Compressor sprung a leak!

[captain_john]

Well, will they give you some loot towards the replacement unit?

How about getting replacement parts? I know Tractor Supply does have a decent parts counter, buuuuuut... this is Sears!

Also, look at the cylinders. From what I can see, Sears has the best alumuminum jugs that are steel sleeved for the best price. I am willing tobet those units selling for $100 less are cast cylinders.

CHAD! Throw some MONEY at this PROBLEM!!!

CJ

[cjensen]

i'm gonna do some research IN STORE over the next couple of days to see what the exact differences are. i should be able to get to sears, lowes, and menards tomorrow, and maybe get back out to farm and fleet and tractor supply (they are WAY on the other side of town from the airport).

i know that sears has the best policy on parts/return/exchange/garauntee...but, i just have to figure out for myself what the best dollar/deal is. i know i'm gonna throw some cash into this. i have no problem with that, i just want to make sure it's going to be good money spent (and i know you pretty much can't go wrong with sears...)

[captain_john]

...look at the cylinders. That is the place where it counts, just like an engine.

CJ

[jim_geo]

Again my $.02. Do yourself a favor and get a motor that has bearings rather than bushings. At least that will be a start toward long life of the compressor. You may have to look for that feature but it's worth the time and money spent.

[prestwich]

One thing I can tell you about Sears is that I went out there about five times and talked to five different salespeople about compressors before I ended up buying one, and they were *all* a bunch of - sorry to say it - pathetically ignorant morons.

They don't know anything about compressor technology or terminology. One guy was making up BS right and left to every question I asked, and I just stood there poker faced and nodded. Yeah, I bought their gadget and I'm happy with it, but don't expect actual knowledge of the product from the people in the store...

The Sears website is actually excellent when it comes to solid information.

[captain_john]

One thing I can tell you about Sears is that...

<snip>

They don't know anything about compressor technology or terminology.

Ummmmmm, YAH! I second the motion!

As you may already know, I got the compressor from HELL.


http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product. ... +Inflators

I got it on clearance for $260! The guy selling it to me was a riot! On our way to the cash register he tells me, "You know, it's 220". Of course you know what I said!

"220, 221... Whatever it takes!"

CJ

[jim_geo]

Mr. Mom. That was one of the funniest lines.

[jimrobinette]

Chad,

Personally, I think most of the compressors on the market would work great for what we are doing. That being said, two-stage is the only way to go. Learn from my mistakes!

i think sears is top notch for tools. BUT...do you all think that you "pay" for the craftsman name? i was at tractor supply today, and they sell campbell hausfeld (sp?) and ingersoll rand compressors similar in size, and up to $100 cheaper...i'm leaning towards one of those. farm and fleet has some good prices on compressors as well.

just fueling a small fire...

[cjensen]

okay...i thought i had this compressor thing figured out!

two stage??? you'd think from all the research and reading i've done over the last week or so, i'd know what this is.

also, i've paid visits to lowes, sears, and menards so far today, and i've read through the material on craftsman, kobalt, porter-cable, dewalt, and even sanborn (coleman), and they all look to have very similar designs and cylinders. it's not until you get down to the really small ones that i'm seeing a difference in cylinder design and construction. i'm very disappointed in my sears store...all of the compressors were just sort of "set out" with no labels, pricing, or descriptions. bummer. i got their info from the sears website, but the store was NO HELP (as i was told it wouldn't be).

anyway...two stage...

[4kilo]

First stage compresses the air to some extent, then the second stage takes the partially compressed air and compresses it further. Quieter and more efficient (as well as more complicated and expensive).

Pat

[jim_geo]

Chad, You had something you thought would work then found out it wasn't going to because of a leak. Take an honest look at it. Was that, minus the leak, what you needed? Most probably it would be fine for about a week. As far as I could see that compressor was going to be running all the time. To ME that would be a pretty big draw back. Although you and your wife may actually like the noise of a compressor. That type of compressor was designed to be used in the trades such as roofing or framing where a crew can hook up to it and run their nailers. They are designed to run all the time hence the low volume tanks. CJ has a pretty good compressor high volume high pressure means that for the amount of use most of us require most of the time the compressor will only be running every few hours or so. That becomes a way big deal. You could even get by spray painting with it and possibly do better than just get by. Two stage is nice but shouldn't be a deal breaker considering what you have right now. I don't know anyway to make a compressor a painlessly cheap purchase. I lucked into mine (sort of) because a customer had no other way to pay a bill. To do it over again I would most likely buy a unit very similar to CJ's. What ever you do BE SAFE!

[cjensen]

yeah jim, that 'ol green thang isn't going to run in my shop again. to risky for me. you're right, the motor runs constantly, but the pump shuts off. it's actually pretty quiet with the pump off. a normal conversation could be had, but it's just not worth it for me.

i just got off the phone with CJ, and i'll be looking for a new one. i've been to most of the places i'm gonna look, and i'll probably have a new one by the weekend.

i'm not looking for the cheapest one out there. i have no problem spending money (ask my wife). whether it's $200 or a grand, i'll spend what i need to. i just like to make sure i've checked all my options out. when i bought that little 3 gallon craftsman, i wasn't sure exactly what my needs would be, and $115 was money well spent on a compressor that could fill tires, and squeeze rivets.

now with the wings, i really want to be able to run the air drill all the time, and the die grinder sometimes, switch to the cleco tool, and then squeeze without waiting for a cycle (no plans to do my own paint right now). that old green compressor would've been fine, and i just happened to be talking about a new compressor when a friend of mine walked in, overheard, and said he had one i could have. it runs the drill without any problem, but the leak is there, and the inside of the tanks are really bad.

i'll find one, just takin' some time to find it. i've always been a spur of the moment purchaser...i'm trying to resist that this time, 'cuz i've already looked at SEVERAL that i want.

[avaviat]

In my "tooling up" I bought one of these:
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/ ... 0&R=211720

Ingersol Rand 18CFM@90PSI (135 max) continuous duty 230v single-stage...cost was $800 delivered.

It is total overkill for what I've done so far. Normal steady drilling causes the compressor to kick in every 10-15 minutes. When it does kick in it is very loud. I'm not sure about later, and maybe I'll change my mind when I try to paint, but I'd say this is definitely more compressor than you need.

The higher pressure (even 135PSI) makes it harder to find filters, pressure regulators, and other support hardware with proper ratings. The size means you've got to run hoses around... no rolling it out to the driveway to put air in the car's tires. The larger size means you've got to bolt it down. Mine is held with anchors in the concrete floor. You've also got to hard wire it into the electrical system. I ran conduit from the panel to the closet where the compressor is installed. The only "airplane" tool that has come even close to maxing out the compressor is my cheap (as in $7.50) die grinder with a 1" scotchbright wheel, which causes it to run about 80% of the time. Of course, for even $30 you can buy a decent die grinder that doesn't suck so much air.

Don't get me wrong... I think it is an awesome compressor. If it was to disappear, I'd buy another in an instant. It is just overkill for everything I've seen in plane building.

[cjensen]

unfortunately, i don't have 220 in my garage, and there's no easy way to get it there. it's possible, but not easy. so, i need to stick to 110v compressors. i did check out those ingersoll's at farm and fleet the other day. they are sweet!

[Spike]

well...i'm not trying to be argumentative here, but i did talk to some more experienced people than myself as far as air tanks are concerned. they said that at 120psi, if the tank were to rupture, it would just leak out the air, and make a small tear. there would not be a catastrphic explosion that would throw the compressor across the room. 120psi is not enough to do any major damage. their words, not mine.

Cool. Not to be argumentative but I had a friend of mine with a Phd in Physics run some numbers for me. Assuming that it holds about as much air as the small DeWalt two tank portable system, a failure of that compressor would release the same amount of energy as 90 M-80 firecrackers, or, the same as dropping a Honda Goldwing from 17.5 feet in the air. He also added that the shooting across the room was possible, up to a velocity of 98 MPH.

Not to be argumentative though

Take a gander at this. It supposedly failed at 100PSI.


-- Spike

[cjensen]

yeah, somebody posted that over on VAF for me to see...point is definately taken.

so, i've been shopping over the last couple of days, and i went back to sears today. they were having a small sale and i bought a compressor.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product. ... ab=spe#tab

33 gal, 6 horse, higher flow (than the one craftsman pro i was thinking about purchasing). it is single stage, and oil-less, but for the amount i'll be using it (2-3 hours-at the most-at a time, average), this should do me just fine! i know it'll be louder than an oil lubed compressor, but in a garage, i'm not convinced i would know the difference...maybe i'm wrong...

i did look at, and almost bought a 26 gallon farmhand oil lubed belt driven compressor, but a) i had never heard of it (although i found out it's a division of campbell hausfeld) and b) it was a model that was out of production. it had a great price on it, but i decided against it.

so, i'm back in business!

[avaviat]

Yeah, the big compressors really do need to be hard wired into the house/whatever, and that ain't always easy. I was lucky; I only had to run about 15' of conduit.

IMO, even if you had the biggest bolt-down monster around you'd still want/need a smaller roll-around compressor big enough to run air tools but small enough transport. In other words, I'd probably skip the bolt-down 80-gallon 110v compressors some stores sell.

--
Jon

[N200PF]

Chad -

The oil lube compressors are certainly quieter but the reason I went that way was primary for the longer life. It just doesn't seem like it's working hard when it's running. I broke mine in, changed the oil and it's ready to roll!

I went the 2 cyl. Craftman 25 gal route. 8.6 CFM at 90 psi. So far so good!

- Peter

PS - Our home vacuum is louder than the compressor.

[jim_geo]

Rock and Roll chad

[captain_john]

AWRIGHT, CHAD!!!



We can finally put this beaten horse to REST!

CJ