Opinions on an older air compressor

[gpstraub]

My Ridgid oiless air compressor has been acting funky for the last few days. Over the weekend, it runs almost constatly to keep a full tank for for simple tasks like quick 5 second bursts running 60 psi for blowing out dirt while cleaning guns, filling tires, etc. The pressure relief valve and water drain valve are both sealing well. I'm guessing it's a piston or diaphram. I'm sure it's fixable but I'm considering an alternate route.

One of my customers owns a dental practice that uses compressors for all the the drills. They recently replaced the compressor after adding multiple exam rooms. They were confident the old compressor was up to the task for the expansion but upgraded the compressor for peace of mind.

The old compressor was working perfectly and I have seen the records that the unit has been serviced by a local reputable company every six months for the last 8 years. I called the service company and they are unaware of the tank size or cfm numbers because they didn't install the unit.

It is a 1982 Kargard Industries oiled unit twin cylinder. The model is an A63638. I couldn't find any specs on the unit online but I think it might be a good fit for me. It has a a 230V 1 1/2 hp General Electric motor rated at 10.4 amp phase 1 motor.

I'm completely confident that it's in great working order and the doctor said he'd be willing to give it to me for almost free.

My only worry is.... if I go to all the trouble to move it and install it, is it a worthy upgrade? I have no idea what the capacity of the tank is or how much air it will move. My current Ridgid is a OF45150 with a 1.8hp model with a 4.5 gallon tank running 6.2 cfm at 90 psi. There is no spec on the tank size of the Kargard model but I think it might be 8 to 10 gallons by "eyeballing" it but I'm a terrible guess at that sort of thing.

I don't use the compressor for much other than running low load tools from time to time but I like the idea of being able to run a 3/8" or 1/2" impact gun from time to time for removing rims, etc.

Sorry for being long winded but I like to supply sufficient background information for anyone nice enough to provide any suggestions.

Thanks in advance for any help!!!

 

[930dreamer]

Re: Opinios on an older air compressor...

I wouldn't think the cfm is very much @ 1.5 hp, no expert here. It looks like a nice compressor. It's a Kargard compressor.

 

[gpstraub]

Re: Opinions on an older air compressor...

I just realized this should probably be posted in General Tools Discussion. Sorry guys. Not sure how to move it there

 

[plinker]

Just guessing here, it looks to be a two cylinder pump, so at least about 5cfm @ 90psi I would think, maybe more depending on what the tank is rated for/what max pressure at shut-off is.

The tank could be anywhere from 5 to 10 gal, hard to say for sure. You could look for a larger tank and rig it up with the existing one for more volume. Or transfer the pump & motor to a larger tank (I would not get something much bigger then 20-30 gal though or it'll take forever to fill and could burn out the pump).

Being it's an oiled compressor, it will last with regular maintinance and if your having trouble with the oilless one it'd be a decent replacment.


My Dad has a Dayton 20gal compressor and if the wheel nuts are not rusted on, it will get five off with out much trouble (regulator set at 90psi).

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Get it, sounds like filling tires, blowing off things, and occasionally running an impact is all you do and this will work nicely.

Charles

 

[kams1973]

If the Ridgid unit supplied your needs, this dental compressor will suffice. Parts for your Ridgid unit would run you about $40-$50. Food for thought.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Any time you can move from an oilless compressor to an oiled one, do it!

 

[gpstraub]

The old beauty had been coming along nicely. I tested it for a couple days and found some leaks around the unloader valve. The unloader valve and check valve were both a bit gummed up so I cleaned them up and everything was leak free. After looking at the condition of these parts I decided to pull the head and have a look at the valves, might have been a bad idea....

The valves were a bit boogered up with some gummy oil and grime. Some light solvent and a toothbrush had things looking great after a few minutes of scrubbing. But, when I went to re-install the head I noticed that the head gasket had cracked in a few places. Any suggestions as to how to go about fixing this? Would a roll of gasket material from the local autoshop work?

 

[Greatbear]

If there is no leakage around the head gasket while operating, I say let it be until you source some replacements. Many compressors are very critical of gasket thickness, and most I encounter have a rigid, phenolic material, or use a metal shim. This is because there is a critical thickness needed to prevent the pistons from hitting the head (there is only a few thousandths clearance between the piston, which is usually flush with the block/cylinder deck, and the flat head). Typical soft parts store gasket material crushes too far, or will end up being too thick, reducing efficiency.

 

[kams1973]

If all it had was a plain ole gasket, then just buy some good gasket material and make one. This obviously isn't a high tech supercharged air compressor.

 

[fordcragar]

Did you try the local company that used to service the compressor? They might be able to help.

 

[gpstraub]

Did you try the local company that used to service the compressor? They might be able to help.

Yeah. That was the first call I made. The service shop said they stopped making this model in the mid 80's and most of the replacement parts had been used up years ago. No more manifold gaskets.

I'm gonna take kams1973's advice and make one. I'm pretty sure they carry sheets of gasket material at the local auto parts store. Does anyone think I should use some sort of rtv or other sealant when installing the gasket?

 

[gpstraub]

I used some felpro gasket material from the auto parts store and was able to make a head gasket using careful measurements, a compass, a utility knife and a Dremel tool. The gasket is working great.

Now I need to come up with a solution for a pressure regulator. The unit currently just has a ball valve cutoff with no regulator. I want to ditch the ball valve and add a regulator. I'm wondering what size to use. Ultimately all my tools use 1/4 hoses and couplers. The outlet on the tank is 3/8". Should I use a 3/8" regulator and neck it down with an adapter after the regulator or neck it down before the regulator and use a 1/4" regulator?

 

[Zrexxer]

I want to ditch the ball valve and add a regulator.

Don't do that.

Just add a regulator and keep the ball valve; it's nice to be able to cut the air supply off at the compressor without dicking with your regulator setting every time.

 

[gpstraub]

Gotcha. Keeping the ball valve. Any thoughts on size of regulator?

 

[Major Ramifications]

A larger regulator would be better. They flow better, and you can always reduce it closer to the point of use.

 

[gpstraub]

I'm going to check the local Grainger. I think they have a few 3/8" Wilkerson's in stock.

Now I will show some ignorance with this question.... Does it matter what direction the air flows through the regulator? There is an arrow pointing on the front of the regulator in the attached image. I assume this represents required air flow direction

Reason for asking is I'm really tight on space where the compressor is located in regards to whether the device gets mounted to the left or the right of the tank output and ideally it would point in the other direction for me. Maybe I could mount it upside down?

 

[Charles (in GA)]

All kinds of regulators on Ebay, lots of Wilkersons and others too. Yes the arrow is flow and the regulator will not work if you reverse it. You need the ball valve, regulators will not always cut off completely when reduced to "zero".

Charles

 

[Zrexxer]

Maybe I could mount it upside down?

Yes. Unless a regulator is integrated with a condensate filter bowl as an all-in-one unit, it doesn't know if it's upside down, right side up, or sideways.

 

[Greatbear]

I'm going to check the local Grainger. I think they have a few 3/8" Wilkerson's in stock.

Now I will show some ignorance with this question.... Does it matter what direction the air flows through the regulator? There is an arrow pointing on the front of the regulator in the attached image. I assume this represents required air flow direction

Reason for asking is I'm really tight on space where the compressor is located in regards to whether the device gets mounted to the left or the right of the tank output and ideally it would point in the other direction for me. Maybe I could mount it upside down?

The port facing you in the photo is a gauge port, though on some regulators it can be used as an outlet but with reduced capacity. Airflow is from left to right, and there is most likely another gauge port on the other side. You will get two plugs with most regulators to cap off the gauge ports if you have a gauge mounted downstream.

As for mounting orientation, it does not matter with a standard regulator. Ones that have integral filters must be mounted with the bowl down.