Walkers
Well-known member
About a decade ago I was given a pile of compressor parts from a friend who heard I was looking for a new compressor. 80 gallon tank, IR T-30 pump, 7.5 single phase motor. None of them ever went together before. I acquired the rest of the small parts and put it together and it worked surprisingly well. About 5 years ago I had to replace the head gaskets because they were coming apart.
Today I was using it and heard an odd noise. It was the mid stage pop off blowing off with every piston stroke. I pulled the second stage head off and sure enough there was a piece of gasket blocking open one of the valves. The rest of the gasket was ready to crumble as well. I called IR here in town and got ‘We haven’t stocked that set in 15 years…’, which is maybe why I had put an aftermarket set in last time. Had to order a set off EBay, which will hopefully be here by Monday so I can do a paint job.
Oh, well. The pump has surprised me with how well it has held up. I suspect the pump is at least 50 years old. The cylinders still look nice. The tank is newer, maybe from the 80s, but is a real pressure vessel with a rating plate. I pulled the big plugs to have a wee peek inside and it still looks great. Hopefully with new valves and gaskets I can get another 5 years before a new set of gaskets.
Today I was using it and heard an odd noise. It was the mid stage pop off blowing off with every piston stroke. I pulled the second stage head off and sure enough there was a piece of gasket blocking open one of the valves. The rest of the gasket was ready to crumble as well. I called IR here in town and got ‘We haven’t stocked that set in 15 years…’, which is maybe why I had put an aftermarket set in last time. Had to order a set off EBay, which will hopefully be here by Monday so I can do a paint job.
Oh, well. The pump has surprised me with how well it has held up. I suspect the pump is at least 50 years old. The cylinders still look nice. The tank is newer, maybe from the 80s, but is a real pressure vessel with a rating plate. I pulled the big plugs to have a wee peek inside and it still looks great. Hopefully with new valves and gaskets I can get another 5 years before a new set of gaskets.
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