🔍 Key Concepts

• How a dirty or clogged air filter affects air flow into a compressor • Relationship between restriction in the intake and pressure measured between filter and compressor (more negative vs less negative) • How reduced air flow changes the run time of the compressor to satisfy the same demand

💭 Think About

• If the filter is partially blocked, what happens to the effort needed to draw in the same amount of air? Think about how that affects the pressure in the intake line. • With less air getting through the filter for each stroke or revolution, would the compressor satisfy a given air demand faster or slower? • Compare how the intake pressure would look on a gauge when air flows easily versus when it is being pulled through a restriction.

✅ Before You Answer

• Be clear on what "more negative" intake pressure means (greater suction / greater vacuum). • Decide whether a clogged filter increases or decreases suction at the compressor inlet for the same air demand. • Decide whether a harder-breathing compressor will run longer or shorter to maintain the same system pressure and flow.