New to me Air Compressor .. suggestions on what to do before use / best experience :)

I brought this home this weekend. 13 years old according to info on sticker but only used for a year or so by my brother before he passed, then sat for at least the last 7 years w/o use in an unheated and uncooled garage in Southern IL heat and cold cycles. We have very high humidity

I plugged it in and since it was in the "auto" position it started right up and before it occurred to me I shouldn't run it w/o changing the oil it was on and running. It ran perfecting for about ~ 30 - 60 seconds and built up 20 PSI quickly then I shut it off. It maintained that pressure for a few hours w/o losing pressure / gauge moving then I bled the pressure off and went to open the stop or drain cock and it wouldn't budge. (it may actually already be open ? )

I have no prior experience with maintaining Air compressors

Oil is 10 years old at least

What is best brand / type of compressor oil or other for a unit like this?

The drain cock appears to be stuck and if I force it i'm sure the "handle" or whatever will break loose. I'm going to shoot it with some PB blaster if that's not a bad idea.

I checked out some vids on removing the drain cock and replacing with an elbow, 4-6" of pipe, and ball valve to ease draining moisture. I've been reading that its best to drain the moisture every day (assume only when it's used ? ).

Should I leave the drain open when not in use or just open and drain when I've run it?

I have a NAPA like 1/2 a mile away and AC stuff is expensive but they are well stocked and I have access to some 10 plus-plus year old AC tools that I'll pick up in the next couple weeks.

I've got two, sections of hose, I think ~25 feet, but they are old as the compressor so I don't know if they are any good. The garage is a modern (small) two car.

I will not be painting cars but possibly could wind up using it to paint parts in future. I will be using impact guns, probably getting a small garage type blasting cabinet for small parts, possibly cut off wheel, grinder, etc mainly for mechanical work, probably not for serious body work.

I don't see running lines for air drops around the garage in my future.

Should i get some type of dryer, filter and or water separator system to add on?

Any and all advice and recommendations are welcome.

Here are some photos.

If the drain was open it would bleed down. As for oil, CH compressor oil should be fine. Vapor separator and oil sep would be wise, helps tools last. That thing will be running like crazy for a grinder or cutoff tool....oh, and a line regulator would be nice as well...congrats on a compressor, sorry to hear about brother...

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Oh yeah, and keep the drain shut aside from draining it....no sense letting more moisture in..

BeastlyBirdie said:

If the drain was open it would bleed down. As for oil, CH compressor oil should be fine. Vapor separator and oil sep would be wise, helps tools last. That thing will be running like crazy for a grinder or cutoff tool....oh, and a line regulator would be nice as well...congrats on a compressor, sorry to hear about brother...

Click to expand...

Thanks for the condolences and the info Beasty .. and you are a Duh-mas tallhair

I don't think you're gonna like the results of trying to use that 5.8 CFM comp for blasting.

I have an 8.4 CFM DeWalt/Emglo (not cheap) unit that can barely do a bracket, and I sure wouldn't want to do a battery tray with it.

Sand/media blasting is arguably the heaviest load anyone will ever place on a compressor.

Bleed valve issues are pretty common. I think you have a good plan moving to a heavier unit.

Definitley get a water seperator.

You may not be twising the drain cock the right way.
I always get confused doing mine because either I'm upside down or the drain is.
Don’t worry too much about a dryer. Just keep the tank drained to prevent corrosion and oil your air tools before use.
IF you are painting, that's different. I use two water traps when I spray to be sure.
The best thing you can do is change that motor to 240 like it says on the data plate.
It has a 115-volt plug on it now (“wired for”) so that would have to be changed to do it right.
By going to 240 you will cut your current in half (7.5 amps instead of 15).
The motor will run stronger, cooler and last longer.
You will need a 240-volt line in your work area. If you can’t do that, I’d pay someone to do it. If you were close, I could even help you. I like 240 available where I am.

It will sandblast, but will run all the time to do it. You will have to stop to let it build back up. I have two almost just like it hooked together when I sand blast.
The "Sears" branded one that I had before these two had the same cast iron compressor it does and it lasted for almost 40 years before the tank got a rust pin hole in the bottom. It was time to get my new ones then.

Motor oil is fine. Straight weight or what is in my car. Usually Mobil One.
The cast iron compressor is just like your engine. Piston, bores and bearings of some type. Change it every few years.
And you have a air filter on the inlet.
I'd say get a lawn mower foam filter and cut it to size or some HVAC type poly fluff. That needs to be changed every once in a whlie just like your car.

Spray the pet cock with WD40 turn clockwise to loosen and do this back and forth until completely free then tighten and run the bugger like hell after you change the cylinder oil.

Thanks everyone .. I'll go ahead with the drain valve and look into changing the compressor to 220. Do I just need to change the plug on the existing power cord?

I posted some related questions over here http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/mopar...55157-Has-anyone-installed-a-garage-attic-fan

I'll be having some work done this week starting today. Adding a window to the garage and may change a plug to 220V

I really appreciate any and all feedback guys

tallhair said:

Thanks everyone .. I'll go ahead with the drain valve and look into changing the compressor to 220. Do I just need to change the plug on the existing power cord?

I posted some related questions over here http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/mopar...55157-Has-anyone-installed-a-garage-attic-fan

I'll be having some work done this week starting today. Adding a window to the garage and may change a plug to 220V

I really appreciate any and all feedback guys

Click to expand...

Your electrician will probably suggest running in a new single wire circuit from your breaker box to the garage. IF your garage already had a single wire run from there to the box, it would be simple to change that over.
But since most circuit breakers feed multiple outlets that may not be possible. Or at least a good idea.
IF your garage has multiple 115 volt outlets AND nothing else is on that circuit he COULD convert them all to 220V without pulling new wiring in. (Labor savings)
BUT you would have no 115 in your garage anymore.
I may be bordering on too much information with this.

You can just cut the plug off your compressor and put the correct 220 volt plug on it. But you MUST change the connections in the side of motor like it shows in the diagrams on the motor data plate.
The wires are fine and will thank you for the lower current draw.
One blade of your new plug will be horizontal and the other will be vertical.
Or you can do like I've done and just twist one of your plugs current blades to fit your new correct house 20 amp wiring circuit outlet.

OK, I'm being silly now. But I have done that.

Go for "6-20" here.
http://www.powercabling.com/nema.htm

I'm pretty sure you don't just have to change the plugs. If you look at the schematic on the motor in the pics tallhair posted you can see 2 different configurations of the wiring in the motor. On the left side of the wiring diagram you can see how it is configured for "low v" which I have to assume they mean 120v. Here the brown is on terminal 2 and the white is on terminal 4. On the right side is the "high v" (240v) configuration with the white on terminal 2 and the brown on terminal 6. These terminals are usually located on the side of the motor under an access cover where the plug wire goes into the motor. I'm pretty sure if you just changed the plug and then plugged it into a 220 outlet, you would probably fry the motor. You have to swap the brown and white wires in the motor to the proper terminals to switch it from 120 to 240. Should take 5 minutes with a screwdriver and a pair of needlenose pliers.

onlyone said:

You can just cut the plug off and put the correct 220 volt plug on it. But you MUST change the connections in the motor like it shows in the diagrams on the motor data plate.
The wires are fine and will thank you for the lower current draw.
One blade will be horizontal and the other will be vertical.
Or you can do like I've done and just twist one of your plugs current blades to fit your new correct house 20 amp wiring circuit.

OK, I'm being silly now. But I have done that. LOL

Go for "6-20" here.
http://www.powercabling.com/nema.htm

Click to expand...

30 W oil

Guys, so we really think spending $1500 to make a $150 compressor 220 is a worthwhile investment?

BeastlyBirdie said:

If the drain was open it would bleed down. As for oil, CH compressor oil should be fine. Vapor separator and oil sep would be wise, helps tools last. That thing will be running like crazy for a grinder or cutoff tool....oh, and a line regulator would be nice as well...congrats on a compressor, sorry to hear about brother...

- - - Updated - - -

Oh yeah, and keep the drain shut aside from draining it....no sense letting more moisture in..

Click to expand...

Thanks beasty I really felt like a dumbass after reading your pointing out the obvious, but that's me sometimes and in looking back over how I typed my response I hope you didn't feel like I was calling you one.

YY1 said:

I don't think you're gonna like the results of trying to use that 5.8 CFM comp for blasting.

I have an 8.4 CFM DeWalt/Emglo (not cheap) unit that can barely do a bracket, and I sure wouldn't want to do a battery tray with it.

Sand/media blasting is arguably the heaviest load anyone will ever place on a compressor.

Bleed valve issues are pretty common. I think you have a good plan moving to a heavier unit.

Definitley get a water seperator.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the straight talk on the capability of the compressor. I will bear that in mind and use it to it's fullest capacity (smile I won't push it near as hard as any of you guys so hopefully it'll do the little bit I'll probably do) to see what it's limits are but not expecting too much.

I will definitely do the upgrade on the bleed valve and after rechecking clearance and the angle of the 'leg' nearest the handle it's pretty close to the ground so I'm thinking of putting some kind of rubber or whatever I can find around the garage or parts stores to space that front leg up to give me a little more room for the elbow/pipe/and ball valve. But I plan to leave an appropriate angle to let the water run the the drain hole while trying to minimize it running past the hole to the handle end and letting too much water sit there.

Sonny Black said:

I put a water trap or 2 on one of those "years ago" and painted 2 or 3 cars.... and they turned out great....
now for, blasting or impact tools? I don't know:eusa_doh:......other than a "D A" or such........

I would not mind having it ...
Sonny

Click to expand...

Thanks Sonny I have never painted anything other than out of a spray can, but I always did a good job after thoroughly cleaning with wire brush, sandpaper, and steel wool so we'll see. I wouldn't mind painting some parts that are cleaned up already the easy way, of course I'd remove the heavy stuff like scale and/or grease with a wire brush or possibly other methods I've seen referenced on FBBO. If the compressor won't support a small garage cabinet, I'm a little depressed cause I was hoping to do some minimal clean up and blast away the easy way to finish it off and MAYBE some parts and possibly dash/airbox, suspension components etc painting with the compressor.

onlyone said:

You may not be twising the drain cock the right way.
I always get confused doing mine because either I'm upside down or the drain is.
Don’t worry too much about a dryer. Just keep the tank drained to prevent corrosion and oil your air tools before use.
IF you are painting, that's different. I use two water traps when I spray to be sure.
The best thing you can do is change that motor to 240 like it says on the data plate.
It has a 115-volt plug on it now (“wired for”) so that would have to be changed to do it right.
By going to 240 you will cut your current in half (7.5 amps instead of 15).
The motor will run stronger, cooler and last longer.
You will need a 240-volt line in your work area. If you can’t do that, I’d pay someone to do it. If you were close, I could even help you. I like 240 available where I am.

It will sandblast, but will run all the time to do it. You will have to stop to let it build back up. I have two almost just like it hooked together when I sand blast.
The "Sears" branded one that I had before these two had the same cast iron compressor it does and it lasted for almost 40 years before the tank got a rust pin hole in the bottom. It was time to get my new ones then.

Motor oil is fine. Straight weight or what is in my car. Usually Mobil One.
The cast iron compressor is just like your engine. Piston, bores and bearings of some type. Change it every few years.
And you have a air filter on the inlet.
I'd say get a lawn mower foam filter and cut it to size or some HVAC type poly fluff. That needs to be changed every once in a whlie just like your car.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the personal experience with this type of compressor they are gonna come in handy .Onlyone !

Roadbird said:

Spray the pet cock with WD40 turn clockwise to loosen and do this back and forth until completely free then tighten and run the bugger like hell after you change the cylinder oil.

Click to expand...

I'll do some minor stress testing of the ol' buggar Roadbird I gar-an-damn-tee-ya. I sprayed the stop cock with some peanut butter (homage to my brother) otherwise known as PB Blaster (hopefully there's not something in it that WD40 doesn't have that's harmful) this morning before I left for work after I read your post. I didn't know if it was a good idea with an air compressor or I would have done it sooner. I hope that's not too hard to read with my side comments LOL

onlyone said:

Your electrician will probably suggest running in a new single wire circuit from your breaker box to the garage. IF your garage already had a single wire run from there to the box, it would be simple to change that over.
But since most circuit breakers feed multiple outlets that may not be possible. Or at least a good idea.
IF your garage has multiple 115 volt outlets AND nothing else is on that circuit he COULD convert them all to 220V without pulling new wiring in. (Labor savings)
BUT you would have no 115 in your garage anymore.
I may be bordering on too much information with this.

You can just cut the plug off your compressor and put the correct 220 volt plug on it. But you MUST change the connections in the side of motor like it shows in the diagrams on the motor data plate.
The wires are fine and will thank you for the lower current draw.
One blade of your new plug will be horizontal and the other will be vertical.
Or you can do like I've done and just twist one of your plugs current blades to fit your new correct house 20 amp wiring circuit outlet.

OK, I'm being silly now. But I have done that.

Go for "6-20" here.
http://www.powercabling.com/nema.htm

Click to expand...

Before I forget .. what is "6-20" ?

Thanks again Onlyone .. apparently the plug doesn't have to be moved for the window install .. DAMN-NIT ! .. so the electrician would be a seperate deal and much less likely than this morning. All three of the outlets are 120 and they are on the same circuit so changing all is not an option, and I've heard/maybe learned that 120V wire is not necessarily up to 220V ?? So the 220V thing is probably not in my immediate future. However, the room inside the the man door to the house is the washer/dryer room and there is 220 V in there .. so possible in the future.

super-bee_ski said:

30 W oil

Click to expand...

Thanks Ski I'll be changing that old oil soon !

YY1 said:

Guys, so we really think spending $1500 to make a $150 compressor 220 is a worthwhile investment?

Click to expand...

Thanks again YY1 .. keep it coming straight and true. I sincerely appreciate it. I presume by the $1,5K you are talking about the electrician work and I'm sure you are correctly judging the present day value of a 13 year old compressor. I do feel it's better or at comparable to $500 or lower priced models and is possibly a better unit but I have no delusions it's one of the nice units I've seen in other members garages. I will doing minimal work with it compared to virtually any other mention of compressor use in a thread here, but I know my bro used it to power some power tools and some power tools are better than no power tools

Thanks again to all who took the time to comment and help! I apologise for the less than grammatically perfect responses but the roofers only left a little while ago and I've been in the sun and doing a little drinky along way since I got home folks

I think someone is exaggerating. 1500 sounds sort of high torun simple receptacle.
Doing it yourself would save you money. That’s the kind ofperson you probably are.
It gives satisfaction. And you learn.
The 6-20 is at that link I gave you. It's a plug type. Look in the yellow part. 20 Amp plug.
But I’d have to say exercise caution if you know nothingabout electricity and don’t tackle it with just this Internet advice for thehands on part. Maybe there is aneighbor or buddy close by that could help.
You can do this yourself for a few bucks and a trip to LowesDepot. Make a simple adapter extensioncord. I did it years ago when I needed 220 at a rental house garage and didn't want to put the money in the house. I’ve still got the 50 feet of SJ cord.
Your dryer plug may be a little different. Post a picture if it is. See how the 110 and 110 go to make 220?
Some will probably yell about this. But it will work andyou will be “mobile” with your compressor.
The CB is still protecting the house wiring.

I'd just make sure the tank is drained, oil is full, and fire it up. It's a $75 compressor at most and chances are the reed valves are rusty as hell from sitting. No sense in spending any coin on a compressor like that before you know it works, IMO. Kind of akin to a "yard machine" lawn mower they are somewhat disposable. It's not big enough for much more than running some air tools, filling tires, and blowing stuff out. A compressor that size might even struggle on really tough bolts using a 1/2" drive impact.

On the wiring part just plug it in and let it rip. If it trips the breaker you either have something else pulling substantial amperage from that breaker or a weak breaker. Fluorescent lights don't really count unless you have a bunch of them. I think the dual bulb 8-ft. lights in my shop pull about .75A per ballast. Also, you may find that it takes more amperage to start the compressor during the cold weather months.

I was going to say try not to over think this but I'm a little late to the party lol.

DO NOT USE DETERGEANT MOTOR OIL IN A COMPRESSOR! Car motor oils have detergeant agents in them to capture any dirt/particles in them to be filtered out by the car's oil filer. Air compressors DO NOT have an oil filter. Need to use compressor oil so the particles fall to the bottom and are not trapped and circulated in the oil.

Sorry to take so long to respond but I've been busy looking for parts and planning my 440 starting caper and I was in Maryland all last week ;)

Update to the sitchiation on the compressor .. I was able to get the drain cock loose and there was no water in the tank and I know it the drain works so Yay! I also checked the fluid and my uncle who's used to run his own repair shop looked at the oil and confirmed it was compressor oil (thought that my bro would have run compressor oil and it looked different) and looks brand new .. so we fired it up and it runs great and holds 125 PSI which is it's max rating. We used it to air up the tires on the RT when it came off the trailer which made it a lot easier to maneuver around in my little garage.

onlyone said:

I think someone is exaggerating. 1500 sounds sort of high torun simple receptacle.
Doing it yourself would save you money. That’s the kind ofperson you probably are.
It gives satisfaction. And you learn.
The 6-20 is at that link I gave you. It's a plug type. Look in the yellow part. 20 Amp plug.
But I’d have to say exercise caution if you know nothingabout electricity and don’t tackle it with just this Internet advice for thehands on part. Maybe there is aneighbor or buddy close by that could help.
You can do this yourself for a few bucks and a trip to LowesDepot. Make a simple adapter extensioncord. I did it years ago when I needed 220 at a rental house garage and didn't want to put the money in the house. I’ve still got the 50 feet of SJ cord.
Your dryer plug may be a little different. Post a picture if it is. See how the 110 and 110 go to make 220?
Some will probably yell about this. But it will work andyou will be “mobile” with your compressor.
The CB is still protecting the house wiring.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the diagram only one and like they say a picture is a worth a million words. I may give that a try as suggested up thread it should be better for the motor durability. So my understanding is .. just make the proper extension cord like the pic and plug it into the dryer receptacle with no mods to the electric motor on the compressor and run with it .. right or wrong ??

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Jeremiah said:

I'd just make sure the tank is drained, oil is full, and fire it up. It's a $75 compressor at most and chances are the reed valves are rusty as hell from sitting. No sense in spending any coin on a compressor like that before you know it works, IMO. Kind of akin to a "yard machine" lawn mower they are somewhat disposable. It's not big enough for much more than running some air tools, filling tires, and blowing stuff out. A compressor that size might even struggle on really tough bolts using a 1/2" drive impact.

On the wiring part just plug it in and let it rip. If it trips the breaker you either have something else pulling substantial amperage from that breaker or a weak breaker. Fluorescent lights don't really count unless you have a bunch of them. I think the dual bulb 8-ft. lights in my shop pull about .75A per ballast. Also, you may find that it takes more amperage to start the compressor during the cold weather months.

I was going to say try not to over think this but I'm a little late to the party lol.

Click to expand...

If fired right up and ran just as it's supposed to Jeremiah. I'm just really happy to have a compressor at all ! LOL and bolded above is more than I've had before so it's a major help and improvement for the a hem "Shop" LOL

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mrsnicks said:

DO NOT USE DETERGEANT MOTOR OIL IN A COMPRESSOR! Car motor oils have detergeant agents in them to capture any dirt/particles in them to be filtered out by the car's oil filer. Air compressors DO NOT have an oil filter. Need to use compressor oil so the particles fall to the bottom and are not trapped and circulated in the oil.

Click to expand...

Yep I'll probably stick with the compressor oil and get some more soon to change it out and then continue to do so on a regular basis like once of year or so

I will not be painting cars but possibly could wind up using it to paint parts in future. I will be using impact guns, probably getting a small garage type blasting cabinet for small parts, possibly cut off wheel, grinder, etc mainly for mechanical work, probably not for serious body work.

Click to expand...

Also sorry to hear about your brother Tallhair. I would definitely recommend an air-oil separator & Regulator. That unit would have no issue running a smaller impact gun, nail/staple gun, blow gun and something to pump up tires and basket balls. As far as trying to run a die grinder/cutoff wheel and a blast cabinet, it would have a real hard time keeping up with those. Think of PSI as Horsepower and CFM as torque. You can have all the pressure in the world (HP), but if there is no torque behind it (CFM-Volume), it's not going to do much. As a comparison, I run a 80 gallon 2 stage compressor. Much larger than what you have there. Running my small right angle die grinder, there's a pretty noticeable difference in how much more often the compressor kicks on while running that grinder vs. lets say an impact gun. While running my blast cabinet, my compressor spends about just as much time running as when it is resting between recharge. A compressor that small may not even have enough uumfff to make the blast cabinet useful. A grinder, it's going to get jammed up/stuck really easy and wind out of juice pretty quickly, as well as build water in the tank and your lines quickly because the compressor is running so much. I'm not trying to downgrade your compressor, it is a nice unit and definitely adds value to any shop. Just don't want to see you waste the time making modifications to your garage electrical system and the compressor as well as spend money on the upgrades, blast cabinets, die grinders, sanders ect..ect..., when in the end you're not going to be happy with the performance of the tools/equipment you're trying to run because of lack of CFM. Good luck

Propwash said:

Also sorry to hear about your brother Tallhair. I would definitely recommend an air-oil separator & Regulator. That unit would have no issue running a smaller impact gun, nail/staple gun, blow gun and something to pump up tires and basket balls. As far as trying to run a die grinder/cutoff wheel and a blast cabinet, it would have a real hard time keeping up with those. Think of PSI as Horsepower and CFM as torque. You can have all the pressure in the world (HP), but if there is no torque behind it (CFM-Volume), it's not going to do much. As a comparison, I run a 80 gallon 2 stage compressor. Much larger than what you have there. Running my small right angle die grinder, there's a pretty noticeable difference in how much more often the compressor kicks on while running that grinder vs. lets say an impact gun. While running my blast cabinet, my compressor spends about just as much time running as when it is resting between recharge. A compressor that small may not even have enough uumfff to make the blast cabinet useful. A grinder, it's going to get jammed up/stuck really easy and wind out of juice pretty quickly, as well as build water in the tank and your lines quickly because the compressor is running so much. I'm not trying to downgrade your compressor, it is a nice unit and definitely adds value to any shop. Just don't want to see you waste the time making modifications to your garage electrical system and the compressor as well as spend money on the upgrades, blast cabinets, die grinders, sanders ect..ect..., when in the end you're not going to be happy with the performance of the tools/equipment you're trying to run because of lack of CFM. Good luck

Click to expand...

Thanks very much for the condolences Will. He was a very funny guy and would always crack me up. I still think of him almost every day and evern more often now that my RT is back in my home garage. I brought his tool box over too. It still has his small shop calendar stuck on it and I'm not taking it off .. Miss Jul is pretty nice and my Dad said although it was August when he passed they liked July better so he didn't pull that month off.

Thanks for commenting and sharing your experience. I'll use the tools he had which were basically what you said it would run and not stress it with more than it will handle. I would like a small cabinet for small parts but appreciate your and others heads up that it's not up to the job. I'll see if the base still has a blasting cabinet and take the stuff over there. My 'shop' really doesn't have the space for it anyway. Cheers brother.

It's all about the good memories brother! Very neat story on the calendar, as well as having the box/calendar in your garage. The old saying goes we learn by experience and i'm not to proud to admit that when I started filling my stable with air driven tools, I purchased an insufficient compressor. Was nothing but frustration and in the end, I spent more than if I would have just gone with a larger one right off the bat. I will say a cabinet blaster is a great idea (with a larger compressor of course). I use mine all the time as well as a few buddies that use it now and then. Definitely worth the money.