Air Compressor Maintenance?

[geoffsurf]

I have just bought this second hand compressor with tools. I was wondering if people can give me a few pointers on maintenance and setup. I will go and get some compressor oil on Monday from somewhere. Can someone tell me how tight the belt should be and the easiest way to check this? Also in the picture below there is an adjustable regulator and filter, does this need any maintenance at all? Also can someone explain how often and what I need to oil, and which oil?

thanks

 

[tigler]

Compressor maintenance is quite simple, the key is make it regular !!
Oil, I would advise finding a local compressed air company and obtaining oil from them. The best type to use is actually for screw compressors as it's service rating is well in excess of the needs of any piston compressor, my preference is Morris, but there are several good brands out there. Get the compressor upto working temp, drain it, refill with the new oil. There won't be a filter on your machine. Then change the oil every 6 months.
There is an air filter on the pump, remove it, clean or replace it, then check every 6 months, unless the unit is operating in very dusty conditions, then check it every week.
Drain the receiver (tank) of condensate every week with light use, or every day if used alot.
The belt will not need much attention, check for vertical play in the middle of the longest run, it should be about 30MM'ish. If it starts to slip you'll know by a squealing sound ! Replace it every 2 years or so to prevent the possibility of it breaking, or get a spare, wait for it to break then replace it ! That might sound strange but it will get the max life from the belt.
Remove dust from the pump fins, and motor fins on a regular basis, this allows everything to run as cool as possible. Best way is to blow it off with an airline every week.
Visually inspect the whole unit once a month, this will keep you familiar with whats normal and immediately show up anything obvious that needs attention.
The regulator is maintenance free.

Thats about it ! Have fun.

 

[Barking Mat]

Top advice above.
I can only add, with your air tools, you'll probably find it indicates to put oil in the male air connector (at the bottom of the handle usually), I get a squirty oil can and just give a squirt of (engine oil for example) each morning when using air tools. Should make them last longer.

 

[geoffsurf]

Brilliant, thanks very much for all that advice. Is the regulator a water trap, and therefore I need to drain it like the tank?

Ideally should I really be buying a special type of oil to squirt in the air tools?

 

[tigler]

There is a specific oil for air tools, a compressed air company will be able to supply it.
Regulators alone do not have water traps, for that you would need an FRL, filter, regulator, lubricator. The filter part both removes particulates and water. You can get automatic FRL's that drain themselves when pressure is removed. So you would just turn off the air stop valve between the compressor and FRL, discharge anything after the FRL and it would then drain any water collected in the bowl.

 

[the artfull-codger]

as tigler says use air tool oil which is what I use myself, as barking does, I usually squirt a couple of drops in the tool connector before & when I've finished, I have a filter & regulator on the compressor but I wouldn't use an inline oiler as my pipes would get contaminated with oil & be no good for spraying etc,


slan go fol

 

[geoffsurf]

I'm having difficulty with running my compressor. It came with a 13amp fused socket on it, the guy I bought it off used it occasionally for years like this, he managed to get it running but the fuse blew on second start up. He hadn't used it for a while and said that once used a little more it should be fine. When I got it home the same thing happened, it would start up fine and then the next time it would blow the fuse. So a friend of mine who knows more about electrics than me put a large three pin blue, no fuse, connector on and then wired it straight to the trip switch box.

When compeltely empty the compressor starts up, fills and then cuts out fine. Then when you are using it and the pressure drops so that the automatic switch starts it up, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The times it doesn't work, the motor starts to spin the pump but only does so for about 2 seconds and then the motor stops. Has anybody got any idea what might be wrong, or how I might sort this? It's a little worrying.

The compressor fills the tank to just under 150 psi and then cuts out, it then tries to kick back in when the pressure drops to 110 psi, is this about right?

 

[wyn]

I'm having difficulty with running my compressor. It came with a 13amp fused socket on it, the guy I bought it off used it occasionally for years like this, he managed to get it running but the fuse blew on second start up. He hadn't used it for a while and said that once used a little more it should be fine. When I got it home the same thing happened, it would start up fine and then the next time it would blow the fuse. So a friend of mine who knows more about electrics than me put a large three pin blue, no fuse, connector on and then wired it straight to the trip switch box.

When compeltely empty the compressor starts up, fills and then cuts out fine. Then when you are using it and the pressure drops so that the automatic switch starts it up, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The times it doesn't work, the motor starts to spin the pump but only does so for about 2 seconds and then the motor stops. Has anybody got any idea what might be wrong, or how I might sort this? It's a little worrying.

The compressor fills the tank to just under 150 psi and then cuts out, it then tries to kick back in when the pressure drops to 110 psi, is this about right?

It sounds like the pressure in the pipe from the pump to the tank is not unloading when the pressure switch shuts off the compressor. You can tell if it's working or not as the compressor should "hiss" when it stops running....this is the air being unloaded.

The pressure left in the pipe is enough to stop the motor from restarting it.

The valve that does this is in the pressure switch...in your pic it's the black box to the right of the motor....you can get these new for around £15.

 

[geoffsurf]

I have noticed it hissing when the compressor stops running so I don't think that is it. I will keep checking to make sure it hisses when it stops though.

 

[rikrobson]

It is possible that the motor is stalling and this would explain the blowing of fuses.
it could be that the pump is sticking or the motor or the pressure switch is gubbed

id test it without the belt on. the motor should just run. if it stops its the motor. the pressure switch should be adjustable and you could adjust it down while the motor is running until the trip pressure is below the tank pressure and then the motor should stop. (don't forget to re adjust).
then check you can turn the pump. .
it could be that at the second attempt a bearing is sticking somewhere.

The compressor fills the tank to just under 150 psi and then cuts out, it then tries to kick back in when the pressure drops to 110 psi, is this about right?

this is normal. mine is 150/100

 

[geoffsurf]

I've just tried to check it out again. The compressor runs fine from start up, right until it reaches pressure. Once again though it couldn't restart once the pressure had dropped to about 100psi. I tried turning the switch on and off a number of times but it just tried to run for a couple of seconds and then stopped. I drained the air until there was only about 50 psi and then turned it on and off a few times and each time it start up fine.

When it wouldn't run, and while the tank was full I tried turning the belt manually and it was tight at a certain spot like the bearing was tight then it would spin freely and then get tight again. I'm not sure if this is just the compression on the pump or if this could be a tight bearing that needs sorting? I didn't want to actually take the belt off because I'm not sure how tight to then make it when putting it back on, I'd rather wait till someone can give me a hand with that tomorrow.

If it is a bearing, is it possible to regrease these or do they need replacing? Could it be that the pressure in the tank is causing too much resistance for the pump to run?

 

[wyn]

Could it be that the pressure in the tank is causing too much resistance for the pump to run?

It will have a non return valve where the pipe goes into the tank to keep the air in the tank.

The little black pipe coming off the side of it is the pipe connected to the pressure switch, which releases the pressure on the pump side of the non return valve when the tank has reached 150 psi and the pump stops.

 

[brightspark]

I have noticed it hissing when the compressor stops running so I don't think that is it. I will keep checking to make sure it hisses when it stops though.

when it cuts out and hisses does the hising stop after a few seconds or keep on going/..if it stops the one way valve in tanks working ok if it carries on its leaking

 

[geoffsurf]

When it cuts out at 150psi it hisses a little bit, it doesn't continue hissing. I think the stiffness when turning the pump must be the problem, but I'm not sure if this is to do with the pressure or just the bearing. It only seems to be stiff when under pressure.

 

[outofthefire]

You readjust the belt until its not slipping anymore. The tight spot could be that the pulleys are slightly oval it tends to happen on bikes you get a spot where the chain gets tighter. If it was a bearing it would be stiff all the time. Just take it apart and see what its like.

 

[geoffsurf]

Ok, I will try and take the belt off and take the bearing apart to inspect. If there isn't anything from the bearing I don't know what it could be, I'm stumped. It only happens occassionally on start up when there is pressure in the tank, and the pump seems slightly stiffer in one spot only when there is pressure in the tank. Could it be that the belt is too tight, I mean with heat shouldn't the belt expand?

 

[chrisf1]

I had a similar problem with my twin pump unit and it after replacing motor problem gone an eletrickery man told me they can get tired and said the symptons I gave him would point to that, the motor ran perfectly for hrs with no load all my pressure blow off's etc replaced and in the end I bit the bullet and bought new 4hp single phase motor off ebay and no more troubles with the motor stalling, best of luck with it now I just need another pump so I am running on 2 instead of 1 Chris