Industrial Air Machine Compressor problem

On Sat, 28 Jun 2008 09:48:11 -0700 (PDT), with neither quill nor qualm, bear quickly quoth:

As Tawm was mentioning earlier this week, carbon does build up on the reeds until it defeats the compressor. Pop the heads and see what you have. Reed valves crack, too. It could be a chunk of carbon holding the reed open, damaged rings, hole in the piston, etc.

With no sound change, it's likely carbon. Then again, I haven't had the head off a compressor in 30 years. ;)

-- Deep doubts, deep wisdom; small doubts, little wisdom. --Chinese Proverb ----

I'll second Larry's diagnosis. The valves are probably mucked up. They might be accessibly without pulling the head. They might be reed valves or spring-loaded disk valves. You'll see. Check the oil.

Sometimes it can be something simple and easy to fix. Like the connection from the cylinder to the unloader being loose and leaking, which is hard to hear when it is running.

Check the valves. Where I used ot work, monitoring intercooler pressure was a tip off that the valves between stage one and two had failed.

I'm thinking this is sudden. Sudden points to valving.

Wes

-- "Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller