The duty cycle of a compressor refers to the amount of time that a compressor can be operated in a given span of time. Typically, compressor duty cycles are measured at 100 PSI and ambient temperatures of 72°F and are given as the percentage of time that the compressor is on compared to the time that it is off. Duty cycle is extremely important if you are planning to run through air rapidly, which would mean running your compressor more continuously to keep up air flow. A compressor with a higher duty cycle will handle heavy use much better than a compressor with a low duty cycle percentage, since the latter will burn out if you attempt to run it too frequently.