newbie needs help with compressor

[Stewart]

Hey everyone I have just got a 2nd hand air compressor of ebay. I Won a garage clearance job lot. The compressor is a Clark Tiger Airmaster 8/60 50lt tank and I think its 1.5 HP. I am new to using air compressors and Im not quite sure where to start. I have started the compressor and It turns on fine It has two gaugues fitted and they both move when on firstly what are the gauges for is one for tank pressure ? The second question is I have only had it running for afew mins will it turn off once the tank is full ? there was a valve that was open which allowed air to escape would this be the safety valve I have now closed it. any help would be much appreciated.

Regards

Stew

 

[shenion]

There will be a valve on the bottom of the tank to drain water. Water will condense out of the air when compressed. There is often a safety valve that may have a pull ring to dump pressure.

The two gauges will be tank pressure and output pressure.

It should turn off at 120PSI or so.

 

[Stewart]

Hi thanks for the quick reply I found the valve for the water at the bottom of the tank which is fine It was the open valve which I wasnt to sure about. this could be the safery valve but it dosent have a pull ring. I will have a proper play with it tonight and see what happens.

thanks again

 

[rtbcomp]

Is the valve on the pipe between the pump and the tank? Some compressors have a valve which stays open until the pressure builds up to about 20 psi. This is to allow the motor to get running at full speed before it is put under load.

Other compressors have this function built into the dump valve in the pressure switch. This will open when the pressure builds up to maximum and the motor cuts off. You'll hear a hiss when the motor stops.

If the motor doesn't stop (due to a fault) the safety valve should dump the excess pressure to atmosphere.

 

[shenion]

Post a pic of the regulator/control/output area. We can identify the parts.

 

[Stewart]

Hi thanks for the info I will post pics asap. I have had the compressor running and it gets to just over 10 bar and cuts out and I hear the hiss you mentioned. The only problem is that the compressor does not kick back in when pressure drops well not straight away also the motor gets quite hot is this normal. The pressure will drop to maybe 8 bar then start again does this sound correct. Thanks again for your help.

Regards

Stew

 

[Wozzaaah]

Sounds like it's working fine, compressors have a little gizmo which works on two pressures. Once it reaches the designed cutoff pressure (in your case 10 bar) it stops the motor/pump then when it drops to the lower pressure (8 bar) it fires back up again until it gets back up to 10 bar.
Yes, the motor will get hot .

 

[rtbcomp]

Hi thanks for the info I will post pics asap. I have had the compressor running and it gets to just over 10 bar and cuts out and I hear the hiss you mentioned. The only problem is that the compressor does not kick back in when pressure drops well not straight away also the motor gets quite hot is this normal. The pressure will drop to maybe 8 bar then start again does this sound correct. Thanks again for your help.

Regards

Stew

As long as you can't smell burning you should be OK. The motor will have a thermal cutout. The pump itself will get very hot.

That difference between cut out and cut in pressures is normal. It's called hysteresis. You may be able to adjust it, some pressure switches have two adjusting screws, one marked +/- for actual pressure and another marked with a triangle (delta) for hysteresis.

 

[Stewart]

Theres no smell of burning. I have also just filled it up with some compressor oil as it was running low. The pump gets hot but if thats normal its fine. I will still post some pics up later.

 

[Stewart]

Sorry for the delay in getting the pics here they are

http://s118.photobucket.com/albums/o98/stewart29992000/

regards

stew

 

[Stewart]

Hi my tank pressure gaugue has stopped working would it be possible to get a replacement ?

 

[malcolm]

I've got one of those in the back of the garage doing not very much. Also has a broken pressure gauge, and my pressure switching is broken too.

The pressure gauges screw in with a square bolt at the back. I think that one is 1/4 inch rear connection but it's worth removing it to check. You'd need to use plumbers tape to get it at the right angle. See http://www.airlines-pneumatics.co.uk/webcat/Detprod.asp?ProductCode=S050126

 

[Stewart]

Thanks for that I will have a look machine mart is just over the road Ill see if they can get one.

 

[bucko]

one of the gaugues will be tank and the other will be line pressure

 

[Stewart]

yeah the one I needed was tank pressure and it set me back £5 from machine mart it works fine again now.