Air Compressor Recommendation

Nope.

Perfect.

Me too. They have some great bargains.

nice! i need a new compresor for topping up the tyres after i blew mine up at work trying to help out a mate with a flat tyre! whoops! off to the US in may i might look around out there and post something back, probably weigh to much for my case!

Any of the mains piston ones will run a nail gun, the smallest one machine mart sells runs my 90mm nailer at 1 shot every couple of seconds.

DervMan ("DervMan" ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Picky, picky, picky.

You're welcome. I like compressors. The diesel one makes a sound and emits suitably oily stinks. I reckon I could run it on sunflower oil. Starting it is fun, it has an electric starter but I prefer the decompressor and string style of starting, which it also has.

I look at their offers each week and if there's anything interesting pop along and look. And have bought some superb stuff. One such was a torx and allen set with ratchet handle and extensions. Would have been worth it at

Briefly, those really do fail quickly if you draw any volume. But they are quiet.

I have a 25l (I think) old SIP compressor I bought off ebay for not very much in the garage and I used to have a 12v lamp/inflator combo unit that I kept in the car for emergencies and it worked very well although wasn't fast. That stopped holding pressure though after about 20 years and I bought a really cheap compressor replacement from focus when they were having a closing down sale. It's so small that it takes ages even to got from say 20 to 30psi and it also gets really hot.

For inflating things at home, get any old mains compressor. I've sprayed a car with an item liek the one i have now but it was a Mini and it was to be rubbed down and polished afterward. I wouldn't hesitate to use it for small panel repairs.

Here's a question for you then. Old Ingersoll Rand compressor, westinghouse motor (three phase). Triplex drive belt, probably about 200l reciever. The thing will run fine up to 100PSI or so, but the motors not got enough guts, but that's fine because I've no need to go above 100 PSI. However, it doesn't start if there's anything much above 30PSI in the tank. Is there some mechanism that lets the thing start without putting air in the tank that's likely to have jammed, or some start circuit that's likely to have died? The whole thing is absolutely ancient, FWIW.

There's a cut-off switch that stops the motor when it reaches operating pressure. They can be either pre-set or adjustable. Here's a typical one:

There is a pressure switch somewhere on there. I can quite happily molish that part. It's the not wanting to start back up when there's pressure in the tank that makes me wonder.

Steve

The switches cut out and cut in at different pressures to prevent short cycling. However 30psi is far too low. I suspect that the switch is bolloxed. Remember that they are in part mechanical and can go sticky and stop working.

NOrmally that means it needs its oil changing or the out valve on the compressor's leaking & back filling the cylinder.

That's not the problem. Once it gets to 100PSI the motor physically can't turn the compressor, and will spin against the belts eventually. And the same thing happens if you switch it on when there's too much pressure in the tank. It's not a pressure switch issue as far as I can see.

That sounds more like it. Where am I likely to find the oil drain / filler and these valves under 20 layers of paint?

It's a Type 30 by the way.

Good question :-)The oil drain's normally just below the filler hole. There's quite a few different type 30s

Even though the weany stuff evaporates pretty quickly, the scent lingers on.

Nothing like "accidently" spilling a litre of diesel onto your hands, trousers and shoes when filling up...