technician records the fix and the parts used when closing it.

See it in a 45-minute demo

FAQ

Compressed air leak survey log: common questions

  1. A compressed air leak survey is a walk through a plant to find, tag, size and cost compressed air leaks, then fix them. It is usually done with an ultrasonic detector on a quiet shift, with the compressor running and the machines idle.

  2. Multiply the leak's flow in cfm by the compressor's specific power in kW per cfm, by the hours a year it runs, by your price per kWh. The result is the yearly electricity cost of the leak. The flow is the uncertain part, so measure it when the decision matters.

  3. Rate it small, medium or large by what you see and hear, and give each class a flow from your own measurement or your compressor supplier's orifice table. The starting flows in this template are rough assumptions to replace.

  4. There is no fixed rule. Many plants repeat it every few months to once a year, and after major work on the air system. If the cost found keeps falling, you can lengthen the gap; if it keeps rising, find the cause.

  5. An ultrasonic leak detector is the usual tool because it picks up the high-frequency sound of a leak over background noise. Soapy water on joints also works. Walk when the plant is quiet and check couplings, hoses, drains, regulators and cylinder fittings.

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