Old-School Air Compressor Rebuild

[AndrewDouglasBird]

A while back I bought an old air compressor that was built into a shopping cart. The compressor pump I later found out is from an AC unit from the 60's (from what I can tell). Very heavy built, made in USA. All the gaskets were made from lead.

The very dirty air "filter".

My design inspiration.

Ended up sandblasting everything after disassembly. Drew up new gaskets in AutoCAD and cut them out on my vinyl plotter out of gasket paper (the paper in the picture is just normal paper used for testing).

Gave everything a heavy coat of paint. Used ACE Hardware rust reformer.

Brass parts were all very dirty and painted black.

After paint stripper.

A little polishing and clear coat.

Cut out a piece of 1/8" steel on the waterjet at work. Had a coworker bend it up on the CNC brake. I welded nuts on the underside of the holes for everything to bolt to.

Flywheel has just enough clearance.

Copper tubing from the pump to the tank.

Tank sandblasted. It's an old water softener tank, about 15 gallons.

Rear axle welded on. Metal is from the shopping cart.

Ends are threaded for a bolt.

Everything welded up ready for paint. You can see how I used the shopping cart wheels for the back. The front "foot" is a piece of u-shaped tubing out of the scrap bin at work. The handle is the original shopping cart handling with a section cut out of the middle to make it narrower.

Using the shopping cart "grill" as a pulley guard. Mocked up here.

Just enough room.

Upper mount made from angle iron and aluminum tubing.

Final assembly.

A little bit of gold pin striping.

Still need to order a pressure switch for the motor and buy a regulator/filter. Also going to add a check valve on the input to the tank. Found one that is both a check valve and pressure release for the compressor, so it doesn't have to start with pressure pushing on it.

The best part about it is it is REALLY quite. Standing next to it, two people can have a conversation without having to raise their voice.

 

[Rust]

That looks awsome...
Not questioning your skills but...
You certanily have brass balls to trust yourself welding that tank...

 

[zkling]

Nice job, neat little compressor. What cfm and psi will it put out? Did you put a hole in the bottom of the tank to drain out the water?

zkling.....Waiting for the safety guys to jump in on the welded pressure vessel.

 

[AndrewDouglasBird]

I have an Associates degree in Manufacturing, which was basically half welding, so trust me, I can weld. Not to mention, the guy who built the original version welded on it, and judging from his welds, it must have been his first time. lol Even his terrible welds held up fine, so I'm not worried.

There is a drain and petcock in the bottom of the tank. I plan on getting a pressure switch that shuts off at 125 psi. I've had the tank up to about 130 so far. The pressure release valve I have is for 150. No idea what CFM. I only plan to use it for blowing things off, airing up tires, powder coating/painting, etc. Nothing major like an impact or sand blaster.

 

[Trey T]

good stuff, OP. I don't see any problem with your welding. I'm not sure why a lot of GJ members say about it a lot; perhaps they're uneducated about welding or overly educated about pressured tank.

 

[joel63]

Beautiful job on that old reefer compressor.
If the valves are good you shouldn't have any problem
getting 175 psi out of it.
Now cfm is another matter.
Again, great job!

 

[kams1973]

Great attention to detail. I sure you'll get many years of service out of that little unit.

 

[bonneyman]

Awesome job! Great paint, shiney brass, excellent welding. Top-notch job. Plus you saved an old American gem, and reused some of the original material.

 

[bad_idea]

Interesting. How many hours do you have into the rebuild? Looks good.