Air compressor clean out?
- Thread starter wazzabie
- Start date
they are often very hard to remove. not sure if they're just torqued hard or if they are loctited
Old Man Roger
Well-known member
Pretty sure they’re called inspection plugs, so yes you can take it out. Like mentioned above, it will usually be very tight.
driftpin
Well-known member
[Don't] Screw that plug removal! Use a borescope which seems to be the tool appliance du jour on GJ these days. Remove any smaller pipe fixture, and put the borescope to work. I have one I got off the internet, and it's done good work for me. B&W, color, end camera, side camera, recording video, and memory.
larry4406
Well-known member
My gut feel is more have failed than have been successful…
There is so much torque on this plug it is not moving. I may have to use pneumatics. Then there is risk of breaking something.
larry4406
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Old Man Roger
Well-known member
I looked in mine using the aforementioned borescope. I was changing the pressure switch and the hole was plenty big enough.
dmaxfireman
Well-known member
What is the size of the square in the plug? Look at the markings on the tank, what is the shell and head thickness, and year of manufacture? Once you know all of that then you can start to make an informed decision as to how much effort you want to invest vs what it's going to take.
BurtEggley
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- Oct 8, 2024
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anchor tank with 40,000 lb strap to concrete slab designed to hold bridge abutments
Get or make wrench with proper size square
Add 3" steel pipe 8' tp 10' long and twist
Those threads typically rust and good luck with them. You might be able to strap it to a large tree and remove it.
Amazon has plenty of great borescopes including the DEPSTECH line at great prices - $50 to $100. You'd be amazed at how often you will find use for it. Looking for a bolt that rolled under the washing machine? Want to know where that damned pill you dropped in the kitchen that you think went under the stove - the pill you don't want your dog to eat. Got a cylinder you aren't sure about the condition of it? Think the pipe in the wall is leaking but not sure? Looking to see if there are any wires or pipes in the area of a wall? Drove a nail and you now think it hit something but you want to look? The heads on these scopes are smaller than a plastic BIC pen these days.
Get or make wrench with proper size square
Add 3" steel pipe 8' tp 10' long and twist
Those threads typically rust and good luck with them. You might be able to strap it to a large tree and remove it.
Amazon has plenty of great borescopes including the DEPSTECH line at great prices - $50 to $100. You'd be amazed at how often you will find use for it. Looking for a bolt that rolled under the washing machine? Want to know where that damned pill you dropped in the kitchen that you think went under the stove - the pill you don't want your dog to eat. Got a cylinder you aren't sure about the condition of it? Think the pipe in the wall is leaking but not sure? Looking to see if there are any wires or pipes in the area of a wall? Drove a nail and you now think it hit something but you want to look? The heads on these scopes are smaller than a plastic BIC pen these days.
I was able to remove the leaking bung on my compressor tank. It took mapp gas and a 3/4" impact wrench with a huge socket. The bung was wrecked in the process.
If yours isn't leaking I would leave it alone. Or be sure you can source a replacement for it ahead of time. Mine used an oring sealed cast iron plug that I had to order from some obscure corner of the Internet.
MileHighRover
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- Mar 13, 2018
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- 1,118
Yes, and it wasn’t easy. Lots of heat, a breaker bar, and a very long piece of pipe.
driftpin
Well-known member
Even Chuck Norris doesn't bother with those plugs.
Yes.
On a compressor tank intended for a smoker build.
Plug was 3/4" drive. Tried a breaker bar and a cheater pipe, about 6 ft. No joy.
Eventually found a way to strap the tank to a tree so it would not rotate and welded some 1/2" flat bar to the plug. And then proceeded to slug the living dog piss out of the flatbar with a 5 lb hammer, sort of like a slugging wrench. Eventually broke the plug free. And surprisingly, I could have reused the tank bung? as the threads were fine.
Then I proceeded to plasma cut out the bung itself out and welded a patch.
I guess I wanted to see if it could be done.
Don't recommend it. Use a borescope as it's less painful and probably a better method to look inside and document the interior condition of the tank.
MileHighRover
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Are we still talking about the compressor tank?
I personally think that this is way over thought, or an old wives tale that the plug shouldn’t be removed.
It‘s a plug.
I removed one and reinstalled it without any issues.
Granted, the one that I removed wasn’t corroded.
It was tight, but not excessive.
If it wasn’t meant to be removed, I would think it wouldn’t be threaded, and or welded to prevent removal.
I don‘t recall it being stamped or placarded not to remove.
Use common sense, and you should be fine…
BurtEggley
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no one is saying that it should not be removed. They are saying that with even minor corrosion it will take considerable torque to remove it. I snapped a 3/4" forged older craftsman breaker bar many years ago taking an axle nut off a VW bus. It was smaller and in much better shape than the plug in a tank is going to be. I figure it broke somewhere around 2500 lbs torque on it. I later had to cut the nut and split it to get it off. Rather than fight that type scenario, in less than five minutes someone can inspect the inside of a tank with a borescope, which now they are so reasonably prices that every garage should have one.
Old Man Roger
Well-known member
Mine was on sale for like 20 bucks.
niget2002
Well-known member
I gave up when I caught myself going for the 6' cheater. I decided it wasn't worth the effort.
pancho400cid
Well-known member
I had a very old Speedaire compressor with the same plug set-up as the OP, and I needed to remove the plug to plumb it how I wanted it. After trying the usual heat and cheater pipes, etc., I strapped down the tank and borrowed a torque multiplier from a friend. He and I attempted to get the plug out. We failed despite having 2.8 metric s#!t tons of torque on tap. Instead of coming out, the plug broke but did not budge. The next move would have been drilling out the plug I guess, but I gave up on it as it was a secondary compressor. I gave to the guy that helped me screw it up. Not sure if he fixed or not.
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If the inside of the tank is that much in concern, I would scrap it a buy new.
I've seen enough aftermath pictures of tanks coming apart that it's not worth it to me.
The horizontal compressor that was in my garage when we bought it had a drain in the center of the tank end. As I moved the tank it tipped over and water came out the drain.... nope.. scrap run it went.
I've seen enough aftermath pictures of tanks coming apart that it's not worth it to me.
The horizontal compressor that was in my garage when we bought it had a drain in the center of the tank end. As I moved the tank it tipped over and water came out the drain.... nope.. scrap run it went.
strutaeng
Well-known member
I removed one of those on a 30 gallon air compressor tank I was repurposing (did borescope and UT testing), but mine had the square head outward so a big pipe wrench is what I used.
You'd have to find a square drive to fit that. Could (probably should) also heat it up with a torch.
You'd have to find a square drive to fit that. Could (probably should) also heat it up with a torch.
Hate to even think about removing the plug mine, State of California requires a permit to operate a pressure tank in a workplace/ business, & the inspector takes a center punch to mark the tanks year of manufacture on the tank, making EZ to see, even though the data plate welded to the tank is clear enough, being manufactured in 1978 makes the case for inspecting it…….