mark-NJ
Well-known member
Let me start by saying "I'm not, by-and-large, a worrier", but lately I've seen a few youtube videos of compressor tanks rupturing catastrophically. It has me thinking about many things:
1.) My 4HP, 13gal Campbell Hausfeld was new in '96. Do I empty the tank's petcock every so often? Yes!...um, yeah...kinda. Maybe. Sort of. 2 or 3 times a year? Certainly not "after every use" as is written on the tank.
2.) Do these things blow up often? No. But when they do, the consequences are often tragic. My compressor lives under my bench where I stand. A rupture would likely remove my legs...not a joyous prospect. Kinda like lightning: people don't get hit often, but when they do, it's life-altering. I want no part of that!
3.) My compressor is 100% fine...it's the tank that's likely "unhealthy" and in need of replacement. I borescoped it last weekend, and it's about as ugly in there as I feared it would be. Maybe worse. It looks like the makings of a mushroom farm. I've immediately taken this unit out of service.
4.) Ive read that my tank has a "discard by" date on it somewhere. I can't find it, but it's >20 years old, so I suspect the date has passed.
5.) New tank or old, clean tank or dirty: do I want this directly under my bench at all? (asking rhetorically...the answer is: "no, I do not")
As stated in #3, above, my compressor is just fine. I don't need portability, so I've dismantled the compressor components from the tank and have designed & built a stand-alone platform for all of it in my garage-shop. I built a manifold, cooling system, condensation water draw-off; I re-installed the check valve, the blowdown, the contactor/pressure valve and the hose connection. Frankly, it's a better layout than what C-H had on the self-contained tank system.
Mu garage already has a compressor distribution system done in 1/2" K-copper that runs around to various outlets. It was a very simple matter of cutting into it and sweating some more copper line that I ran outside for connection to a new tank that will reside behind the garage. Using the old tank, I confirmed that this new way of doing things is 100% functional. After all, the physics of a pressurized system are clear that the location of the components really doesn't matter. So the "business end" is in the shop while the "danger" is safely outside.
As I said, I tested the system, but I used the old tank to do so. But I will be replacing it with a new tank and condemning the old one.
My question to you all is this: New tank: Steel or aluminum?
Steel: Pros: less expensive, I can buy a tank pretty close to the size of the old one (11 gal at Horrible Freight, $40), I can be more diligent about draining it. It's like "starting over" with a clean, perfect tank, and knowing what I've learned, I can replace it in 5-years or so. Cons: It's steel. It will rust; try though I might, I cannot stop that. The clock is running. And it will live outside in the elements so I need to consider external rust, too.
Aluminum: Pros: It won't rust, and that's nice! That alone might be the decision point. Cons: The selling feature seems to be "They're really light", but I don't care about portability. Seems to me that a trade off for weight reduction *might be* (I'm not sure) stress hardning: Aluminum doesn't really like being repeatedly stretched, but that's exactly what repeated pressurization & release does to a tank. Are these aluminum tanks really up to the job, or do they work-harden (leading to rupture)? I"m looking at the 7 gallon at HF for $65, though I see others that cost a lot more. They question, simply, is: do I trust HF (Chinese) cheap aluminum? And, lastly, the HF is small...7 gallons. I'll need two of them to match what I have now with the stock C-H 13 gal.
Of the 2 choices above, what's the general thought? (and, no, I'm not putting a pressure vessel...steel or aluminum...inside the shop. That isn't an option.)
Thank you for reading and I appreciate your responses,
1.) My 4HP, 13gal Campbell Hausfeld was new in '96. Do I empty the tank's petcock every so often? Yes!...um, yeah...kinda. Maybe. Sort of. 2 or 3 times a year? Certainly not "after every use" as is written on the tank.
2.) Do these things blow up often? No. But when they do, the consequences are often tragic. My compressor lives under my bench where I stand. A rupture would likely remove my legs...not a joyous prospect. Kinda like lightning: people don't get hit often, but when they do, it's life-altering. I want no part of that!
3.) My compressor is 100% fine...it's the tank that's likely "unhealthy" and in need of replacement. I borescoped it last weekend, and it's about as ugly in there as I feared it would be. Maybe worse. It looks like the makings of a mushroom farm. I've immediately taken this unit out of service.
4.) Ive read that my tank has a "discard by" date on it somewhere. I can't find it, but it's >20 years old, so I suspect the date has passed.
5.) New tank or old, clean tank or dirty: do I want this directly under my bench at all? (asking rhetorically...the answer is: "no, I do not")
As stated in #3, above, my compressor is just fine. I don't need portability, so I've dismantled the compressor components from the tank and have designed & built a stand-alone platform for all of it in my garage-shop. I built a manifold, cooling system, condensation water draw-off; I re-installed the check valve, the blowdown, the contactor/pressure valve and the hose connection. Frankly, it's a better layout than what C-H had on the self-contained tank system.
Mu garage already has a compressor distribution system done in 1/2" K-copper that runs around to various outlets. It was a very simple matter of cutting into it and sweating some more copper line that I ran outside for connection to a new tank that will reside behind the garage. Using the old tank, I confirmed that this new way of doing things is 100% functional. After all, the physics of a pressurized system are clear that the location of the components really doesn't matter. So the "business end" is in the shop while the "danger" is safely outside.
As I said, I tested the system, but I used the old tank to do so. But I will be replacing it with a new tank and condemning the old one.
My question to you all is this: New tank: Steel or aluminum?
Steel: Pros: less expensive, I can buy a tank pretty close to the size of the old one (11 gal at Horrible Freight, $40), I can be more diligent about draining it. It's like "starting over" with a clean, perfect tank, and knowing what I've learned, I can replace it in 5-years or so. Cons: It's steel. It will rust; try though I might, I cannot stop that. The clock is running. And it will live outside in the elements so I need to consider external rust, too.
Aluminum: Pros: It won't rust, and that's nice! That alone might be the decision point. Cons: The selling feature seems to be "They're really light", but I don't care about portability. Seems to me that a trade off for weight reduction *might be* (I'm not sure) stress hardning: Aluminum doesn't really like being repeatedly stretched, but that's exactly what repeated pressurization & release does to a tank. Are these aluminum tanks really up to the job, or do they work-harden (leading to rupture)? I"m looking at the 7 gallon at HF for $65, though I see others that cost a lot more. They question, simply, is: do I trust HF (Chinese) cheap aluminum? And, lastly, the HF is small...7 gallons. I'll need two of them to match what I have now with the stock C-H 13 gal.
Of the 2 choices above, what's the general thought? (and, no, I'm not putting a pressure vessel...steel or aluminum...inside the shop. That isn't an option.)
Thank you for reading and I appreciate your responses,
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