I recently installed a new-to-me air compressor in my home workshop. I bought a new SpeedAire 3/4" filter regulator. After only 5 or so uses, it leaks air constantly from the regulator control (top knob area) if it's set for more than 80 psi. Zoro is sending me a replacement, but thought I'd check here for anything I could try before I go to the hassle of pulling and replacing it. Not a huge deal, but those 3/4 lines are a pain in the **** to wrangle.
Brand new air regulator leaking??
- Thread starter flyguy79
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silly question, but you have it flowing the right way?
Well now wouldn't that be embarrassing??? I'll check.
MovingAlong
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Trashed a few regulators until I found that I'd missed a 3 inch piece of steel pipe when upgrading all the other fixed lines to brass. The steel corroded and let pieces of trash into the air stream destroying the regulators.
While your picture doesn't support that exact theory, suggest putting a filter before the next regulator and see if you don't catch a few pieces of trash somewhere...
While your picture doesn't support that exact theory, suggest putting a filter before the next regulator and see if you don't catch a few pieces of trash somewhere...
fingers crossed for you. I suspect the regulator has a leaking piston or a bad o ring. there's not much to them. does Zoro want the original one back?
Yep - they sent a return shipping label for it.
well that rules out opening it up to see what was wrong with it.
good luck on the replacement !
good luck on the replacement !
I bought my CAT compressor as an open box return. The issue was a leaking regulator. Like the OP's it was leaking from the knob. I found the issue. Inside the regulator is something that looks like an o-ring which seals the spring loaded piston (the one the knob pushes on via a spring) and the inside wall of the threaded post the knob threads onto. The "o-ring" like seal is a u-cup seal
plastomatic.com
(I didn't know that until starting this entry)
Critically, and unlike an o-ring, there is a high pressure and low pressure side of a u-cup seal. In my case the seal was installed upside down so the high pressure air could easily push past the seal thus it leaked any time the regulated pressure was more than a few psi. It's entirely possible the bad regulator had a u-cup seal installed upside down.
Types of Seals • Plast-O-Matic Valves, Inc.
U-cups, o-rings, rolling diaphragms, spools... Advantages, disadvantages & brief explanation of each type
plastomatic.com
Critically, and unlike an o-ring, there is a high pressure and low pressure side of a u-cup seal. In my case the seal was installed upside down so the high pressure air could easily push past the seal thus it leaked any time the regulated pressure was more than a few psi. It's entirely possible the bad regulator had a u-cup seal installed upside down.