Roberts210
Well-known member
So I got hired last Fall to do the windows on a rebuild of a craftsman Streamline Moderne house out in Cal.
I left my old C-H compressor at my farm, figuring I could pick up a decent one on the L.A. Craigslist. And when I got out here in Oct. I found this one. It’s a Craftsman 3 H.P. (Hahahaha… sure it’s 3 H.P! In their dreams!) However, being familiar with Craftsman’s rating system I figured it would perform OK.
I bought it out of a rental yard, so I knew it had had a rough life, but for $80 I figured it might last the winter.
The only thing was it had a really nasty “chuffing” which I tried to ignore, but eventually tracked the sound down to the fact that an intake flapper valve was broken.
I only discovered that last Friday and ran around the S.F. Valley trying to find a set of replacement valves.
Grainger didn’t have anything, and neither did a nearby Industrial Supply, but Grainger guy pointed me to All Air Mechanical and Engineering, which happened to be a place that sold and repaired and serviced air compressors. This place was heaven if you love air compressors. They had everything from huge rotary compressors bigger than a VW bus, to little 20-gallon units like mine. He had the valves in stock and I got ‘em. Went back to the jobsite and started in on the compressor. There was a lot of what can only be described as gunk on the old valves and inside the head. I wire brushed it off and replaced the valves and then realized I should probably pull the top plate off and inspect the other set of valves. That set checked out OK, and I found the remains of the broken flapper valve lying on top of one of the pistons, but in pulling the top plate I tore up that gasket. So back to All Air to see if he had a gasket. He didn’t, but he showed me a Speedaire 20-gallon compressor that a previous customer had abandoned there 8 months ago. Said it was for sale and was I interested? I told him I’d get back to him. I eventually solved the gasket problem by cutting my own gasket from some stuff I got at the auto parts store and I got my old red Craftsman up and running. She ran good all Friday afternoon. But I couldn’t get that pretty Speedaire out of my mind. So Friday night I put the Craftsman on the L.A. Craigslist for $100, sold it on Sat. morning and on Monday I went and picked up the Speedaire. Got it for $127. Love it.
Interestingly enough, the guy at All Air said all the gunk on the valves and head of the C-man was residue from the previous owner running automotive oil in the compressor for an extended length of time instead of non-detergent oil or compressor oil. Seems the additives in detergent automotive oil also allow it to dry out and harden into varnish a lot faster than non-detergent oil. The heat and constant air flow over the oil droplets hastens this process. So, it's compressor oil for me from now on.
I left my old C-H compressor at my farm, figuring I could pick up a decent one on the L.A. Craigslist. And when I got out here in Oct. I found this one. It’s a Craftsman 3 H.P. (Hahahaha… sure it’s 3 H.P! In their dreams!) However, being familiar with Craftsman’s rating system I figured it would perform OK.
I bought it out of a rental yard, so I knew it had had a rough life, but for $80 I figured it might last the winter.
The only thing was it had a really nasty “chuffing” which I tried to ignore, but eventually tracked the sound down to the fact that an intake flapper valve was broken.
I only discovered that last Friday and ran around the S.F. Valley trying to find a set of replacement valves.
Grainger didn’t have anything, and neither did a nearby Industrial Supply, but Grainger guy pointed me to All Air Mechanical and Engineering, which happened to be a place that sold and repaired and serviced air compressors. This place was heaven if you love air compressors. They had everything from huge rotary compressors bigger than a VW bus, to little 20-gallon units like mine. He had the valves in stock and I got ‘em. Went back to the jobsite and started in on the compressor. There was a lot of what can only be described as gunk on the old valves and inside the head. I wire brushed it off and replaced the valves and then realized I should probably pull the top plate off and inspect the other set of valves. That set checked out OK, and I found the remains of the broken flapper valve lying on top of one of the pistons, but in pulling the top plate I tore up that gasket. So back to All Air to see if he had a gasket. He didn’t, but he showed me a Speedaire 20-gallon compressor that a previous customer had abandoned there 8 months ago. Said it was for sale and was I interested? I told him I’d get back to him. I eventually solved the gasket problem by cutting my own gasket from some stuff I got at the auto parts store and I got my old red Craftsman up and running. She ran good all Friday afternoon. But I couldn’t get that pretty Speedaire out of my mind. So Friday night I put the Craftsman on the L.A. Craigslist for $100, sold it on Sat. morning and on Monday I went and picked up the Speedaire. Got it for $127. Love it.
Interestingly enough, the guy at All Air said all the gunk on the valves and head of the C-man was residue from the previous owner running automotive oil in the compressor for an extended length of time instead of non-detergent oil or compressor oil. Seems the additives in detergent automotive oil also allow it to dry out and harden into varnish a lot faster than non-detergent oil. The heat and constant air flow over the oil droplets hastens this process. So, it's compressor oil for me from now on.