Sanborn Compressor

[ford67guy]

Hi everyone - new to the forum and was hoping to get some feedback. Over the weekend I ended up doing a trade for a bigger compressor for some car parts. My old compressor is a craftsman 33 gallon and the new/used I got now is a 60 gallon BlackMax/Sanborn.

The compressor runs fine and hold pressure, but when I brought it home, I drained it and a lot of water came out which made me worry that this person I got it from was not draining it after every use. I've been doing a lot of reading about rust inside the tank and possibility of an explosion. Maybe the reading just got me too paranoid?, but the tank has a date of 1998 so the compressor is old. It has some surface rust but no pin holes I can find and overall exterior looks good.

Should I be worried or should I find a new tank?

Thank you,

 

[Warrenator]

I believe compressor tanks are built for "wet service" and are rated accordingly. I wouldn't worry about it too much. It is pretty darn humid inside the tank even with draining every day, more water probably isn't good but probably not catastrophically bad.

 

[ford67guy]

Thanks Warrenator. I am thinking of getting it pressure tested or hydro tested so I can just feel comfortable, but can't find anybody in my area. I did talk to a tech that deals with compressors. He says that I shouldn't worry about explosion because they will leak and pressure needs to build up again basically, he says your compressor will just run all the time. Tech says he hasn't seen any tanks exploded, but too many stories online. .

I sanded the bottom and a rust spot on the side to see how bad it was. Surprisingly, the bottom looks pretty good, but the one on the side is concerning me. Added a before and after pics.

I replied last night with some pics of my compressor, but hasn't gone through.. it needed to be approved?, so I am adding a link instead to view it outside the forum. Excuse the mess guys. I am cleaning it up. Let me know what you think.. get a new tank or not? Thanks!


http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/s576/ford67guy/IMAG0243.jpg

Before:
http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/s576/ford67guy/IMAG0245.jpg
http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/s576/ford67guy/IMAG0244.jpg

After:
http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/s576/ford67guy/IMAG0247.jpg
http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/s576/ford67guy/IMAG0253.jpg

 

[ford67guy]

No comments?

here is a pic of the side with the rust after taking a grinder with a wire brush on it.

 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

I wouldn't worry about what you have (seems to be minor pitting in a few areas). Just paint with a rust inhibiting paint (think POR here or equal) and go about your business. I have seen a lot worse than that used daily for years but if you are worried about it, get the tank hydro tested for your peace of mind.

 

[ford67guy]

Thanks.. I called around my area and nobody does it except this one place and I will be his first customer to try it. He was going to charge me minimum of $75, but he says it all depends how long it'll take so it could cost me over $100. I figured if I can use it for a little more than a year, I'll be happy. I will just keep my eye out for a tank on CL.

Time to plumb her up this weekend! thanks again..

 

[Warrenator]

I think the ones that go boom had rust on a seam, it lets go in a high speed zipper sort of event. If there is rust pitting in the center of a panel I bet it would leak before it let go. But all that being said, the hydro test should "proof" it won't explode on you.

Side story you might find amusing, I was getting a scuba tank hydro checked by a fire extinguisher place near my house and was chatting with the guy, he had various scuba tanks that had failed hydro laying around and cut away to show the customers. One looked like a regular scuba tank but someone had made a false bottom for smuggling purposes. It looked just like a real tank and he was totally surprised when it didn't hold pressure at all. It had just been in a rack on a dive boat that regularly went to Mexico.

I don't recall hydro testing being very expensive, but that was years ago. Might call a scuba place or a fire extinguisher place and see where they get theirs done.

 

[ford67guy]

Wow!.. I can kind a see it.. a lot of smuggling across the border, but that's funny. no cash eh?

The place I called was a fire extinguisher place. He said he's never done a compressor before but was willing to do it. He says to open it up and see if I can take a peak inside and call him if I still want to get it tested. My compressor has these two plugs (top and bottom on the side) and the only way I can get those out is probably using an impact gun. Don't even want to bother, but tempted.

 

[Warrenator]

An impact may not budge them, I had to remove some fitting on mine (Also a Sanborn, by the way) and I ended up using a pipe wrench I have with a 8 foot cheater pipe on it.

 

[ford67guy]

I tried using a 2-3 foot pipe attached to my breaker bar last night and did not work. That thing is tight! The reason why I said maybe an impact gun might do it. I'm just going to leave it alone.

 

[ford67guy]

Got her cleaned up and hooked up. This compressor had so much dust on her, they were falling off like dirt while cleaning it. My garage floor is a mess!

She fills up pretty fast and going to try to use her this thanksgiving weekend. Well, here she is... Thanks again to the fellas that chimed in this thread. Really appreciate it.

 

[Provincial]

On the tank there will be a welded-on certification tag that will give the date manufactured, ASME standard, and the thickness of the tank body and ends. The ends will be thicker than the body. The usual readings are in thousands of an inch (.250 for 1/4") and for a tank that size I would expect a .188 body and .250 ends.

Once you know your metal thickness, you can figure out how much the rust thins the tank. I believe that the standards require the tank to withstand considerably more pressure than the rating, and most are rated a 200 psi for a two-stage compressor.

 

[JASTECH]

ford, Here is pic of the plate on my Quincy.

 

[CNGsaves]

For the OP with Sanborn/BlackMax tank with surface rust, I'd just prep the area and re-prime and repaint as the tank pretty much looks new. Like others have said, tank manufacturer builds the tank to withstand much more pressure than you're actually put in it for air compressor purposes. I'd be worried if water had sat inside tank for many years and rust was coming from the inside ; hopefully yours just had water inside for short while.

On side note, crazy guy in another country installed an air compressor tank in vehicle and used it ERRONEOUSLY for a storage tank for compressed natural gas. It apparently lasted a while, then the 3,000 psi pressure eventually blew out the tank at SEAM tearing through the vehicle and throwing debris that cut off guy's arm and killed him. Thus, only use tank for it's intended purpose! Safety first!

 

[ford67guy]

Thanks guys.. Jastech - you've had that compressor for a while?

CNGsaves - that's a pretty scary story, but somewhat comforting knowing that my compressor tank should be able to hold more pressure. It had some surface rust and the worst part from what I saw was the minor pitting. The compressor looks a lot cleaner now after removing some of the surface rust and painting it with some left over primer and flat black paint. Didn't get to cover the whole compressor, but it'll do.


Here is what the plate says on my compressor...

 

[bobcatdan]

Unless you drained out gallons of water, I wouldn't worry about it. I drain the one at work, an IR 80 gallon every Friday before I leave and maybe a 1/2cup comes out. I drain mine at home about once a month, an IR 80 gallon and about a cup comes out. So noticable water builds rather quickly.

 

[ford67guy]

gotcha..appreciate the comments guys...