Vintage Air Compressors

[1930artdeco]

Loose Ctrl, thanks, I have a pancake right now and I can adjust the pressure by turning a knob. So this is what I was expecting on the new compressor. But good to know I was thinking down the right road term wise. Thank you for your help.

Mike

 

[Loose Ctrl]

You're welcome.

 

[sberry]

Most all my stuff is vintage.

 

[sberry]

There is the pressure shut off switch that is set to stop the motor once a predetermined pressure is reached. It would be wired directly to the motor. There is a pressure relief valve, also known as a pop off valve, that vents pressure should the pressure shut off switch fail to stop the motor from over pressurizing the tank. This is a spring loaded mechanical valve, usually brass, and is mounted on top of the tank. Then you have a regulator. It is usually plumbed into the pressurized air outlet on the tank. This regulator is where you set pressure to the line(s) supplying tools that are air powered.


Pressure relief valve looks something like this.

The wiring should look something like this. Wire colors may not be the same.

This is a dual regulator set up and how I prefer to do it to protect tools from moister and internal corrosion.

This little setup on a regulated line, second fil/reg just for the paint gun.

 

[1930artdeco]

Well here is an update. I got the tank pressure checked up to 250psi and it held! So I bought a new pressure switch and some wiring and fired her up today! The needle fluctuates quite a bit while it is pumping up and it seems to take forever (although I have not timed it yet). But it does shut off at 125 and restarts at 95. So I will start using it tomorrow to throw some paint.

Mike

 

[don long]

Found this guy at an auction yesterday. For the price I had to take home! Can't find much info on the Dayton Air Compressor Co. I've only found one other example over at practical machinist. Looks very similar to the Champion compressors from the 20s. Based on the hardware style and cast iron its got to be nearly 100 years old. Going to strip her down and clean it up. Motor isn't original but I have a few repulsion motors lying around that might fit the bill. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

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Boy is that a sweet find. I just love those old compressors. I'm in the process of restoring one similar to yours this week

 

[1930artdeco]

Well I have parts on the way to fix my compressor! I also have a regulator for it as well. Now I just need to add a dryer to take out the water. Will any dryer do or does it need to be a special model, or will a generic one do? I can't see spending $$$ on a dryer and/filter for what I use it for.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Noworries]

My little DeVilbiss... mid 50's I think.. still runs great, pumps to about 125psi.

 

[WagonHo!]

Whoa great find and yes it is a must have adoption.
Reminds me of Rosie the robot maid of the Jetsons

 

[WagonHo!]

Excellent illustration/diagrams of the pressure switch shut off. Thanks

 

[dwall174]

I'm not really sure if this one is truly Vintage or not?
My best guess would be the late 80's or early 90's

The compressor's head looks similar to the Craftsman/DeVilbiss style pumps used in the 80"s & 90"s.

The only name on it was Speedy Sprayer & I haven't been able to find any information on it!

 

[diesel_dan]

I'm not really sure if this one is truly Vintage or not?
My best guess would be the late 80's or early 90's

The compressor's head looks similar to the Craftsman/DeVilbiss style pumps used in the 80"s & 90"s.

The only name on it was Speedy Sprayer & I haven't been able to find any information on it!

I had a Craftsman I bought new in the mid 80s - looked completely different with cast aluminum "square" dual piston cylinder and head.

Yours is older I believe...

 

[yatg]

I'm not really sure if this one is truly Vintage or not?
My best guess would be the late 80's or early 90's

The compressor's head looks similar to the Craftsman/DeVilbiss style pumps used in the 80"s & 90"s.

The only name on it was Speedy Sprayer & I haven't been able to find any information on it!

Hmmm.

http://www.speedysprayer.com/index.html

same logo, "known as w.r. brown products"

 

[dwall174]

same logo, "known as w.r. brown products"

I seen that web site while doing some searches before, And I also noticed that the web site hasn't been updated since 2017 ?

I'll probably try giving them a call during regular weekday work hours & see what happens.

Doug

 

[Old Faithful]

I'm not really sure if this one is truly Vintage or not?
My best guess would be the late 80's or early 90's

The compressor's head looks similar to the Craftsman/DeVilbiss style pumps used in the 80"s & 90"s.

The only name on it was Speedy Sprayer & I haven't been able to find any information on it!

These pumps are fairly common and their components are pretty much interchangeable. I bet you can get Craftsman, Sears and Campbell Hausfeld pump components to fit. They are fairly robust and last a long time IF they aren't run dry. The same pump is used for different outputs depending on the motor and pulley size, so yours probably hasn't seen much in terms of cylinder wear. Two things to check, the tank (they tend to rust out and are often in bad shape at that age) and the inlet reed valves (they break from fatigue over the long run).

Otherwise, fairly simple to dismantle and overhaul /repair and best of all, great capacity and unintrusive noise in operation, especially the lower powered units such as yours.

I own several, a couple of which I got for almost nothing because of a failed tank (replaced it with a tank from a cheapo oil-les that had worn out) and the other because of knocking rods (worn out crankshaft from lack of oil) and LOVE the parts interchangeability

 

[Old Faithful]

I seen that web site while doing some searches before, And I also noticed that the web site hasn't been updated since 2017 ?

I'll probably try giving them a call during regular weekday work hours & see what happens.

Doug

If it works fine, doesn't knock and fills that tank from empty in about 2 minutes or so, you should be good to go. Cylinder gaskets can be made from sheet gasket from the auto part store. Reed valves can be found online. Needle bearings are standard stuff available from any place that sells them. Safety valves, pipe adapters, pressure regulators, gauges can all be purchased online or form large hardware outlets where they sell compressor products.

The most important thing to test IMO is the tank - basically, you fill it with water and apply 250 PSI too it from a small tire compressor. Of course you'll have to make yourself an adapter, but you'll be able to check it safely. Water being incompressible, it won't explode like air does should the tank fail, it will just leak instead. And if it does, you'll only need to find a replacement tank and install your hardware onto it. Just grind off the platform from the busted tank and fasten it to the new tank with a couple of large Tridon clamps and you should be good to go. If the replacement tanks has a platform identical to yours, even better

Good luck, let us know how you're doing

 

[Qcriderfan87]

Recently got, I think, a 2 hp Curtis compressor. the plate with serial number is hard to read. I would like more information about it, if anyone can help. I am Looking to put it back into reliable service, thank you

www(dot)garagejournal(dot)com/forum/showthread.php?t=461629

 

[yatg]

Another W.R. Brown compressor, for sale near me on CL. This one badged "intermatic". Needs work. Wants $100 for it. Maybe this should be in the Craigslist Dreamer thread.

 

[yatg]

Can anybody ID the model of this Quincy? Owner says there's no label on it. 5hp, 80gal. It has that odd finned box on top of the tank that the pump feeds into.

 

[MacMcMacmac]

This looks like a 325.

 

[MacMcMacmac]

Another W.R. Brown compressor, for sale near me on CL. This one badged "intermatic". Needs work. Wants $100 for it. Maybe this should be in the Craigslist Dreamer thread.

Campbell Hausfeld VT series compressor.

 

[MacMcMacmac]

I'm not really sure if this one is truly Vintage or not?
My best guess would be the late 80's or early 90's

The compressor's head looks similar to the Craftsman/DeVilbiss style pumps used in the 80"s & 90"s.

The only name on it was Speedy Sprayer & I haven't been able to find any information on it!

Another Campbell Hausfeld VT series. There were numerous head styles over the years. They should all bolt on. In fact, the head overhaul repair kit for most models is simply a replacement head fully assembled and ready to bolt on.

I believe that cylinder head is actually a 70's design.

 

[redmondjp]

My grandfather had one of those Speedy Sprayer compressors, mounted on a small steel base plate that also held the electric motor, on tiny casters. No tank. I found a letter from 1973 or '75 in my grandfather's effects from W.R. Brown in Chicago, replying to my grandfather's request for the part number for a replacement rubber diaphragm, for a pump built in the early 1960s. They no longer carried parts by the mid-1970s, and actually typed a letter to my grandfather stating such (those were the days - oh, to get a personalized letter from a big corporation these days, one might die from the shock of it all).

 

[redlines]

1961 Wayne, restored 5 years ago.

 

[yatg]

This looks like a 325.

You are correct. Went and looked at it yesterday. 325 ROC 7.
Looks decent and runs good.

The pictures didn't show the stage intercooler tube clearly, was in shadow.
There's no oil filter on the older models.
The unloader is bell-tower style.
The electrical is a straight pressure switch, not a mag starter.
The mystery box between the pump and the tank is probably a dryer.

According the the Quincy distributor I talked to this morning, its probably from the 1950s. Unfortunately some of the head parts are no longer available, at least she couldn't find any cross references for them.

On the fence about buying it.

 

[Old Faithful]

Another W.R. Brown compressor, for sale near me on CL. This one badged "intermatic". Needs work. Wants $100 for it. Maybe this should be in the Craigslist Dreamer thread.

That's pretty much what people are asking in Montreal for compressors of that type in that condition these days. Nice ones, people are asking $150. It's a far cry from 5 years ago when you could get a good one for $75 or one with a bad tank for $20 to $40 (sometimes even free).

 

[Old Faithful]

Campbell Hausfeld VT series compressor.

Exactly
They were selling between $249 and $399 back in the 70s.

They're not high quality machines, but for around the house they are way better than oilless screamers, if you don't mind the heavy weight, and can last a long time when in good condition if properly oiled and the tank regularly drained, which is an issue with most of those I've seen listed in the past couple of years. Run and listen to see whether the pump knocks (bad rod or crankshaft due to lack of oiling), whether it pumps efficiently or not (bad intake reed valves or pinhole in tank due to rusting, a major problem if that's the case)

I own two running Sears 2HP compressors (around 7CFM at 90 PSI) and 3 more parts machines, 2 branded CH and another Sears, all running the same CH VTs pumps with minor casting differences differences and with different motor drive pulleys for 1, 1.5 and 2 HP service.

 

[Old Faithful]

Another Campbell Hausfeld VT series. There were numerous head styles over the years. They should all bolt on. In fact, the head overhaul repair kit for most models is simply a replacement head fully assembled and ready to bolt on.

I believe that cylinder head is actually a 70's design.

Right On. One of my two Sears machines uses this exact head, the other has the parallel fins and both use the vertical cylinder block fins instead of the slanted horizontal fins on this machine. Two of my parts machines use this slanted cylinder casting design.

The pump components are pretty much all interchangeable between 1 and 2HP, only the much rarer 3HP model uses a larger pump. The difference between the 1, 1.5 and 2 HP models is simply the motor and drive pulley diameter, and the tank size (10, 15, 20 and even 30 gallons).

 

[Old Faithful]

You are correct. Went and looked at it yesterday. 325 ROC 7.
Looks decent and runs good.
...

On the fence about buying it.

How much is the seller asking? They tend to ask an arm and a leg for them where I live and even more, in other words, about the same a as new Chinese compressor of the same capacity ($1,500)

 

[Plantman]

Picked up this devilbiss with flat belt pulley and novo fu 3x4 engine while back
it does run and make air .very hard to start Probally operators fault lol
Anybody got any info on it or know where to look for it please let me know
Tank is saying 1940 on tag

 

[wrenchguy]

Picked up this devilbiss with flat belt pulley and novo fu 3x4 engine while back
it does run and make air .very hard to start Probally operators fault lol
Anybody got any info on it or know where to look for it please let me know
Tank is saying 1940 on tag

Great find! Try smokstack.com and search novo. good luck with ur project.

 

[Plantman]

Thanks wrench guy I'm waiting on approval to join there site I was pretty sure already was a member but had redo

 

[yatg]

Exactly
They were selling between $249 and $399 back in the 70s.

Inflation calculator says $300 in 1975 is worth $1445 today.

Nobody is going to pay that kind of money for a new compressor like that today.

 

[Plantman]

Picked up this nos champion pump had the papers with ,still had the arrow of direction on the flywheel
Paper work said 1957

 

[pancho400cid]

nos champion pump

Very interesting! Why did it sit around so long?

 

[Plantman]

Not sure on that I think the guy sold it to me was not the original buyer could have been a backup up and never needed it .i probally just set it up and not use it either lol
Still got the original box as well

 

[laundryman]

Found this is my dad's garage.Was wondering if anyone can help identify please.

all I can read was:

I see 1979
I see DeVILBISS
I see Sears Best
I see craftsman

and "This craftsman air compressor will operate:
spray gun
paint tank
sandblaster
caulk gun
infaltor
air duster gun
air brush
air drill
air chisel
grease gun

 

[Plantman]

I picked this old rascal up while back just took head off today. So was this made to pump refrigerant or just the way they made it pump .
The intake is on crank case so it's sucking in air there guess thats why there is vavles on the pistons
There is a tag on the cart that says Frigidaire but no tags on pump
Anybody know anything about these I like to read it
Thanks eric

 

[MacMcMacmac]

That is a refrigerant compressor and is designed to circulate oil along with the refrigerant.

 

[Plantman]

The person I got it from was using as just a air compressor with a tank ,I thought it must be a old refrigerant pump
says delco remy on the cover of the air intake. Its neat ole pump never the less