2nd hand Broomwade compressor advice

[chrismac]

A friend has offered me this, unfortunately he is 150 miles away, I dont have much info and the spec plate is well worn, I can make the date out and its 1980, is this worth the £200 asking price, or is modern stuff more efficient.

Untitled by chrismac2012, on Flickr

Untitled by chrismac2012, on Flickr

Untitled by chrismac2012, on Flickr

Untitled by chrismac2012, on Flickr

If anyone can make out the details on the spec plate, I am looking to run a needle gun and dabble at the odd bit of painting,

Thoughts and help appreciated.

 

[angellonewolf]

 

[angellonewolf]

as a guess `18cmf 12kw ?

 

[carbon]

Usually the plate that is attached to the receiver just relates to the receiver itself and specifies design pressures, year of manufacture etc. The information you require is on the plate attached to the compressor pump which isn't really that visible.

 

[Smallfry]

Looks like an AC10 pump. That motor look a bit small to drive it unless it has a very small pulley. Probably an 2800 rpm motor ? Output of the pump depends on the speed it is turning.

Had one of these for 40 years, it is quieter and more reliable than modern ones, provided the tank is not too rusty inside it will be fine. Needle gun is very power hungry though, so you will have to let the compressor catch up every so often.

 

[Seadog]

Even with some rust, the receiver is likely to be in excess of 1/4" thick, unlike the more modern bean cans you now get.

 

[Nick67GT]

The good thing about this type of equipment is that it’s built to last and there is every chance that (OEM) spares for the compressor will be available. You can also actually strip it down & rebuild without too much hassle as well!

As @Seadog points out, the receiver will have been manufactured from decent thickness material in the first place, with a good design factor.

 

[Morris]

At that age and with no history I would want to pressure test the receiver. It's not difficult to do.
I was given a receiver back in the 80's and that time part of my job involved pressure testing one off pressure vessels so I made use of this. The receiver failed at 75ish psi when one end gave out.

 

[chrismac]

Even with some rust, the receiver is likely to be in excess of 1/4" thick, unlike the more modern bean cans you now get.

That was my thinking/hoping too, thanks

 

[chrismac]

Looks like an AC10 pump. That motor look a bit small to drive it unless it has a very small pulley. Probably an 2800 rpm motor ? Output of the pump depends on the speed it is turning.

Had one of these for 40 years, it is quieter and more reliable than modern ones, provided the tank is not too rusty inside it will be fine. Needle gun is very power hungry though, so you will have to let the compressor catch up every so often.

I wonder if the motor has been changed out at some stage in its life.

 

[chrismac]

The good thing about this type of equipment is that it’s built to last and there is every chance that (OEM) spares for the compressor will be available. You can also actually strip it down & rebuild without too much hassle as well!

As @Seadog points out, the receiver will have been manufactured from decent thickness material in the first place, with a good design factor.

Thats interesting to know, the benefits of quality gear I guess, thanks

 

[chrismac]

At that age and with no history I would want to pressure test the receiver. It's not difficult to do.
I was given a receiver back in the 80's and that time part of my job involved pressure testing one off pressure vessels so I made use of this. The receiver failed at 75ish psi when one end gave out.

wow, not so good, one benefit here I guess is the compressor is still operating at working pressure, I dont discount your advice though and was a concern regarding the age.

 

[Smallfry]

I wonder if the motor has been changed out at some stage in its life.

My air tank is 150 Litres, 5/16 ths (8mm) thick, and weighs 108 Kg. The motor is a 3HP, 1420 RPM unit, and it is huge. Weighs 45 Kg on its own.

I think these things were designed to run all day, every day, forever.

 

[brightspark]

as a guess `18cmf 12kw ?

its a single phase motor 14cfm probably 1450 rpm 2.5kw

 

[angellonewolf]

its a single phase motor 14cfm probably 1450 rpm 2.5kw

i did say guess but i looked at a plate on line and did say was a guess

was not untill i seen the 13 amp plug so thinking that means not 12kw but i could not edit it as was to late