Advice; Speedaire compressor from 1977, keep fixing or retire it?

[Packrat56]

I have, and have been using for many years, a 3 cylinder Speedaire built in 1977. Its been an amazing machine all these years, but the motor is beginning to fail, and it does not make as much air as it did years ago. Might need rings. Ill also ad that I'm in Western Oregon where its wet almost all the time and when draining the tank, the water is quite rusty brown.

I use air tools often, and paint vehicles occasionally. Instinct says don't put much money into this, as major components are aging, beginning to fail, and parts are not cheap.

Wondering what others would do, keep repairing, or time to replace?

Thanks..

 

[Leon bee]

Track down parts for the Speedaire, meanwhile start scouting new ones is about all I could do until the spirit moved me one way or another.

 

[finn]

Sounds like you’re a frequent and relatively heavy user.

Unless your passion is bringing back tools from nearly dead, I suggest you buy a new compressor. You earned it after all those years with the old one, and it sounds tired.

Note I said new. No sense wasting your time searching for that elusive deal of a lifetime, unless you’re in your heart that kind of scavenger (and many here are and good for them).

I’m in the same position, with a well used but functional Champion and a Rand. The thought of refurbishing has crossed my mind, but I can’t get over the fact that the time spent rebuilding can never be bought back.

If money is the issue, that’s something else, though, I suppose.

 

[Packrat56]

At my age I'm not interested in rebuilding an old compressor; like you said, the time involved. I'd rather sped it chasing down truck or bike parts, not compressor parts-unless its such an amazing compressor?

Its a 3HP, 3 cyl. What brand is considered a quality replacement without being crazy spendy?

 

[zendriver]

How much rust is there in a 48-year-old air compressor tank?

Since it sounds like it’s well wornPersonally, I’d move on

 

[Hohn]

With all the hours you've likely put on it, you got your money out of it.

That said, part of the entire reason to buy an industrial compressor is the ability to get parts and rebuild them and save money.

Call a local distributor and see if they offer a rebuild service. At least then you'll know how much (if any) you're spending to buy new.
Personally I think the tank condition is the main determinant.

Tanks are the most expensive part and the hardest to replace. The pump itself can often be reconditioned for $200 in parts. Motors are what they are, easy to change if needed.

I think there's a middle ground that might involve rebuilding the unit you have without you having to be the one that does it.
I'd at least do a bit of due diligence on that option before pivoting right away to buying new.

And understand that the build quality of anything remotely budget friendly will be leagues worse than your old Speedy. Price a newer Speedy or Champ or EMAX. You're in $3500 or more as a starting point for 5hp. Maybe that's trivial for your budget, but for mine I'd be trying to hire someone to rebuild the existing speedaire and have industrial quality at lower cost.

Or just go to TSC or another big box store and buy whatever Chinesium unit they have knowing that it might not last as long, but it will probably last just fine.

 

[Packrat56]

Thanks all for info and opinions. If I went ahead and bought a Champion to replace it, am I buying a better made machine than all the big box store brands? I keep reading reviews of IR, and CH. Quite a few issues right out of the box, but online reviews are often made more often with people unhappy about problems. I see people talking about Quincy, but I have never heard of them. I prefer to spend a little more on a unit like this-assuming I am getting at least a little more reliability and longevity.

 

[micromind]

In my experience, the Champion is better than any big-box store unit.

One quick and easy way to tell about the quality of just about any compressor is to look at the motor RPM. If it's 3450 or thereabouts, then the unit was built with low cost in mind, in other words, cheap. If it's 1725 or thereabouts, most likely the unit was built to be run hard and last a long time.

 

[finn]

Champion would be my choice, with Quincy second. Quincy has some good products, but their lower priced compressors were marginal, based on threads from several years ago.

Don’t know if that’s changed.

 

[Hohn]

Thanks all for info and opinions. If I went ahead and bought a Champion to replace it, am I buying a better made machine than all the big box store brands? I keep reading reviews of IR, and CH. Quite a few issues right out of the box, but online reviews are often made more often with people unhappy about problems. I see people talking about Quincy, but I have never heard of them. I prefer to spend a little more on a unit like this-assuming I am getting at least a little more reliability and longevity.

I think the Champion would run circles around any box store compressor in terms of durability. The R15 pump is highly regarded. Having recently acquired a well-used example, I can attest that it's a very well made industrial-grade unit. Mine came with a Baldor 3ph motor.

But a 5hp recip compressor is a 5hp recip compressor in terms of air delivery. There are no meaningful performance differences between them in terms of moving 17-18 SCFM or so at 175psi, allowing for minor efficiency differences between reeds and discs and such.

It's worth asking if the difference between a cheap compressor and a premium compressor matters within the relevant timeframe.

The difference between an EMAX and a Champion is whether it will outlive you or outlive you and your kids. If that's worth paying an extra $2k for you to get the Champion, then go for it. But I think many of us would be quite well served by something cheaper like the Emax or Quincy.
My suggestion: take the extra funds you would have spent on the Champion and invest those in the things that keep a compressor alive-- premium synthetic compressor oil, automatic tank drain, etc.

A well cared for $2k compressor beats a neglected $4k compressor all day. The extra thickness of a premium tank is nothing compared to regular drains vs never drained.

Amazon has the IR automatic drain on sale right now: https://www.amazon.com/Ingersoll-Rand-Edv200-Electronic-Drain/dp/B001VXW8KA/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[70chevellegsp]

I went thru this situation 2 years ago. '70's Speedaire 5hp 80 gallon horizontal tank, and the tank sprung a leak. A new tank was going to cost me $1,500-$2,000 to replace, so I scrapped the tank, and kept the Champion R15 pump and GE motor just in case and then bought an Emax E350 to replace. Cost a little bit more than the new tank, but got a whole compressor, which is working great and extremely quiet.

 

[Hohn]

I went thru this situation 2 years ago. '70's Speedaire 5hp 80 gallon horizontal tank, and the tank sprung a leak. A new tank was going to cost me $1,500-$2,000 to replace, so I scrapped the tank, and kept the Champion R15 pump and GE motor just in case and then bought an Emax E350 to replace. Cost a little bit more than the new tank, but got a whole compressor, which is working great and extremely quiet.

In that situation I'd do similarly. I'd be tempted to take the old pump and motor and plate mount them, then plumb them into the tank of the new compressor.

Something like this:


It's a lot of electricity, and probably a wiring nightmare, but you could have 10hp worth of compressor feeding a 60-80 gallon tank and that's a lot of air. Maybe even stagger them on different pressure switches.....

IN fact, that's that's the backup plan for my Champion project if the tank is no good. I'll cut off the top mounting deck, scrap the tank, and just plumb a separate tank in elsewhere on the shop plumbing.

 

[dscheidt]

It's a lot of electricity, and probably a wiring nightmare, but you could have 10hp worth of compressor feeding a 60-80 gallon tank and that's a lot of air. Maybe even stagger them on different pressure switches.....

This is pretty common in industrial settings, including doing things like rotating which is lead or lag, so there are off the shelf controls to do it. The ones I've seen are probably not cheap, so rolling your own may be a money saver.

 

[American Locomotive]

But a 5hp recip compressor is a 5hp recip compressor in terms of air delivery. There are no meaningful performance differences between them in terms of moving 17-18 SCFM or so at 175psi, allowing for minor efficiency differences between reeds and discs and such.

Maybe years and years ago that was true, but the current crop of low-end "Big Box Store" 5HP compressors are not performers. Doesn't matter if it's a Quincy, IR, or whatever. They all have inefficient fast-spinning hot-running reed-valve pumps with no aftercooling.

The 5HP IR compressor available at Tractor Supply is rated for 15.5 CFM. The 5HP DeWalt at Tractor Supply is only a single stage and is rated at just 14.6 CFM @ 90 PSI. The "low-end" 5HP Quincy at Runnings is also only rated for 15.2 CFM. In comparison, the "high end" Quincy QT-1 5HP at Runnings is 17.4 CFM. A Champion VRV-5 will be around 17 CFM @ 175 PSI, and over 19 @ 125 PSI. A "real' IR Type 30 5HP will be around 17 CFM as well.

We also cannot forget noise. The box store low-end 5HP compressors are spinning the pumps fast - usually 1200-1500 RPM. The "premium" 5HP compressors are down around 700 RPM. So you could be looking at anywhere from 15-30% more air flow @ at the same power consumption, with far less noise and greater durability.

..but those "premium" compressors do cost about double the lower-end ones. For me personally (I'm still young), the extra durability, air flow, and importantly - the quietness would be worth it to me. A cry-once-buy-once-for-life kinda' purchase. Others may be willing to deal with the noise and moderate air flow decrease.

 

[Hohn]

Wow, that’s notably worse for “5hp.” Thanks for posting the correction.

I’m 50 and I feel I could never justify a $4k compressor for mostly air tool usage—no cabinet or spray booth. But I got the used Champ for a song. So I could justify it for the 10-20 hours annual run time I use.

The more hours per year you use it, the easier it is to justify a good low-speed unit.