My Free Compressor

[dware]

1 1/3 to 1 1/2 times working is standard testing for pressure vessels by code .

 

[dware]

I just fill with water and then take air pressure to 480 lbs and test from a distance in a pasture, and they are safe to a 150 for sure !!!!

Where did you get the 480 psi figure for testing ?
Worked as a Boilermaker for about 40 years and as a welding inspector for 10 years . During this time I tested many pressure vessels ( one to 3800 psi ) and power boilers ( one to 2975 psi ) . Old boilers never over 1 1/3 times standard working pressure . Most pressure vessels go 1 1/2 times standard working pressure .

 

[dfrisk]

I worked at an ASME certified company for 4-5 years, built LOTS of pumps and pressure vessels, had our own test chamber in-house, the AI came to our plant twice a week. We even built stuff to TUV standards, the German equivalent to ASME.
SON bought a Quincy #325 80 gallon tank of questionable condition, was new in 1964, it's first home was in the tire shop at the DECK TRUCK STOP in Geneseo, I'll, Exit 19 on Interstate 80, my old hometown, it was removed, used as a backup compressor at a 3-4 bay body shop, running air tools, like sanders non-stop, spraying paint, next home was in a small machine shop, machine tools use a surprising amount of compressed air! By this time it was getting tired, some cheap unskilled repairs were done with blue RTV splattered all over everything. SON did some much needed repairs, like new valves, rebuilt the unloaded, surprisingly the pistons, rings and cylinders were in usable condition. The thing sat in his garage for 3-4 years, directly across the wall from his head sleeping in his bed. Pumped up to 150 psi.
Anyhow, the motor, an old single phase 220V 5 hp and the old tank were scrapped, the compressor will be installed on a new or newer tank, but the 58 year old compressor will run again.
My Uncle was absolutely TERRIBLE with tools, trucks, tractors, and anything else mechanical. He bought a new 2 or 3 hp 20 gallon cheap 120V compressor for his attached garage, to air up the occasional low tire to get him to the tire shop in town. Most times the compressor was left plugged in, and "On" so it was aired up. The compressor was 5+ years old, maybe more, had never been drained, stored in the corner of the 2 stall garage, the corner by the exterior wall and the interior wall between the living room and garage. Uncle and aunt get home from somewhere, hit the button on the garage door opener, the compressor is sitting just inside the garage door, totally mangled, tank mostly turned "inside-out", further investigation showed the exterior garage wall was blown OFF the foundation for 10 feet, close to a foot off the foundation, the interior common wall between garage and living room also off the foundation, 10 ft in length and a foot or more off the foundation, there was a basement under the living room.
DAD got the remains of the compressor, the pump and elec motor were salvageable. But the sight of the inside-out tank has left a long lasting respect for the power of compressed air with me. I've got portable compressed air tanks I'll probably NEVER use again.

 

[-CӞ]

My crafty pa-in-law replaced the drain plug on my compressor tank with a valve that makes it easy to drain.
To the valve he soldered a length of copper tubing that conveniently directs the resulting air-pushed moisture into a bucket.
Makes for a bit of noisy splatter, but sure seems to push out the water effectively.

This thread reminds me that I need to drain it more often than I usually remember to do.

Elementary school may have espoused mnemonic devices, but I prefer pneumatic devices!

 

[Greg Riutzel]

lasting respect for the power of compressed air

Amen to that!! Using tools whether electric or controlled pressure, I can often forget the power it took to store that energy I use increments. Watts, or 80 PSI 120 PSI air, yeah just stuff I can use everyday but when you figure what PSI means and that times the surface area of a receiver I soon realize there can be 100s of tons of pressure just waiting to get out of my little shop compressor tank.

Speaking of watts, I saw a video called a "Toaster Challenge" where a muscled bicycle athlete was to run a bike driven generator to operate a little 700 watt toaster to toast a piece of bread. I believe it was the standard 2 minute toast and they clocked the voltage and current used to replicate a home's 120V electricity. Holy cow, it almost kicked the champion's arse, he almost didn't make it to the end just for a piece of bread. But, 750 watts is equivalent to a horsepower and I have all this at the flip of a switch or a button push all day long.

 

[mitchel daniel]

at my work we do annual pressure vessel test at 1-1/2 times the max stated pressure rating on the tank data plate is.

 

[mitchel daniel]

also they make automatic drains for compressors some or air powered float and some or electric timer style.

 

[Greg Riutzel]

also they make automatic drains for compressors some or air powered float and some or electric timer style.

I was thinking of the same. My former day job we had compressors in many buildings across hundreds of acres. As the work force was diminished over the years we stated using those drains and they really helped a lot. I can see them for us that might have a shop building that's not occupied every day. We found the timer style models were the most dependable. Some 1/4" tubing and an outlet and it's good to go.

 

[Everettlee]

I am keeping an eye out for a good operate, air compressor 60 or 80 gallon tank.

I am currently using a Devilbiss which the tag says was built in 1947, but yet it still pumps to 175 psi but it takes a long time to get there.

 

[dfrisk]

My current compressor is a Porter-Cable 2-stage 2 cylinder 80 gallon tank, 7-1/2 hp that pumps up to 165 psi, just having 80 gallons of 120+ PSI air in the shop is plenty to air up a low tire, blow dust off something or run my die grinder long enough to deburred something. My OTHER two compressors are also Porter-Cable, a 2-1/2 gallon oil-less compressor, and a larger Contractor's sized oil-less compressor for running multiple roofing nailers, and I have the matching nailers too. I used to work for another division of Porter-Cable and Delta. I had started getting Milwaukee power tools then Pentair started having 4-5 inventory tool reduction sales every year. Some things were a crazy bargain, like a 20 pcs. Set of 1/4" shank Oldham solid carbide router bits for $20, a 3/8" butterfly impact driver for $15-$16, instantly reversible, I can buzz a 10 hp Kohler engine apart with it and a handful of sockets in less than 10 minutes. And $22 for a Delta 6" bench grinder, $125 for a 1/2"chuck floor standing 1 hp drill press, 16 speed. I've also bought a Delta 12" disk and 6"x48" belt sander, 1 hp motor but I bought that thru their store in Chicago. And I bought an air powered sheetmetal Nibbler, cuts crescent shaped pieces of thin sheetmetal up to .040" thk as fast as you can imagine, it just Buzzes! So you can cut straight or curved cuts in thin sheetmetal, for $16. Their cordless rechargeable drills are identical to the 19.2V Craftsman, but molded in. Black, and the Black Friday Craftsman drill kits were always a better deal, think I have every Craftsman 19.2V tool around here somewhere. And speaking of 19.2V Craftsman batteries, I got 4 Lithium-Ion batteries with my newest drill and impact driver, with 1/4" hex drive, one has already stopped taking a charge, and 2 of the 3 are not holding a full charge. I probably have 10 or 12 19.2V NI-CAD batteries, I buy them off Amazon on-line.

 

[Donhall]

One thing missing from the test recommendations. Never use air to perform the pressure test. As stated in on of the earlier posts, that 150psi air pressure has a massive amount of stored energy. The ASME codes specifically state to use water due to the safety considerations

 

[mitchel daniel]

yes i meant a hydrostatic pressure test.

 

[Mark Evans]

Not running a propane tank but I use one for my air tanks, works great, and for a lot of pressure that it will never go up too, again, never going to be 1,500 psi again for sure !!!! Thick steel !!!

 

[Mark Evans]

Watched Halliburton boys In Burns flat Oklahoma show their truck boys what happens to them big three vessel tank trailers that blow up at high volume low pressure and when they explode from a three-quarter mile or a mile off sometimes that’s too close to watch them blow up, it’s an awesome thing to witness !!!!! That was when I worked for Warren Cat, was West Texas Cat back when I started !!!!

 

[Gary Stommes]

Where did you get the 480 psi figure for testing ?
Worked as a Boilermaker for about 40 years and as a welding inspector for 10 years . During this time I tested many pressure vessels ( one to 3800 psi ) and power boilers ( one to 2975 psi ) . Old boilers never over 1 1/3 times standard working pressure . Most pressure vessels go 1 1/2 times standard working pressure .

 

[Gary Stommes]

Air tanks scare me. This my neighbors air compressor that he got at a pond shop. It blew at 125 psi. It has a relief valve too. The tank was made in year 2000.