Replacement Tank Source?

[Scott Hildenbrand]

Anyone have any ideas where I can find a 20 gallon (or so) horizontal air compressor tank?

Mine, which was my fathers, and my grandfathers before that, has a pin hole in the bottom and will not pressure up.

[Bob Wingard]

Where are you located ?? I have one here that I'll probably never use, complete with a pump .. just needs a motor.

[Matt Evans]

And I think I have one as well.

[Mike Langford]

W.W.Grainger has replacement 20 gal tanks....
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/3Z409

....but they're pretty expensive! :eek: I didn't give that much for my complete 2HP/20Gal Speedaire compressor NEW!...but I did buy it about 18 yrs ago! :o ;)

[Scott Hildenbrand]

I looked at Grainger before.. I'd be better off buying a cheap direct drive, unbolting the compressor head and smashing it with a sledge then mounting my hardware onto it.

I'm down here on the far south west side of Kentucky.. Far enough from anything that getting stuff off Craigslist is at least a 3 hour drive. :p

[Dan Friedrichs]

Have you considered using a propane tank?

[Matt Evans]

Scott,

I have my spare across town at my shop. I will check the size and bring it back home today. And I will post some pictures, sizes, condition, etc.

I don't seem to remember it being really heavy, so shipping probably wouldn't be to much of an issue.

I know that when I was looking at compressors I had a hard time finding what I wanted new and at a price I was willing to pay.

I still use an old belt drive unit that has been rebuilt a few times, and wouldn't trade it for anything. It is so quiet that you can't hear it in the next room. And that is important.

[harry strasil]

I have been repairing compressor tanks for 40 years + for farmers who neglect to drain them periodically. Just scrap the paint off the outside, polish it up and braze the hole shut with bronze rod and flux. Even soft solder will work.

[Keith Outten]

Compressor tanks are ASME vessels these days. If you aren't a stamp holder you violate the ASME certification if you repair an ASME tank.

Even if it is a very old tank you still need to be careful....your talking about a bomb. A 20 gallon tank, if it ruptures, can totally destroy a two car garage. By totally destroy I mean it can blow out all four walls, it happened a few years ago here in the county where I live.

Your home owners insurance may not pay for any damage if you home or shop is destroyed/damaged and they determine that your air compressor tank was repaired improperly.
.

[Don Selke]

I am with Keith on this one, sounds like you got a ton of service from that compressor and need to replace it.
Durning my 30 years as a firefighter, I witnessed a few tank explosions and they are not pretty especially if you are in the shop when that happens. Replace it with a new unit. The pinhole leak is trying to tell you something about the interior condition of the tank.

[Dave Wagner]

Definitely not worth messing with!

http://www.cdc.gov/NIOSH/FACE/stateface/ca/05ca010.html

http://www.dli.mn.gov/ccld/BoilerIncidentsAir2.asp

[george wilson]

I saw a picture somewhere of a blown out garage wall from an exploding air tank. I mean,it was GONE!! Do be careful about this. Do you know that air tanks have a life of something like 10 years,if I recall correctly?

[harry strasil]

They will last almost forever, if you drain the condensate from them regularly. They rust from the inside out.
You can tell when they are about to rust thru, by running your hand over the painted bottom side and feel for little bumps that are caused by a pitted spot on the inside about to pop thru, sometimes its just welding spatter tho.

[Scott Hildenbrand]

Yes yes... Tanks explode.. Happened to my grandfather with a diff compressor in his old shop up in the long since gone church.

Which is why I'm looking for a replacement tank. I'd given the thought of brazing it a go.. In fact, have rods on hand.. I'd prefer not to do that though, even if the hole is dead center on the bottom and well away from seams.

There is NOTHING wrong with replacing the tank and continuing service on a fine compressor head and motor. Throwing them out without the faintest thought of servicing them quite frankly turns my stomach, and not just because of the sentimental value attached to them.

Way WAY too many things are built as throw away anymore and the fact that as a whole society is so blasted geared to the throw away mentality is disturbing.

Matt, thank you so much for the offer. If you do feel like parting with it and the shipping isn't too bad let me know how much you want for it.

[M. Dale Rockett]

I bought one from Surplus Center. www.surpluscenter.com (http://www.surpluscenter.com)

[Scott Hildenbrand]

That's a good parts source overall.. Thanks for the heads up on it, M. Dale. :)

[Matt Evans]

Well, I picked my spare up and brought it home today.

Didn't realize it weighed as much as it did! 55#!

It is not as large as I had originally thought either, only a 12 gallon tank. You judge the condition, a few rust spots on the outside, but should be functional.

Shipping to you would be $34.50, and I'd ship it out for an even $40 total. I just want it gone.

It may not be worth that much to you, and if not, scrapyard it is.

[Scott Hildenbrand]

Hmmmm.. The only down side about a smaller tank for me more frequent [but shorter] run cycles on the pump. Shouldn't be a big issue with an oil lube belt driven.

I'm sure it would be fine as far as that goes.. And the rust on the surface I can knock off and paint.. Any chance you can measure the top mounting plate though AxB so I can check if the motor and pump will mount?

[John Schreiber]

Have you considered using a propane tank?
Can you do that? I thought there was relatively ittle pressure in a propane tank because it is stored as a liquid. Also, can you make the fittings match? If it's good it sounds like a great way to extend tank volume.

[Matt Meiser]

I worked on a project where there were 13 gigantic thermal forming machines. They used 2 propane tanks on each for air receivers. One was under vacuum and one was under pressure. These were about 500 gallon tanks. When we were visiting the machine builder's plant we couldn't figure out why they had so many propane tanks--until we saw the machine. Should have heard the noise when an air hose that went to the mold burst.

[Dan Friedrichs]

Can you do that? I thought there was relatively ittle pressure in a propane tank because it is stored as a liquid. Also, can you make the fittings match? If it's good it sounds like a great way to extend tank volume.

The propane is only liquid because of the pressure it is under - IIRC, there's maybe a max of 200psi in a typical "grill-style" propane tank. However, as temperature goes up, the pressure goes up, and they must design these tanks to work in Vegas or other very hot places, so I assume there is ample safety margin above that.

I think you could probably buy fittings to match the propane thread to NPT (or whatever you want for air). See this:
http://www.bestmaterials.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=1096

You'd probably want to mount the tank upside-down so you could install a moisture-release valve on the input, as well.

[Matt Evans]

Scott,

The overall mounting plate dimension is 9" x 22 3/4".

This picture shows what I have as a setup on mine. I have a huge motor and a decent sized compressor on it.

Picture # 2 shows the mounting plate on the spare tank.

[harry strasil]

At my Blacksmith shop I have a 7.5 HP 3 ph motor and a 2 stage Quincy Compressor I drug home from the city dump on free cleanup day a number of years ago, setting on a 6 inch heavy wall pipe short tank, that then is piped into the big tank on the other side of a partition under a welding bench. I can't believe what people throw away, it must have been some widow who hired someone to clean out her husbands junk. The main tank is an old tank from a water well system, that I hydrastic tested to 250 psi. I have 3 - 125 psi pop offs in the line. I don't trust the pressure shut off that much.

[harry strasil]

I was always going to put an automatic water trap valve on it, that dumps the water everytime it shuts off, but never got around to it.

[Matt Evans]

Any luck finding one locally?

[Scott Hildenbrand]

No, nothing local. I went ahead and took a stab at brazing it though with the rods I have on hand and it patched the hole. Also beat the bottom of the tank with a ball peen hammer to check for weak spots and it looked fine.

I do have a tiny itty leak in the brazing, but it pressures up to 120 fine.

Still debating on what I want to do. If you're in a rush to chuck the tank, go ahead.. Else I can let you know definitively by Sunday.

[Matt Evans]

Not in a rush, just wondering.

I will keep it around til I hear back from you.