Air Compressor - Rust Question

[Kevin Herber]

I have a CH 13 gallon compressor that is about 5 years old. Works fine but the pressure regulator valve started leaking. I took it off and saw that there was quite a bit of rust in the male to male connector between the tank and the valve.

I do not use this very often and so don't drain out the water very often either. I replaced the regulator valve and drained what water there was - not a lot, maybe a few ounces. It was red but not as much as I expected, especially after seeing the connector.

My question is: Should I be concerned about rust through in the tank? When would you know if there was an explosion risk?

Thanks -- Kevin

[Richard Wolf]

Changing the regulator valve was a good idea. A rusted tank will only leak air, but a frozen regulator will blow up a tank.

Richard

[Steve Stube]

Should I be concerned about rust through in the tank? When would you know if there was an explosion risk? 1.) Yes, it is a pressure vessel and needs to be maintained properly to function correctly and be reasonably safe. Draining the tank regularly is recommended by the Manf. (consult the manual) and goes a long way to preventing early tank failure. Tank failure can be explosive. If it is an ASME rated tank consult ASME hydrostatic test procedures and schedules to keep your tank properly tested. If it doesn't have the ASME tag welded to the tank then it wasn't made to their standard and perhaps the Manf. can offer you info on testing the tank, how often, at what pressure and the recommended hydrostatic procedure. I expect that the procedure will be the same in either case.
2.) The day you brought it home and ran it up to pressure is the first time you should be concerned about risk of explosion - it's a pressure vessel. With proper care and maintenance you minimize the risk but there is always some risk involved just by virtue of ownership. A weld could fail (caused by tank rust) or a car could run into a pressurized tank stored in the garage or it might add oxygen to a shop fire, God forbid, but you get the idea. There are NDT (non destructive tests) that can be performed to determine average wall thickness but most will opt for the hydro test as the best measure of tank integrity.