Air compressor rebuild

[silver hair deere]

i have a C/H single stage pump model vs260000kb , it uses about a quart a month with moderate usage . i found rings for it for about $ 19.00 , now i have never done anything like this , but i'am a decent wrench turner . so my questions are .
1. since it is a small cylinder 2.5" can i use a brake hone .
2. what can i use other than honing oil .
3. what is the chances it will need the valve kit also .

i can not afford a new/rebuilt pump and have very little money to spend , getting very tired of draining the sludge out of the tank . any help will be appreciated . will post pictures

shd

 

[rsanter]

1 look at the specs of the hone you are using
2 motor oil
3 chances are good or you at least will need to take them apart, clean them and check them.
I have a couple of dual stage compressors that the only thing that seems to be wrong with them is the reed type valves they use are either broken or have buildup that prevents them from sealing

also note that you will need to check the cylinders for wear. just like an engine if the cylinders have too much wear (ridge) then installing new rings wont get it done

bob

 

[silver hair deere]

i don't think the reed valve is bad , it doesn't leak air out the muffler , only uses a lot of oil . have to wait till the end of month to buy anything , after fixing it (i hope) what can i use to flush the tank . does anybody want pictures of the rebuild .

shd

 

[Jeepguy]

just about everytime it will be rings or vavles, dumb question, how much oil are you putting in? splash lubricated pumps dont need much oil, just want to make sure you arent over filling it and thats where the carry over is coming from.

 

[fomocoforrester]

If you don't have the specs for the hone, I would aim to operate the stones at somewhere around the middle of their range of movement. If they are extended near their limit, the reduced pressure will prolong the operation, especially if there is a wear ridge to be removed.

I use WD40 or diesel oil for honing as it tends to remove debris better than thicker oils.

I would at least check the price and availability of new valve components, just in case you need them.

Again I would use diesel oil for flushing the tank. You can always re-use it for other cleaning or heating.

Depending on the age of the tank, or if you dont know the age, it would be worth trying to get some sort of idea of how much corrosion has gone on, either by internal inspection or an ultasound test. If this is not possible, I would at least run a hydraulic test with the appropriate safety precautions in place.

I'm always interested to see the insides of equipment that I havn't seen before, so any pictures would be very welcome.

 

[Chris Adams]

You know, if it isn't rusty on the outside, and you've been spraying oil inside, odds are it isn't rusty.
I wasted a lot of time pulling a bung from a tank I was working on and nada rust, just oil. I cleaned it out with high tech degreaser used on computer parts, just because I had a lot of it. You could spray about anything in the hole and slosh it around a little. If you have an water seperator in the line I doubt the oil will mess with much unless you are doing high end painting.

 

[silver hair deere]

just about everytime it will be rings or vavles, dumb question, how much oil are you putting in? splash lubricated pumps dont need much oil, just want to make sure you arent over filling it and thats where the carry over is coming from.

i bought it new in 2003 , always changed the oil , always kept the oil in the right area on the dip stick . now the only thing i can find in my area is a brake cylinder hone 1.50" to 3.25" is this ok since the cylinder is not that tall .

shd

 

[fomocoforrester]

If it was new in 2003, I would agree with Chris, it probably has very little corrosion to worry about.

That 1.5" to 3.25" hone sounds just about right for your 2.5" cylinder. I can't see that the height of the cylinder really matters, as long as the stones can project a small distance outside each end of the cylinder as you move the hone axially along the cylinder.

 

[3/8"indestro]

CH website has the the valve kit for $12.85 and the ring kit for $19.76.check you local Grainger's too.

 

[silver hair deere]

the only valve kit i could find is for mine . which one was you looking at for $12.85 .
http://www.chpower.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/chPrd5_10051_10001_93845_-1_search

shd

 

[3/8"indestro]

ring kit:

http://www.chpower.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/chPrd5_10051_10001_93837_-1_search

valve kit no gaskets:
http://www.chpower.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/chPrd5_10051_10001_93835_-1_search

just realized that your manual has that.not sure if this kit would work.most of CH valves are Reeds.Might want to call em and see if it works,to save a few bucks.or if your Reed valves are the screw in type,try cleaning em.I just did a couple of pass thru my grinder and slapped em back together.Made my own gaskets and I did not spend a dime.

 

[3/8"indestro]

forgot to mention.I did not take the lower half apart,I would not recommend making your own gaskets for the oil seals.

 

[silver hair deere]

since i'am broke (always) i'll order the rings and the oil gasket , then take it apart and see if the valve is ok or not , i have a small compressor to use if i have to order more parts .

shd

 

[silver hair deere]

finally got the rings , here is the sick pump . the cross hatch pattern was gone with a few small groves in the bore(not deep) , there was a lot of oil on top of the piston , will try to get better pictures tomorrow .

shd

 

[rsanter]

check to be sure there is not ridge in the cylinder. there are a few compressors I have opened that had a fair amount of ridge making it so it could not be re-ringed but need the cylinder replaced

for cleaning out the crank case I usually use foamy degreaser followed by carb cleaner and then brake cleaner

bob

 

[silver hair deere]

there was just a little ridge at the bottom , the reed valve was ok , but the gasket was bad , think i could make one out of thin card board and use a sealer ?

shd

 

[ozzirt]

If your Cylinder head and cylinder sealing face is nice and true (not warped or scored), use the thinnest gasket that you can get away with. Oiled brown wrapping paper works well chart paper is even better.

Also I use cutting oil in my air tank as it will absorb many times it's own volume of water moisture and still prevent the formation of rust. Recommended to me by the pressure vessel inspector.

Spike.

 

[silver hair deere]

got the cylinder done , all scratches gone and a good cross hatch pattern on the hone job , found some thin soft metal flashing i'am going to use for gaskets the old hard gaskets were used as a spacer between the reed valve and the plate . it took 2+ hours to CAREFULLY remove the old ones . not to the hard felt filter what should i use/make as a replacement . i want the rings to last more than 7 years this time .

shd

 

[silver hair deere]

here is the gaskets i made from very thin soft metal flashing ran it in stages (let it cool off) up to 125 psi at about 100 psi smoke and small droplets of oil came out between the gaskets i made ,didn't use any peratex sealer on the gaskets , i used a lot of oil in Assembly of the rings , now it the metal gaskets leaking and need to be replaced by thin cardboard or Will it cure it self after burning the oil off the head gaskets ?

shd

 

[Packard V8]

FWIW, I've run a lot of compressors hard over the past fifty years and many of them 20-30 years old didn't use the volume of oil your did after seven years. I'd have thought something else is wrong in there. If the rings were that bad, it's hard to believe it could compress any air. Campbell-Hausfeld must not have the quality it did back in the day. Anyone else having that kind of problem?

thnx, jack vines

 

[silver hair deere]

well after ruining it a few times , draining the tank and re- torquing the head it stopped smoking at the gaskets , the last drain of the tank was almost oil free . the total cost was $ 30.32 the savings was $ 100.00 and up , the time i spent in the garage was PRICELESS .

shd

 

[krooser]

Keep the valves clean by using non-detergent oil. I know others use Mobil 1 and others but the old style stuff is what most manufacturers spec.

Good job of saving your compressor... believe me I've had to repair a lot of stuff on a tight budget. You should be congratulated on saving that pump as many guys would have used the "plastic" to buy a new one.

If you ever have to replace that pump call Eaton Compressors... good prices on their house barnded pumps.