Bauer Compressor
Spare Parts Supplier
BM series starting-air compressors · VERTICUS, MINI-VERTICUS and PE-VE high-pressure units · water-cooled I and IB series — valves, ring sets, drains and P-filter cartridges, identified from the type plate
Bauer compressor families found on board
BAUER KOMPRESSOREN GmbH of Munich has built compressors since 1946. Among the shipboard duties of its units it lists starting air for marine diesel engines, breathing air systems in line with SOLAS, and inerting of tanks during loading and unloading. Its Shipping & Offshore range covers air-cooled and water-cooled compressors and boosters, together with the purification, storage and distribution equipment that goes with them. The cards below use Bauer's own series names and designations; rated pressure, delivery and motor data stay on the plate and in the enquiry, not on this page.
BM 5.1/30-7.5-V · BM 6.1/30-11-V · BM 10.1/30-15-V
Bauer's air-cooled, direct-coupled starting-air compressors for shipping, built with two stages in the lower pressure class. Every stage has its own safety valve, an integrated oil pump lubricates the main components, and intermediate separators with automatic condensate drainage are standard. Requests usually cover the valves for each stage, ring sets, drain valves and the elastic coupling element.
BM 20.1/40-30 · BM 30.1/40-45 · BM 60.1/40-90 · BM 70.1/40-110
The larger three-stage BM frames, which Bauer presents for ship installations, use on board and offshore duty. Classification approval by DNV, ABS or RINA is listed as an option, so a unit delivered with a class certificate is quoted with that certificate in view. A third stage means a third set of valves, rings and a third safety valve on the list.
I 15.1-7.5-V · I 15.11-11-V · I 18.1-15-V
Air-cooled high-pressure units for air and nitrogen in a vertical layout, with a self-tensioning V-belt drive and the B-DRAIN automatic drain on the intermediate and final separators. Bauer's tables list some of these designations, such as I 15.11-11-V, in two pressure classes, so the final pressure from the plate has to travel with the designation.
I 100-3-MV · I 120-5.5-MV · I 12.14-7.5-MV
Compact vertical high-pressure units for air and nitrogen. Bauer offers an integrable P 61 or P 81 purification system on them, so the cartridge type and the filter housing belong in the same request as the valves, piston rings and V-belt.
PE 100-3-VE · PE 120-5.5-VE · PE 180-15-VE
Bauer's compact high-pressure package for air and nitrogen where space is tight, delivered with B-CONTROL MICRO control and B-DRAIN as standard. The -VE-420 builds are separate designations in Bauer's tables, so copy the ending in full rather than shortening it to the family name.
IB 23.0-30 · I 26.0-55 · I 52.0-110 · B 26.4-55
Water-cooled high-pressure units for air and nitrogen, plus the B 26 medium-pressure counterpart. Bauer describes targeted water cooling of the block, the valve heads, the intercoolers and the aftercoolers on these series, built on its BK 23 to BK 52 blocks, and says its block design makes cylinder water jackets unnecessary. A plate heat exchanger set is offered to keep seawater out of the compressor circuit.
Where a Bauer unit asks for parts
Bauer's own literature talks about maintenance intervals for valves, piston rings and oil changes on its blocks, with filter cartridges on top wherever a purification system is fitted. Which one comes due first depends on duty: on a BM starting-air unit the valves and drains lead the list, on a breathing-air unit the cartridges do. Where a refrigeration dryer sits ahead of the cartridges, the dew point calculator converts the pressure dew point read after it to the atmospheric dew point, or back, for the pressure of the line.
Valve wear in the upper stages
Each added stage brings a valve working against a higher pressure, and a leaking final-stage valve is what turns a filling run into a long one. A rising interstage reading, a stage safety valve that lifts, or a longer filling time point that way. On the water-cooled I, IB and B 26 series Bauer cools the valve heads to extend valve life, so on those units the cooling-water side deserves a look whenever valves wear early.
Cartridge saturation
A molecular-sieve cartridge stops drying once it is saturated with moisture, and on a breathing-air line that is a safety issue, not a comfort one. Bauer's optional B-SECURUS monitor measures moisture in the sieve and shuts the unit down at saturation, so an unplanned stop on a monitored unit is checked against the cartridge before the compressor is opened. Bauer also offers the B-KOOL refrigeration dryer, which takes most of the moisture out ahead of the filter to extend cartridge life.
Condensate that is not discharged
Bauer fits automatic drains on the intermediate and final separators — B-DRAIN with solenoid valves on MINI-VERTICUS, VERTICUS and PE-VE units, automatic condensate drainage as standard on the BM series. A drain that sticks closed sends water on into the next stage and into the cartridge; one that sticks open costs delivery. Drain solenoids and their seals go on the same list as the valves.
Rings, cylinders and oil
On the BK blocks Bauer pairs plasma-nitrided cylinders with chrome-plated piston rings and uses single-acting plungers to keep blow-by down. Rising oil consumption, oil in the condensate or a crankcase that breathes hard are the early signs that a ring set is due. The oil filter and an oil change go with every ring job.
V-belts and couplings
MINI-VERTICUS, VERTICUS and PE-VE units run on a V-belt that a motor rocker keeps under tension, while BM units and the BK-block water-cooled series are direct-coupled through an elastic coupling. A glazed belt or a worn coupling element keeps a unit down as surely as a broken valve, so state which drive the unit has.
Wear parts, purification items and overhaul components
Bauer units are multi-stage, so valves, rings and safety valves are listed per stage. Purification items are listed per filter system, because the cartridge follows the filter housing, not the compressor.
- Suction and pressure valves per stage, valve heads and valve seals
- Piston ring sets per stage, pistons and plunger items
- Cylinders per stage, as shown in the unit parts list
- Stage safety valves and the final safety valve
- Intermediate and final separator items, B-DRAIN and drain solenoid valves
- Filter cartridges for P 41, P 61 and P 81 systems, by cartridge type
- B-SECURUS monitoring items and pressure-maintaining check valve parts
- PX coalescing and activated-carbon filter elements
- Intake filter elements and oil filters
- V-belts for MINI-VERTICUS, VERTICUS and PE-VE, elastic coupling elements for direct-coupled units
- Intercooler, aftercooler and heat-exchanger items on water-cooled units
- Gauges and sensors for B-CONTROL monitoring, gasket and O-ring sets
What to read off a Bauer unit before asking
The type plate is the starting point, but on a Bauer unit the purification system and the control panel carry information of their own. With the items below an enquiry can be worked stage by stage and cartridge by cartridge; how a plate photograph turns into a priced list is set out on the how we work page.
- Unit designation exactly as on the type plate, ending included — for example BM 10.1/30-15-V or I 120-5.5-MV
- Serial number from the type plate, and the year of build where it is shown
- Final pressure and safety valve setting as marked — Bauer repeats some designations across pressure classes
- Mains frequency and motor plate data — several BM frames carry a different designation for each frequency
- Gas compressed — air, nitrogen, or a helium or argon version
- Duty on board — starting air, breathing air or tank inerting
- Cooling — air-cooled, or water-cooled with or without a plate heat exchanger set
- Purification system — P 41, P 61, P 81, PX, SECCANT or B-KOOL — and the reference printed on the used cartridge
- Control unit fitted — B-CONTROL MICRO, B-CONTROL-C MICRO, B-CONTROL-C II or B-CONTROL III
- Class certificate where the unit was delivered with DNV, ABS or RINA approval, plus a photograph of the removed part beside the plate
Tools for this equipment: the pressure gauge selector for the stage gauges and the thread identifier for the pipe and drain connections. For a receiver or cylinder bank filled by the compressor, the air receiver calculator gives the filling time from its volume and the compressor delivery.
Supply route review for Bauer compressors
A Bauer unit is a compressor, a purification train and a controller on one frame. Each of the three is checked against its own evidence before a reference is fixed against any line.
Designation, pressure class and frequency together
Because Bauer's tables reuse some designations across pressure classes and give several BM frames a different designation for each mains frequency, the designation is never read on its own. The final pressure and the motor data from the plate settle which build the parts are for.
Breathing-air items stay on the maker's reference
Filter cartridges, B-SECURUS items and anything downstream of the final separator on a SOLAS breathing-air line are matched to Bauer's own references, with the owner's air-quality records kept in view. Belts, gaskets, gauges and drain seals are where an equivalent-source route can be examined, subject to the owner's approval list.
Starting-air and breathing-air lists kept apart
One ship can carry a BM starting-air unit and a high-pressure breathing-air unit from the same maker. Nothing is assumed to carry over between them, so each unit gets its own list under its own serial even when one requisition covers both.
Water-cooled units: coolers, not jackets
On the I, IB and B 26 series Bauer routes the cooling water to the block, the valve heads, the intercoolers and the aftercoolers, and its literature says the block design needs no cylinder water jackets. A cooling-side enquiry is therefore mostly about cooler and heat-exchanger items and their seals, and where seawater is used it helps to say whether the plate heat exchanger set is fitted.
Older units
For a unit that has been on board for many years, the serial number, a page from the parts list or an earlier order line for the same serial is the evidence to send. Where the plate has been painted over, a photograph of the removed part with any markings on it is the next best witness.
Bauer compressor parts — questions from the engine room
Which Bauer compressors are found on merchant ships?
Among the shipboard duties Bauer lists are starting air for marine diesel engines, breathing air systems in line with SOLAS, and inerting of tanks during loading and unloading. For starting air it lists the BM series as air-cooled starting-air compressors for shipping; for high-pressure air and nitrogen its Shipping & Offshore range includes VERTICUS, MINI-VERTICUS, PE-VE and the water-cooled I and IB series. Send the designation exactly as it appears on the type plate.
How should a Bauer designation such as I 120-5.5-MV be read?
Copy it in full, ending included, and do not decode it on its own. In Bauer's tables MINI-VERTICUS designations end in -MV, PE-VE units come as -VE and as separate -VE-420 builds, and a -V ending appears both on VERTICUS units and on the two-stage BM frames. The same designation can also appear in more than one pressure class, and several BM frames take a different designation for each mains frequency, so the final pressure and motor data from the plate are needed alongside it.
Which filter cartridge does a Bauer breathing-air unit take?
That depends on the purification system, not on the compressor. Bauer's P 41, P 61 and P 81 cartridge systems, its external P-filter systems, PX filters and SECCANT dryers each take their own elements, and the cartridge type decides whether moisture, oil vapour or carbon monoxide is dealt with. Send the filter system name and the reference printed on the used cartridge, and say whether a B-SECURUS monitor is fitted.
What should a Bauer overhaul enquiry contain?
List the items per stage — suction and pressure valves, piston ring sets, cylinders where needed and the stage safety valves — then add the condensate drain valves, the oil filter, the V-belt or coupling element, and the gasket and O-ring set. Bauer mentions maintenance kits for the BM series; if the manual gives a kit reference, quote it alongside the individual lines.
Does a water-cooled Bauer unit need cylinder-jacket parts?
Usually not. Bauer's literature says its block design makes cylinder water jackets unnecessary, and on the I, IB and B 26 series it describes targeted water cooling of the block, the valve heads, the intercoolers and the aftercoolers. Cooling-side items are therefore mostly cooler, heat-exchanger and seal parts; the parts list for the serial number settles the rest, and where the circuit uses seawater it helps to state whether a plate heat exchanger set is fitted.
Is Vessel Core connected to Bauer?
No, and there is no agreement of any kind. Vessel Core holds no distribution, representation or partnership agreement with Bauer, and quoting a component against one of its designations implies no approval by the maker and no claim of interchangeability.
Send the type plate — the list is built from it.
Send the designation as it stands on the plate, the serial number, the duty (starting air, breathing air or nitrogen), the purification system and cartridge reference, and the port or ETA. Each line is then checked against the stage or filter housing it belongs to before a reference is fixed.
