Rockworth Compressor Woes

[Jinjur]

Hey all,

Noob so go easy

I have a wee cheapo Rockworth compressor from B&Q.

Now it has served me faithfully for night on a couple of years but i went to use it the other day and the compressor ran and ran and ran.......from what i remember, you shouldnt really let it run over 10 minutes.

So i had a look and it only seemed to be reacing 80 psi.

I turned the compressor off at the valve and listened and couldnt hear any leaks.

I also left it for a while and came back and it was still at 80 psi so isnt leaking in my opinion.

Would i be right in thinking that this may be a problem in the compressing side of things.....such as the gasket or the wee one way valves in the piston?

I have every confidence that the valve would shut the compressor off once it reaced the correct 116 psi.

Anyone have any experience with this or joy fixing something similar

I dont really want to buy a new compressor for all i use it but i would like to get it sorted.

All advice appreciated.

Regards
Andy

 

[rtbcomp]

Welcome to the forum.

When it's running can you feel air leaking from the pressure switch?

 

[shenion]

Could be loose head bolts. Have seen them come loose. They are usually not torqued very tight on aluminum heads/block.

May be reed valve built up carbon.

 

[Jinjur]

Thanks for the welcome.

No, I cannot feel or hear any air leaking out at all.

The reed valve, is that the wee valves in the piston itself?


Would it be wise to take that out and clean it?


Regards
Andy

 

[shenion]

The valves are in the head of the compressor (no vales in piston AFAIK.)

ALso check if the filter is plugged. Try removing it and seeing if it builds pressure.

 

[Jinjur]

Hi mate,

This is a very simple wee compressor and while there are holes inside the head, i cannot see where the air would be drawn from.

There is a small fitment atop the piston that looks more like a 1 way valve than anything else to be honest though.

Regards
Andy

 

[shenion]

Pictures might help.

I assume by piston you are referring to the compressor unit, not the internal piston.

 

[Jinjur]

No, I mean the actual internal piston mate.

The head looks sealed.

Andy

 

[eil]

Run it again up to pressure then switch it off at the mains instead of at the pressure switch, then listen for leaks around the head gasket area and remove the inlet air filter and listen for leak back past the valves/reeds.empty the tank or push the pressure switch to off before re-starting.

 

[Jinjur]

Cant run it up tonight chap.....too bloody noisy.

LOL

 

[Jinjur]

Hey all,

Thought i would post an update in here in case this helps anyone else out.

I think I found my problem and although I havent tested it, I expect it to work.

I pulled the head off the compressor again and to confirm its functionality, it has one way valves in the actual piston and the head. Yes, in the piston itself.

Upon inspection, I found the problem in one of the heads one way valves.

Below is a shot of the head with the 3 one way valves:

Now, look closer at the middle one:

Yep, the side of it was shattered.

So I just ditched this valve completely and plugged the hole with mixable steel. I sanded the compression side down to a smooth finish to make sure the piston clearance was ok.

I hope to have a test run tomorrow and ill update here with the results.

Regards
Andy