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Cue-Ball
05-06-2007, 09:20 PM
Well I killed the compressor yesterday. Luckly this is my small 110 one. I have the big 220vac one I need to run some electrical for that I suppose I will need to get my ass moving on now that the other one is dead.

Problem is I have to add a subpanel, if it was just a breaker in the main panel that is easy, but the subpanel takes a little more thought. And since I want to run it to the other side of the garage from the main panel more $$$ in the wiring. Oh well need to bite the bullet being as how I have NOTHING now.

CurtP
05-06-2007, 10:42 PM
That's no big deal - weld that fucker back together :flipoff2:

Is that one of those shitass oil-less Craftsman compressors? Are you going to replace that one with another small 110v compressor?

There's a couple of things you could do to get your big compressor going. Is there a 220v outlet anywhere near the garage (like from a dryer)? Make yourself a extension cord. If no 220v, then you could make a cable that runs off of two 110v outlets that goes into a 220v plug - you just have to make sure each outlet is on a separate leg of your circuit breaker panel. Failing all that, you could use a generator if you have one.

I'm sure we covered this in a previous thread - I just don't remember right now off the top of my head.

Cue-Ball
05-07-2007, 01:29 AM
Yes it is one of the oil-less Craftsman units.

No I am not replacing it at all. I have a 5 hp, 60 gal. one sitting in the garage, just need to do a little electrical work is all. I have been lazy about doing it since I had the other one, so now I will get the electrical done a bit faster now.

CurtP
05-07-2007, 10:00 AM
My 60 gal upright IR compressor has been sitting in my garage not doing a damn thing for over a year. I have yet to figure out how to run 220v out to my garage and I have so many other projects to do that I've never got around to hooking it up. I haven't even had time to make a pigtail to run off of two 110v outlets.

I did pick up a DeWalt Emglo D55155 portable to get me by until I got the big one hooked up. So far this little fucker has been able to run all my air tools without a problem. It isn't big enough to run my pneumatic AC evacuation pump though. And at over 60lbs, it isn't exactly the mort portable unit out there, but it's built, literally, like a tank.

I was going to suggest one of the DeWalt oil-lubricated units if you were going to replace your portable. The Ingersoll Rand Twin Stack DD2T2 is probably a better unit though, but I wanted one large tank instead of two smaller tanks.

Cue-Ball
05-07-2007, 11:25 AM
mine is also an IRunit (the big one that is).

CurtP
05-07-2007, 01:15 PM
Which one? If you have the one with a plastic filter enclosure (SS3 and SS5 compressors, I think), replace that POS. I was painting with mine and the little tiny paper filter got a little plugged up and the compressor started running hot. Not hot enough to really hurt anything, but hot enough to melt the plastic filter housing which then got sucked into the compressor and caused the reed valve to stay open. I couldn't figure out why the fuck it wasn't putting out over 60psi and constantly ran. The outside of the filter housing looked fine - it wasn't until I pulled that piece of shit apart that I saw the insides was melted. I had to order new head gaskets and pull the compressor head off to scrape everything clean. There was a nice pile of melted plastic on top of one of the pistons too.

I now have a 5" metal Solberg filter on it with a foam pre-filter. I'm not going through that shit again.

Cue-Ball
05-07-2007, 01:26 PM
Honestly I am not sure, I bought it from my boss when he moved to a new house and got an 80 gallon one.

Here are a couple of pix of it though.

CurtP
05-07-2007, 03:34 PM
It's hard to tell from those pictures. I can't say I've ever seen a IR that looked like that. At first I thought it may be a Rand-Air, but they only make (AFAIK) big industrial compressors.

Go take a look at the intake air filter. Pull it apart and see if there's any plastic in it if the outer case is metal. If you've never had it apart, it would probably be a good idea to at least replace the filter element and might as well change the oil in it too. FWIW, I use IR synthetic compressor oil in mine, although I'm sure you'd want to use an Amsoil PC series in yours (probably PCK) ;)

Cue-Ball
05-07-2007, 03:37 PM
I will get some specifics when I get home tonight on it.

I will check out the air filter as well, thanks for the tip.

I have never ran it actully, used it at my bosses house a few times when it was there and worked GREAT.

Some electricians will be at the house on Friday dealing with some warranty issues, I may just get a price from them to install the subpanel and wire up the compressor for me, truth is I just don't have the time right now to do it.

Dirk

violatedppl
05-08-2007, 02:16 AM
Oh yea, that compressor was a biotch to move. plant that thing and dont change your mind.

LouisianaZJ
05-08-2007, 02:29 AM
how old is your craftsman oil-less? I have one, heard alot of bad stuff about them, but have not had a problem so far and the noise is not too bad, lol. I dont use it that much though, at lest not enough to justfy buying an $$ compressor right now.

Cue-Ball
05-08-2007, 10:16 AM
how old is your craftsman oil-less? I have one, heard alot of bad stuff about them, but have not had a problem so far and the noise is not too bad, lol. I dont use it that much though, at lest not enough to justfy buying an $$ compressor right now.

My wife and I were trying to figure that out last night, we think it is 2.5 years old. I got it at a Christmas present from the in-laws. The big one I have I got for a screamin' deal from the boss.

Cue-Ball
05-08-2007, 10:17 AM
Oh yea, that compressor was a biotch to move. plant that thing and dont change your mind.

Yea it is pretty heavy that's for sure.

TheCompound
05-09-2007, 02:06 AM
how old is your craftsman oil-less? I have one, heard alot of bad stuff about them, but have not had a problem so far and the noise is not too bad, lol. I dont use it that much though, at lest not enough to justfy buying an $$ compressor right now.

Yeah, I have one of the oil-less ones form Sears too. I do run mine pretty hard all the time. Other than being load its seems to hold up over the last two years. Is there any maintenance at all on these??
-TheCompound

CurtP
05-09-2007, 09:31 AM
Unfortunately there's no maintenance that you can do unless you want to pull it apart after so many hours of operation. All the oil-less compressors I've seen have a one-piece piston/connecting rod with a teflon seal around the "piston". In operation, the piston rocks back and forth in the bore which causes considerable heat which will eventually make that seal fail. How it fails is usually the question. Some of them start leaking so they can't build pressure anymore. Some of them let go enough that the piston comes in contact with the cylinder wall and either binds or seizes causing catastrophic failure. Sometimes people just get lucky and have no real issues with them. Like with any compressor, I would inspect the inlet filter on a regular basis and do a visual inspection. If it ever sounds unusual, stop using it until it's determined what's causing the problem.

Dirk - Sears is pretty good and having replacement parts available. You should be able to go to their online store, punch in the model number of your compressor and order parts to fix it. I'd at least check it out to see how much it would cost - it might not be too bad, depending on what all needs replaced.

DCHZJ
05-09-2007, 10:05 AM
Wow when i was in the market for a compressor, i am glad i spent the extra 100 bucks and bought a belt driven one. (motor and compressor seperate)
That sucks for sure Dirk, but what can you do, might had just had a hairline crack that ended up getting worse over the years.
never know.
My last Craftsman compressor lasted 5 years before someone stole it.

Cue-Ball
05-09-2007, 12:12 PM
Dirk - Sears is pretty good and having replacement parts available. You should be able to go to their online store, punch in the model number of your compressor and order parts to fix it. I'd at least check it out to see how much it would cost - it might not be too bad, depending on what all needs replaced.

Thanks Curt it is worth a look.