Leak in Air Compressor

If it's leaking in one place, it most likely is about ready to everywhere else as well. My advice is to replace the tank (sorry!) unless you can remove it, somehow clean it, and slosh around some of that epoxy stuff they use to fix leaks in motorcycle tanks. Welding is about as useful as bubble gum here ..

GWE

Have to agree with Grant on this one. If it rusted through, metal is so thin that a welder will only make it larger.

Might work. But the leak is telling you something. Safety is the larger concern here.

I have heard that now in CA you need to have an approval sticker. So if in CA be warned. I am sure the insurance company will want to see a sticker if anything goes wrong.

Chris

How long is a piece of string?

Well if we use 800fps as the basis for flying shrapnel, and a 1 second reaction time for a 20year old to react, than I would figure about 800' would be needed. Simple math indeed.

If you are older than 20 please adjust length accordingly.

:)

Chris

And worst case, 'the tank leaking everywhere else' can lead to an explosive failure of the tank - if a welded seam or a weakened spot in the steel unzips, there is a hell of a lot of energy stored in that tank. If it lets go explosively, it can throw shrapnel and kill or maim anyone unlucky enough to be standing there.

BBW: If the motor and compressor are still good, you can get a new receiver tank and transfer all the operating bits over to it.

Unless you have one leak isolated on a weld that you are sure was caused by a bad weld, I would NOT screw around with trying to repair the old tank - just scrap it. If you do try to fix it, get a hydrotest done afterwards - much better if it unzips when it's only full of high pressure water for the test, it won't scatter parts.

This is NOT the time to try a half-assed repair yourself.

Unless you feel a real need to restore and keep an original antique tank in service - then you need to send it to a ASME Certified Boiler and Tank repair shop (I forget which Code Stamp Certification they need for air tanks) with a Certified Welder on staff. Where they will pull the inspection plugs, scope out the condition from the inside and magnetically check the metal from the outside, cut out and fix all the rusty and weak spots, clean and paint it inside and out, and then hydrotest and recertify the tank.

All this work will probably cost you more than just buying a new receiver tank, because of the economies of modern mass production. Normally, people only spend that kind of money on one-off equipment that can't be replaced easily, like steam locomotives and custom industrial tanks. Or on industrial boilers and equipment so big that it can't be moved, the repair shop personnel pack up their gear and make a house call.

-->--

Tanks are cheap! Anything involving a doctor is expensive! I saw a mobile home that once held an air tank that blew, changed my outlook some.

I have a great idea for a new product! Kevlar compressor armor for all the tank repairmen out there.

How Long is a Chinese name.

A person? Usually 3 characters, and thus usually 3 syllables.

eg.

Mao Ze Deng Deng Xiao Ping Kong Fu Zi (Confucius) Zou En lai Sun Yat Sen Jiang Jie shi (Chiang Kai-shek)

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

There was an interesting piece in either Journal of Light Construction or Fine Homebuilding where the author described watching an air compressor tank explode and the whole thing fly completely over a two story house and land on the other side. Apparently the air hose got hooked on something otherwise it would have landed a yard or two over.

Steve.

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 18:20:48 GMT, the blithe spirit "Tom Gardner" clearly indicated:

Yabbut, bodies are adaptable to 2 or 3 atmosphere changes. (Ever been swimming/diving?) Houses and mobile homes aren't. They just expand at whatever point is weakest, like blowing out all the windows at once or peeling the top off like a soda can poptop.

1.5 atmospheres (8psi boost) will blow a house apart while causing us to yawn, instantly adapting to it due to slight discomfort. (The shrapnel would be a different story. ;)

So, how many people here have experienced exploding tanks? (Everything I've seen has been pinhole leaks, then larger holes from cleanup, like Gunner and his screwdriver-through-the-steel-freeze-plug episode. I've done a lot of freeze plugs like that, too.)

If any, how many of those tanks were old and rusted/leaking?

Accident records I've seen indicate that tank explosions were (nearly) all caused by sticking safety valves where tank pressures were doubled or tripled before they gave way.

.-. Life is short. Eat dessert first! ---

Comprehensive Website Development

Never seen a nuclear explosion either.

Does that mean it is ok to play with splitting atoms?

Chris Just kidding.

OK You have my attention. Thanks for the advice. I will back off and buy another one. Any suggestions on what to buy or avoid?

Have not seen any Chinese tanks on our shores yet, so you should be safe.

If you can afford and find one, new or very close to new. Lots of water in there to cause rust.

i just got one of these

at a good price. free shipping.

RBW, You should clarify, just the tank? Or a whole new rig?

Chris

Charles,

Not bad at all. Is the motor made in the US as well?

Chris

i believe so. i think all i-r are.

You just know I have a Kelog with a wee little crack by the leg that I ignore for ten years now. It's not used but a back-up.