Exploding air compressor!

[cajunfirehawk]

Not sure if this has ever been posted here, if so please delete but this is kind of shocking to say the least!

 

[dirt_dobber]

wow - amazing that he survived being right next to it when it exploded.

 

[gdocktor3]

Lol that looks like my Craftsman compressor.

Luckily the grandson was there and reacted quickly. Most people wouldn't know what to do, but he jumped right into action. Imagine if that was an 80 gallon.

 

[Richard Cranium]

This video has been posted before.
But a good reminder.

 

[mjoekingz28]

What hurts you? Is it the flying shrapnel or the high pressure from the explosive force or the loud decibels?

I never really understood what does the harm when a hand grenade, firecracker, or bomb detonates.

 

[vavet]

Makes me think...

I'm not good about always draining my tank. It's ~17 years old. Perhaps I should bite the bullet and buy a new one?

 

[sberry]

This is a problem with posting something like this. We get in the car and blaze down the hiway at 70 or better yet get on a motorcycle where 1000's die every year and don't even consider the risk, 1 old air comp we got no idea what happened to makes the rounds on the internet and its all coming to the end.
Driving a car is probably 100,000 times the risk. As for draining the tank, who knows,. some day maybe it will be a problem but the only ones I ever see were baby ones, real tin and have one at near 50 in service and another 30 and everyone else I know uses a 30 yr old comp.

 

[mbshop]

Tanks do that for various reasons. It's one of the main reasons that tanks need and should be isolated. Mine is for just such a reason.

 

[sberry]

If they did this routinely we would see a new picture instead of passing the same one around. 3 people killed in traffic here yesterday ,,,,never,,, see an exploding air tank on the news.

 

[truckdriver]

Or just test the freaking tank and do a visual inspection with a camera.Just throw away a tank because it's old???? Jeez.

 

[theoldwizard1]

The good news is catastrophic failures like that are NOT common. Usually, you will get a pinhole on the bottom and only a COMPLETE IDIOT would try to weld a pressure vessel without the proper inspections and welding certifications !

 

[Superbec]

This is a problem with posting something like this. We get in the car and blaze down the hiway at 70 or better yet get on a motorcycle where 1000's die every year and don't even consider the risk, 1 old air comp we got no idea what happened to makes the rounds on the internet and its all coming to the end.
Driving a car is probably 100,000 times the risk. As for draining the tank, who knows,. some day maybe it will be a problem but the only ones I ever see were baby ones, real tin and have one at near 50 in service and another 30 and everyone else I know uses a 30 yr old comp.

I welded pressure vessels , I've seen NDT and also destructive tests live , no way you see me too long near a 30 yo bomb .

If it's not shrapnel it's the gas expansion that kills you , instant lung damage.

How much does a new tank cost? change every 15 years ... almost NOTHING.

 

[sberry]

Someone I knew just got killed on a snowmobile. My tech just walked in here and been in this 40 yrs and I just asked him, you ever seen one blown up, no, ever heard of one or have reliable story of one blown up? No, me neither. I saw a pressure vessel exploded in the news paper article in Chicago once.

 

[sberry]

I welded pressure vessels , I've seen NDT and also destructive tests live , no way you see me too long near a 30 yo bomb

My Bud works on TV and thinks they are all junk but really doesn't do the math and see that for every 1 broke 100 live a long life. I am sure if you do destructive testing then you have seen th8is, ho9w many outside of your job have you seen? I have never seen one, do not know anyone has actually seen one or even heard a reliable account of it.

 

[lakeroadster]

Thanks to the OP for posting this. Nothing wrong with a new thread reinstating a previously discussed topic, reminding folks of safety in their shop.

More examples here: https://sites.google.com/site/metropolitanforensics/cause-of-explosion-of-air-compressor-tanks

December 2013, Canada

A 44-year-old man suffers extensive damage to his lower leg, forcing doctors to amputate the leg at the knee in hospital. He later died. The man and two friends were working to restore an antique car when the compressor explosion happened.

 

[rlitman]

Nothing wrong with a new thread reminding folks of safety in their shop.

December 2013, Canada

A 44-year-old man suffers extensive damage to his lower leg, forcing doctors to amputate the leg at the knee in hospital. He later died. The man and two friends were working to restore an antique car when the compressor explosion happened.

I don't know about the one in the video posted by the OP (I have seen the video a few years ago, but do not know about the compressor itself), but this failure you posted follows the theme of an old horizontal compressor failing where it unzips at the welded seam, probably due to corrosion, but also possibly due to a failed pressure relief valve.

What these small horizontal compressors have in common is, the lack of ASME certification, and the weakest point is the same place where water settles to.
In a vertical tank, the water settles into the lower bell end, which is the strongest point in the tank.

 

[Robert Haas]

Damn, I am never going out in to my shop again. Gonna sit right here in my office. Now where is my helmet?

 

[texasfiremedic]

I don't know about the one in the video posted by the OP (I have seen the video a few years ago, but do not know about the compressor itself), but this failure you posted follows the theme of an old horizontal compressor failing where it unzips at the welded seam, probably due to corrosion, but also possibly due to a failed pressure relief valve.

What these small horizontal compressors have in common is, the lack of ASME certification, and the weakest point is the same place where water settles to.
In a vertical tank, the water settles into the lower bell end, which is the strongest point in the tank.

Gentlemen or Ladies, This is the best thing make sure of. Is your PSV working and is the proper size for your comp? This is the one thing that just sets there and generally never gets pulled on occasion to make sure it still operates. If you think that it is not operating correctly replace it. If your doesn't have one get one!
You can bench test it you just need a reliable pressure gauge on a manifold and a higher pressure source. Remember don't slam the PSV with pressure.

 

[Cope]

A co-worker decided to weld up a leaky compressor. It exploded and took out his guts. He made it to the door with his intestines in his hands and asked his girl friend to help him, and dropped dead.

 

[texasfiremedic]

A co-worker decided to weld up a leaky compressor. It exploded and took out his guts. He made it to the door with his intestines in his hands and asked his girl friend to help him, and dropped dead.

This leads to the next thing. If your going to test your pressure vessel. Go find a place or somebody that can do a hydro test. Never, Never and I will repeat NEVER air test a pressure vessel.

 

[B_Bimmer]

I'll give you all scrap price and come pick up your dangerous, ancient, 15 year old tanks, 60 gallon and larger please.

 

[Superbec]

Someone I knew just got killed on a snowmobile. My tech just walked in here and been in this 40 yrs and I just asked him, you ever seen one blown up, no, ever heard of one or have reliable story of one blown up? No, me neither. I saw a pressure vessel exploded in the news paper article in Chicago once.

Actually I've seen first hand , a trucker came with a blown tank .."can you weld it back real quick , here and here " it blew while charging up so not so much pressure or damage opened the sucker up right on the weld .

I prefer to ride motorcycles than fooling around big and old compressors , yes a 10$ inspection camera will tell you if the bomb is ticking or not yet armed .

Also I think the tank works a lot when it gets filled up or emptied , and remember it's automated mig-mag , I don't trust that , there's a lot of stuff that could go wrong and no human eye to catch the fault , visual inspection after the weld is done it's just that ,

 

[Cope]

This leads to the next thing. If your going to test your pressure vessel. Go find a place or somebody that can do a hydro test. Never, Never and I will repeat NEVER air test a pressure vessel.

The day before he died he told me he was going to weld up an old compressor. I told him not to. This was nearly 30 years ago, and I doubt his girlfriend is over it yet.

 

[KM223]

I don't see that much rust on the inside of the tank in the photos?? Unless the blast removed most of it. It's as if the tank cap welds failed. Scary for sure! Glad that didn't kill the gentleman.

 

[lakeroadster]

... Also I think the tank works a lot when it gets filled up or emptied....

Not if it's an ASME tank. By design the ASME allowable stresses are so low that the actual stresses that result from pressurization & depressurization are so low that they never even come close to the yield strength of the steel.

An ASME tank will have an infinite life IF it is properly maintained. (That's a big "if")

2nd shop I worked at in the 1980's had a 120 gallon vertical air receiver that was built in the 1940's. It had inspection nozzles, was inspected yearly, and was drained daily. It's probably still in use today.

 

[anndel]

I always drain my compressor after use to not only depressurize it but drain the condensate. Sometimes the water is rust color.

 

[IndyGarage]

That looks like an old consumer grade compressor. Looks like a Craftsman from about the late 80's (ones older than that had metal belt guards)

Looks to me like the tank did blow from the bottom where the water would sit and create rust.

It could have been just the rust that caused the failure or it could have been a stuck shutoff switch and bad or non existant pressure relief that allowed the compressor to keep building pressure until it burst. Looks to me like the drain port has a plug in it, instead of a valve - probably never was drained either.

It's incredibly unfortunate the thing blew and hit the old guy like that. That's got to be a very small chance of occurring.

As was said above - you've got a lot higher chance of getting in a bad car crash than this kind of thing, but it also is a good reminder to pay attention to the condition of your tools.

 

[Markfothebeast]

I have a habit of draining the tank after every use and checking the pressure relief valve. The very first cycle on my compressor had rusty water exiting the drain valve.

This reminds me of water heater explosions, which are extremely dangerous. I'm working on replacing a poorly plumbed in water heater that is a ticking time bomb. No expansion tank on city water with a check valve. The pressure relief is dripping on the tank. Scary thought.







Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[DenisG]

Seems like the original video is more interested in the drama of the event than explaining the causes of the failure. I like this video better (not dramatic, but educational nonetheless):

 

[sberry]

I built some **** when I was a kid really scary and wonder I didn't blow my head off. Good thing there are not pics of it.

 

[acecobra]

I saw that yesterday, I was thinking of making my own setup but now i'll think i'll just go and buy one.

 

[WhiffySpark]

Exact reason why I had no interest in buying a used compressor

 

[454ragtop]

Exact reason why I had no interest in buying a used compressor

I don't know, I think I'd rather take my chances with an older industrial rated tank that was maintained, rather than anything you can buy in a big box store today. In fact, 30 or 40 years ago, that's what I did, still going today. I'd bet my tank is at least twice as thick, the way they cheapen everything nowadays to where it'll just barely get by, under ideal conditions.

 

[strutaeng]

Also something to be mindful of: small, consumer air compressors receivers are not ASME-certified...

I'm not sure what QA/QC standards are followed, if any.

It seems 30 gallon+ air receivers are ASME?

 

[WhiffySpark]

I don't know, I think I'd rather take my chances with an older industrial rated tank that was maintained, rather than anything you can buy in a big box store today. In fact, 30 or 40 years ago, that's what I did, still going today. I'd bet my tank is at least twice as thick, the way they cheapen everything nowadays to where it'll just barely get by, under ideal conditions.

The key is that is if it's maintained. You have no way of knowing. It doesn't really matter if it's thicker. Rust is rust and I would think they would fail at welds rather than mod tank

 

[MikeF2316]

The good news is catastrophic failures like that are NOT common. Usually, you will get a pinhole on the bottom and only a COMPLETE IDIOT would try to weld a pressure vessel without the proper inspections and welding certifications !

That's why I fix my pinholes with self tapping screws and silicone!

I don't see that much rust on the inside of the tank in the photos?? Unless the blast removed most of it. It's as if the tank cap welds failed. Scary for sure! Glad that didn't kill the gentleman.

Yes, there's nothing in that picture that would scare me. Perhaps the tank was damaged in some way.

 

[bczygan]

I've got 3 small old air compressors.....

Guess I'll have to store them on my wife's side of the bed, instead of mine!

Bill

 

[KM223]

I've got 3 small old air compressors.....

Guess I'll have to store them on my wife's side of the bed, instead of mine!

Bill

 

[BCreekDave]

Neighbor had an old Crapsman compressor tank let go. Split right next to the drain. Scared the bejesus out of him. Most surprising was the twenty gallons of water that came out of it. He didn't drain it very often.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[lakeroadster]

Yes, there's nothing in that picture that would scare me. Perhaps the tank was damaged in some way.

Check out the video DenisG posted.. it's an eye opener..

Seems like the original video is more interested in the drama of the event than explaining the causes of the failure. I like this video better (not dramatic, but educational nonetheless):