Air Compressor Restoration

[Jeremy Greiner]

Found an air compressor at a garage sale for 25$ today I picked it up and brought it home. Everything works and no leaks, just a lot of rust and the presure gauges are pretty much unreadable.

I cleaned off a bunch of rust today, should be able to finish cleaning off the rust tomorrow and I'll start applying some primer to paint it. I'll post some updated pictures tomorrow.

-jeremy

[Josiah Bartlett]

I'm not trying to discourage you, but you should really have the tank certified before you go any further. A compressor that was allowed to rust is likely in worse shape inside the tank, and a 20 gallon tank full to 100 psi is a deadly projectile when the tank fails.

Check with a welding or diving shop to get it certified, it shouldn't cost too much.

[Jeremy Greiner]

Check with a welding or diving shop to get it certified, it shouldn't cost too much.

That's a very valid point, I wonder if it'd just be cheaper to assume the tank is bad and buy a new one something like http://www.harborfreight.com/11-gallon-portable-air-tank-65595.html

-jeremy

[Scott Hildenbrand]

Hmmm... Mount up two of those as a dualie for 22 gallons of size. Wee!

I've got an old compressor that was my grandfathers from the 50s that will need a new tank in due time. I'd brazed the bottom once already to fix a pin hole and subsequently do not use it often at all and have dropped the pressure in it.

Give it a few taps with the edge of a peening hammer on the bottom of the tank. If you end up denting it easily or feel like it's weak compared to the side then it might be a good idea.

[Jeremy Greiner]

If you end up denting it easily or feel like it's weak compared to the side then it might be a good idea.

I gave it a bunch of good solid taps and didn't dent anything, it felt very solid.

I would have figured it would spring a leak before exploding, I don't know though.

I set it aside now I have to figure out what I want to do I certianly don't want an air compressor exploding in my garage.

-jeremy

[Mark Bolton]

I gave it a bunch of good solid taps and didn't dent anything, it felt very solid.

I would have figured it would spring a leak before exploding, I don't know though.

I set it aside now I have to figure out what I want to do I certianly don't want an air compressor exploding in my garage.

-jeremy

If its not leaking highly doubt there are any issues with the tank. For a small compressor tank like that to fail catastrophically the entire end would have to blow off (weld failure) instantly which has about a .001% chance of happening. More commonly on a rusty tank you just get several pinholes that when you try to weld/braze they simply keep blowing out into bigger and bigger holes. Soon you realize that there is no way to salvage the tank. If the tank had been dented/crushed at all there may be concern but it looks to be in great shape.

The "projectile" probability of that compressor is virtually 0. You could have a valve on the end of the compressor, fill it to capacity, open the valve wide open, and it wouldnt even roll on its wheels. Its far different than an O2 bottle with 4500Psi and the valve being broken off. Now thats a doozy.

Enjoy your score, clean it up and run the he)) out of it. Nice for 25 bucks.

Mark

[Jeremy Greiner]

More commonly on a rusty tank you just get several pinholes that when you try to weld/braze they simply keep blowing out into bigger and bigger holes.

I've been reading quiet a bit on the topic and it seems the tanks that do explode, have their safety valve removed and their pressure increased with a stronger motor. From what I've read seems to support your statement that the air tank will corrode from the inside which then causes leaks which you can patch until eventually it's too much of a hassle.

Tomorrow I'm going to continue restoring it, finish cleaning off the rust and then add some rusted metal primer just in case I missed any rust then I'll paint it up.

-jeremy