First Post, rebuilding 60 gal compressor

[rktolds]

I found a 60 compressor on craigslist. Has anyone put a new motor/pump on top of an old tank? I looked on eaton's site and they sell bare pumps.

Great site. Frequent lurker. Pics of my 2 car garage will come once the christmas stuff is out of the way


Matt

 

[Nealcrenshaw]

How old? Make sure the tank can hold the pressure,before you put a new pump and motor on it.

 

[jdcompman]

I found a 60 compressor on craigslist. Has anyone put a new motor/pump on top of an old tank? I looked on eaton's site and they sell bare pumps.

Great site. Frequent lurker. Pics of my 2 car garage will come once the christmas stuff is out of the way


Matt

Start here....

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21251&highlight=compressor+build

There is tons of information on this subject all over on here.

 

[LoneGunman]

That's exactly what I did. I bought a 7.5hp 3 cylinder pump from Eaton on Ebay, then I bought a Baldor 7.5hp motor also on Ebay from the weco_group. The motor was the same price as Eatons but the Eaton was an import.

 

[nissan_crawler]

x2 on eaton and weco group, that's the way I went for mine.

 

[rktolds]

Thanks for the link. There is a lot of talk of compressors on here.
How could I test if the tank can hold pressure before buying the parts? I have a 25 gal compressor. Can I run air from it into the 60 gal to check?

Thanks for the help.

Matt

 

[LoneGunman]

Thanks for the link. There is a lot of talk of compressors on here.
How could I test if the tank can hold pressure before buying the parts? I have a 25 gal compressor. Can I run air from it into the 60 gal to check?

Thanks for the help.

Matt

You should have a tag on your tank that lists it's maximum working pressure, mine was only 150PSI I believe, I used the appropriate relief valves to protect the tank. If you can get one of the access plugs out you can get a visual off the inside of the tank, I didn't because I could not get the plugs out. I went around the tank with a ballpeen hammer listening for sound changes in different areas.

How old is this tank? Been drained frequently? (nevermind, I see it's a craigslist tank now)

I'm not by any means saying tanks don't blow but I'm also not living in fear my 20 year old tank is going to take me out at any second. I have heard of very few CATASTROPHIC compressor tanks accident, make sure you find that tag, buy a new regulator from Eaton for a PSI below the max working pressure and protect it with pop off valves.

You'll also need a motor started if you go with anything decently sized, you probably do not have one now.

You can order the proper hydraulic hoses from the link below, for your pump to tank connection and your tank to piping connection.

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=2008072522402060&item=11-2338&catname=electric

 

[rhandwor]

Buy an ASME certified tank that has been drained. This has a name plate on the side of the tank with a clover leaf with a U in the center. This means it was built to standards. I went to a retread shop and the tank went through and landed in the parking lot.