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Compressor rebuild or craigslist?

M

meatness

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Nov 4, 2011
Messages
54
Location
Sultan. WA
I need air back in the garage!

My little craftsman compressor died, well technically I killed it. I let it run out of oil..... didn't realize it was leaking. Burned up a rod, just one, the other one looks fine. I would like to rebuild by getting a new rod, polish the crank and getting new reed valves, gaskets etc. I have no idea where to get parts for this pump or even how to find out what pump I am dealing with.

I would really appreciate any help you guys could toss my way.

I also got a hold of a parts compressor that I am thinking I would use as a tank extension for the set up. Something else I have no idea how to do, mostly just don't know where to pick up hose and connections to connect the two tanks.

Clickable



 
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Kevin C

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Location
Portland OR
There are at least four similar looking pumps. Best bet for parts is to go by the model number on the compressor. Sears still carries some parts but they are pricey. You could easily spend $140 on parts for a simple fix.

I know for sure the front seal is no longer available. Some versions still have rods, cranks and pistons etc. For my pump the avaible parts list is looking pretty slim (rings, piston crank, NA).


Four pump versions that I know of:

cac-4029
Cac-4003
D22629
D22625

I have pretty much the same pump. I wanted to freshen it up and was blown away that I needed to spend so much just for gaskets. At that point, its hard not to want to try an import Harbor Freight pump. It would cost less than a simple repair.
 
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M

meatness

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Sultan. WA
Thanks Kams. I will check out that link.


Kevin, That is the main reason I came to GJ for help. I started realizing that parts for this are few and expensive. I thought there might be something out there I don't know about...... maybe HF will be the place I end up but I would like to stay away from sending my money to those commie bastards lol.
 
K

Kevin C

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Portland OR
meatness said:
Thanks Kams. I will check out that link.


Kevin, That is the main reason I came to GJ for help. I started realizing that parts for this are few and expensive. I thought there might be something out there I don't know about...... maybe HF will be the place I end up but I would like to stay away from sending my money to those commie bastards lol.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean... I have an emotional attachment to my compressor. I bought it in 1980 and its still going strong. I would like to keep the original pump gong for as long as possible. I just ordered a spare belt and filter from Sears. I also realized that the Campbell compressor oil I had put in was 30wt oil in it and the manual calls for 20wt. The original Sears oil is no longer available, so I decided to try some Redline 20 wt compressor oil. In general these pumps run better with 20 wt.

What is the model number of yours? Any clue on the year?
 
S

StaggeringGoat

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Jul 1, 2011
Messages
758
Location
Oregon
Since you've already got the tank(s), you might try looking for a new/used pump on craigslist. The tanks should be easy to hook together, just get a cheap air hose and screw it to both tanks. You might need a couple bucks worth of fittings and some thread tape.
 
T

Thruxton

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Dec 30, 2010
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767
Location
Virginia
I did a double-take when I saw this thread title. About 3 weeks ago my 40 year old 2HP Craftsman compressor finally kicked the bucket. 5 years ago I replaced the reed valves, and 3 years ago I build up the crankshaft keyway with JBWeld. That old thing had been on 24/7/365 for much of its life, and completely for the last 12 years. I thought about rebuilding it, but parts costs, when they are available from Sears, are very high, as pointed out above. It needed a new crank, both the output end (JBWeld finally failed, but I love this stuff- look how long it held up in service), and the inner end (needle bearing end, crank had worn down enough to feel a ridge on the end with my finger, didn't bother to even mike it), BUT: the cylinder surfaces and piston skirts looked like new, as did the rods. That thing was made well. The final decision to junk it was made after a tap test of the bottom of the tank: cling-cling-clank, and she was off to the scrapper. But do I understand the emotional attachment! It was very hard to retire it, and since I had just completely replumbed my shop for it (not that big a deal in my 19 X 19, admittedly), it was a PIA to remove some of the plumbing for a reinstall of my new IR 3 HP 60 gallon vertical unit. Not to mention drilling holes in 50-year old concrete (read "hard!") for the mounts. The new one is impressive (to me), but I will always think of the old Craftsman as one of the best tools I have owned.

Good luck with yours!
 
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M

meatness

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Alright I picked up this little guy at new china republic, http://www.harborfreight.com/145-psi-3-hp-twin-cylinder-air-compressor-pump-67697.html

It was the best bang for the buck I could find and after reading the reviews it looks like my only real worries are terrible air filter, flywheel exploding, and letting it run dry..... I would have preferred to find a good used pump of CL or something but I wasn't having any luck with that.

My first issue is getting the speed right for the pump and getting a pair of pulleys that will work together. Because the bore is tapered on the flywheel I figure it is easier to go find a pulley to fit the motor. The downside of course is using a pulley that has a record of exploding.

Unfortunately the flywheel from the old pump has a smaller bore than the flywheel that came with the the HF pump and the pulley on my motor is for a serpentine belt and the HF pulley is a v-belt.

So my understanding is that I should run this pump at 1050 RPM. My motor is a 3.5 hp motor that spins at 3450 RPM. The flywheel on the HF motor is just a touch over 12.5" in diameter. The motor pulley is only 2" in diameter. Running them both together if that were possible would only spin the pump at around 550 RPMs.

My thinking right now is to pick up something like this http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/VBelt-Pulley-3X264 which has a OD of 3.5". That should put me right around 1030 RPMs according to my math......

If anyone is interested I can do a little write up of this process in the case that someone will find it useful. I also plan to connect the two tanks together inline, but that is for another post.
 
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LG63

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Sep 7, 2012
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The HF pump running at 1030 rpm is going to need a motor that has a nameplate amp rating of 13-15 amp at 240V. If your motor is rated less you will need to slow the pump down some.
 
V

volaredon

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Oct 7, 2012
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1,630
Location
IL
gonna be looking at this dillemma in Spring as my big 2 stage Emglo is starting to pump oil my water seperator is gettin clogged all the time never used to do that
 
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LG63

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Sep 7, 2012
Messages
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meatness said:
Here is the motor I plan on using. Will this work to spin the pump at 1030 RPM?

Click to expand...

No can do, it will overload the motor at that speed. You have a 1.5 (real) hp motor. Probably better keep the pump rpm under 600
 
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DHS

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Feb 9, 2009
Messages
1,054
Location
Central FL
e30bradley said:
totally irrelevant but what would an air compressor sound like with an automotive cone filter element? Lol. the cotton/steel gauze cleanable type. Does anybody run their compressor with one?
Click to expand...

Like this, haha. I got it free so I put it to use. It is a K&N...

IMG_0474.jpg
 
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M

meatness

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Joined
Nov 4, 2011
Messages
54
Location
Sultan. WA
The smallest pulley I can find at surpluscenter is 2.45 inches O.D. According to my calculations this would spin the pump at 676 RPM.

Motor speed - 3450 rpm
Motor shaft - 5/8" O.D.
Pump flywheel - 12.5" O.D.

This is the pulley I found
http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?item=1-BK24-B&catname=


According to LG63, this may over work my motor. The motor specs can be seen above in the picture.

I am looking for an expert to let me know if I should go ahead with this plan or look for something a little smaller for the motor.
 
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