The Shop > Tools
Compressor safety, or how do I make sure an old compressor is safe?
vtsteam:
My guess is it's likely to be fine. I'd check out the water filled tank with my homemade test pump and gauge as mentioned early on in this thread.
If that was good, I'd empty and reconnect. The only other thing to worry about is the pressure switch/pressure relief valve not working. I'd check that over visually, note the cutoff/relief pressures.
Then I'd plug the damn thing in on an extension cord outside. Since the compressor has a gauge I'd wait for it to hit cutout pressure, and if it went 5 lbs above that I'd pull the plug. Likely it will work fine.
If it doesn't cut-off when it is supposed to I'd buy a new valve and feel I'd checked more than the average homeowner/construction crewman with a couple year old compressor and feel I had a safer machine than they do as a result. A separate pressure safety valve can be pulled out to see if it's free and also checked the same way with the pressure gauge.
The argument re. how much is your life worth compared to the supposedly low cost of something can be applied to anything that has dangers, including buying a box of matches, a candle, or a bag of marbles. Don't do it if the envisioned dangers outweigh the desire for a romantic dinner or a game played in the dirt. :)
Fergus OMore:
I'd do the same as Steve( VTSteam) and run a water test but defintely not air.
This, if you think about it is exactly how Aqualung tanks ( which have to stand 3200psi ) are tested.
If they burst- well, no matter. They are not going to go into orbit.
However, compressors new are LESS than £90 from places like Aldi. They come with a 3 year guarantee.
Point made?
If it it isn't, I went for a bigger MIG bottle today--say no more.
Norman
Pete W.:
Hi there, Simon and all,
All I have to contribute to the discussion on testing is that IMHO there is no merit in over-testing, it just risks needless damage. I'd advise careful research to make the best possible attempts to discover the manufacturers' specified working and test pressures and keep below them.
I do have another point, however. When I was involved with a team maintaining club SCUBA equipment many years ago, we were made aware that oil lubricated air compressors can experience pseudo-Diesel explosions in the cylinder at TDC. These don't harm the compressor but they're very bad for the air quality. The combustion is incomplete and produces Carbon Monoxide, a serious No-No for breathing air. I don't know whether the compression ratio of your compressor is high enough to cause this phenomenon but ...
I was reminded of this by the photo of the ventilated face-mask in your post on the Car Boot Sale thread - if you intend to use this compressor to feed a face-mask get hold of a Carbon Monoxide detector and check the air quality, often! We don't want to lose you!
chipenter:
I am using a scuba tank as a resovour , it has stamped on the neck tested to 300 bar , my compressor cuts out at 6 bar quite a margin .
S. Heslop:
--- Quote from: Pete W. on May 18, 2015, 02:42:13 PM ---Hi there, Simon and all,
All I have to contribute to the discussion on testing is that IMHO there is no merit in over-testing, it just risks needless damage. I'd advise careful research to make the best possible attempts to discover the manufacturers' specified working and test pressures and keep below them.
I do have another point, however. When I was involved with a team maintaining club SCUBA equipment many years ago, we were made aware that oil lubricated air compressors can experience pseudo-Diesel explosions in the cylinder at TDC. These don't harm the compressor but they're very bad for the air quality. The combustion is incomplete and produces Carbon Monoxide, a serious No-No for breathing air. I don't know whether the compression ratio of your compressor is high enough to cause this phenomenon but ...
I was reminded of this by the photo of the ventilated face-mask in your post on the Car Boot Sale thread - if you intend to use this compressor to feed a face-mask get hold of a Carbon Monoxide detector and check the air quality, often! We don't want to lose you!
--- End quote ---
That's interesting. Would a regular household CO detector work in spotting that?
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