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Trying to sell a air compressor?

188slo50

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I've got a american Kellogg 325 that I'd like to get rid of or trade for something else. I've posted it on Craigslist for a few months listing I'd like to sell for $400 o/b/o or trade for shop tools or a woodstove with no luck. Is it better to strip it down and part out the motor and scrap the rest or is there a market for these that I can't seem to locate?
 
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CNGsaves

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Suggest an "Action Ad" with your avatar showing off the compressor just like lovely ladies on Price Is Right !! :D . . . . marketing sells !! ;) MORE pics of her ??

Seriously, why not refurbish the Kellogg and keep yourself ??

If must sell, then widen your footprint and post CL ads in cities farther from your area. For a quality compressor, the right buyer will travel if the price is right. Do not recommend selling it piecemeal.
 
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Miss_Sissy

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I watched your ad there for a few weeks before buying a new Puma PK6060V 3HP, 60 gallon compressor for $500.

I think your asking price is just too high for a ~40 year old compressor that's sitting outdoors, is in rough shape, is not hooked up, and that you have never put into use since buying it. There is a lot of rust, oil staining on the tank below the pump, a non-TEFC (Totally Enclosed, Fan Cooled) motor that's open to the elements, and a pressure switch has no wiring hooked up or even a cover on it.

If you got the compressor inside, wired up, cleaned up, painted, and running well, it might sell for quite a bit more than the $400 you are asking. I'm not talking about a full-on restoration; just the basics to get it working well and looking cared for.


Being kind of new here, I don't know whether it's permissible to link to CL ads, so I hope you're okay with me putting the pics here so that others with more experience on the older compressors can tell me if I am full of ***** matter. If you want me to remove them, just say the word.

01717_4zVxeMsjWZn_600x450.jpg


00U0U_l761ykYLnur_600x450.jpg
 
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188slo50

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I've got a brand new 80 gallon 2 stage now plus I have no way to move the 325.

Around here there listed all the time in running condition around $1000. I think $400 is cheap in my opinion and looked at many that were way more and worst shape. The compressor is covered and stays out of weather it was just uncovered for pics and all the parts are there just not on certain things cause I got tired of removing stuff for pics. I personally wouldn't think someone would be that worried about dirt and surface rust on an air compressor there going to stick in a corner or behind there shop and never look at again.
 

CNGsaves

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There's some bad looking rust on that tank . . . goes horizontal about 1/3 way down . . . not good.

What does rust look like on bottom ??

Remove ********* plug and examine tank condition inside . . how's it look??

You willing to perform hydro / ultrasonic test on tank if necessary to prove that it's safe??

Otherwise, if it does not run, has every indication of bad rust damage, etc . . . then have to agree @ $400 it's likely overpriced . . . something like $200 to $300 (depending if you do any work on it) would be more appropriate price for it's condition.
 
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Notgrownup

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I've got a american Kellogg 325 that I'd like to get rid of or trade for something else. I've posted it on Craigslist for a few months listing I'd like to sell for $400 o/b/o or trade for shop tools or a woodstove with no luck. Is it better to strip it down and part out the motor and scrap the rest or is there a market for these that I can't seem to locate?
I just paid $250 for a few year old DeVillbiss charge air pro 60 gal 6 hp....I think you are asking a bit too much....$100-$150 max....
 

Miss_Sissy

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I'm not trying to beat you up or insult your compressor -- just providing my perspective as someone who watched your ad, since you asked.

Around here there listed all the time in running condition around $1000. I think $400 is cheap in my opinion and looked at many that were way more and worst shape.

Our opinions differ on the pricing -- which is why you still have the compressor and I have a new Puma PK6060V.

I personally wouldn't think someone would be that worried about dirt and surface rust on an air compressor there going to stick in a corner or behind there shop and never look at again.

Are you willing to cover the cost of a new tank if the old one is too rust-damaged to be safe? If it was allowed to get that rusty on the outside, why should a buyer trust that the prior owner regularly drained the water out of the tank or changed the oil in the pump?

What kept the water/rain that caused the rust on the outside of the tank from getting into the electric motor and/or pressure switch?

That oil on the outside of the tank looks like it came from the inside of the pump. Are you willing to pay for a pump rebuild if the buyer finds out that it's something expensive?

It's all about risk and the unknown. There is no evidence that the motor, pump, or tank are good and lots of worrying signs to suggest that one or more of them may not be.
 

Kny21

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Maybe you need to add that it's in excellent condition in the ad?
 

zkling

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:lol: at the pics.

The market has spoken. Your price for what you have is way too high. Is that even single phase.
 

Bob C

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I've got a american Kellogg 325 that I'd like to get rid of or trade for something else. I've posted it on Craigslist for a few months listing I'd like to sell for $400 o/b/o or trade for shop tools or a woodstove with no luck. Is it better to strip it down and part out the motor and scrap the rest or is there a market for these that I can't seem to locate?

The open drip motor is fine. You do not need worry about that. Very few units ship with TEFC anyhow. The tank is questionable unless you are a certified pressure vessel welder and want to repair it IF it leaks. Some on here are frightened of everything. Honestly you can sell it for around 300 on craigslist. A cover for the Pressure switch would help. Lots on here have worked on air compressors and some of us have worked on them 35 years or more. :) Point being, keep trying, you will find the right person. your unit is old but much better quality than some of this retail store **** that is trash cheap in price. I recognize the unit and know it is well worth rebuilding. Every one on here is a advice guru. Best to weed thru the info and judge for yourself.
 

Leaflessshadetree

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Don't ask.
The compressor is covered and stays out of weather
Covered with what? Cheap plastic tarps hold in moisture.

all the parts are there just not on certain things cause I got tired of removing stuff for pics.
What parts did you remove and why?

I personally wouldn't think someone would be that worried about dirt and surface rust on an air compressor there going to stick in a corner or behind there shop and never look at again.
Who sticks a compressor behind their shop and never looks at it again? I see mine every time I'm in the shop an I drain it, check the oil, belts etc. often.

$400 is a lot of money for what that looks like. I'd assume if it was in $400 condition you'd be using it.
 

Tronyadorable

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I don't trust that tank without scoping inside. The head and motor are worth a couple hundred and I'd drop $100 on the tank itself after inspection.
 
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Jere

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Personally as is I would list it for 300 and take offers within 50 dollars. Right now (until tax return season) is not a great time to be selling anything. If you are in a hurry 150, and if you want to get 400 for you could do it but you would have to put some work into it. A cheap spray gunned rustoleum paint job with some good prep work would go a long way.
 

TAMPAGT07

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Post a picture of the girl in your avatar next to the compressor, when you post it... You could sell a north Pole eskimo a deep freezer if she was standing next to it.
 

Miss_Sissy

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The open drip motor is fine. You do not need worry about that. Very few units ship with TEFC anyhow.

No, Bob, if an open frame motor is left outdoors in the rain and snow, it can be damaged by water that gets into it. Most compressors don't ship with TEFC motors because most compressors aren't designed to be left outside, exposed to the elements.

The tank is questionable unless you are a certified pressure vessel welder and want to repair it IF it leaks. Some on here are frightened of everything.

Don't be insulting. People on here aren't "frightened of everything." They are knowledgeable and can see the signs that an old compressor may be a money pit. They see the copious amounts of rust on the old tank and know that a new tank would run $800-$1200 and that the old one might not be reparable.

your unit is old but much better quality than some of this retail store **** that is trash cheap in price.

High quality doesn't mean squat if the major components need to be replaced or rebuilt. All that you know about the unit is that it's old, rusty, stained with oil from the pump, partially disassembled, sitting outdoors, has never been run by the current owner, and can't be run to show that any part of it works prior to purchase.

Lots on here have worked on air compressors and some of us have worked on them 35 years or more.

Most of the people with lots of experience buying and fixing them are saying that it's worth $200 or less in the as-pictured condition with all of the unknowns.

Every one on here is a advice guru.

But you have a history of giving bad advice when it comes to compressors and other people's money.

You told Rescue Wagon to swap a Puma PK6060V motor and pulley onto his PK5020VP to improve the performance to PK6060V levels. But that would have slowed the pump down and dropped the 5.0 cfm at 90 psi down to about 4.3-4.4 cfm at 90 psi. So I replied, showing you all of the math and telling you that Puma tech support verified that I was right.

So what did you do? Replied to the same thread again, four days later, with the same bad advice: "Yes. Motor and pulley."
 
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Miss_Sissy

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The head and motor are worth a couple hundred

If 188slo50 could get the pressure switch wired back up, power to the unit, and demonstrate that the motor turns and the pump moves air, I think he would make a sale. But when nothing can be shown to work, that's a hard sale to make at more than $100-$150.
 
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188slo50

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To the certain ones here that knock everything unless it's spit polished and sitting in your show room garage where no dirt will ever exist move on to another's thread if you have nothing useful to add.

To the others thanks for the helpful ideas.
 

Hawk

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Sorry I did not know that you only wanted those who would tell you what a gold mine you have there. And that you have it underlisted by at least 75 percent. What we wish is not always the truth.
 

Tweeker

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Sorry I did not know that you only wanted those who would tell you what a gold mine you have there. And that you have it underlisted by at least 75 percent. What we wish is not always the truth.

Amen brother! Guys got potatoes in his ears.:eyecrazy:
 

Miss_Sissy

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To the certain ones here that knock everything unless it's spit polished and sitting in your show room garage where no dirt will ever exist move on to another's thread if you have nothing useful to add.

You started this thread asking why it won't sell. Now you're pissed off because people gave you honest answers.

It's got nothing to do with "spit polished." I bought a greasy, old 2.5HP Sanborn compressor today that needs a tank. I plugged it in, heard it run, felt air coming out of it, and paid $80. You are asking five times that much and can't be bothered with running AC out to yours to show that it works. Then you're offended that people comment about the exensive rust on something designed for indoor use only?

Sorry I did not know that you only wanted those who would tell you what a gold mine you have there. And that you have it underlisted by at least 75 percent. What we wish is not always the truth.

Amen brother! Guys got potatoes in his ears.:eyecrazy:

I'm with you guys. You try to help the guy and he insults you for your trouble.
 

redmondjp

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You started this thread asking why it won't sell. Now you're pissed off because people gave you honest answers.

It's got nothing to do with "spit polished." I bought a greasy, old 2.5HP Sanborn compressor today that needs a tank. I plugged it in, heard it run, felt air coming out of it, and paid $80. You are asking five times that much and can't be bothered with running AC out to yours to show that it works. Then you're offended that people comment about the exensive rust on something designed for indoor use only?





I'm with you guys. You try to help the guy and he insults you for your trouble.
My local Craigslist is chock full of sellers just like this. I troll the ads just for the entertainment value (funnier than most of what is on TV). My favorites are the pictures showing an incomplete compressor (either missing the motor or the pump), claiming that it costs $4K new, and they still want $900 for it!

And people will list the same compressor, for months if not years, not lowering the price one red cent, and continue to wonder why it doesn't sell . . .

I bought a Curtis compressor off of CL a few years ago which has a 5HP single-phase Baldor TEFC motor and a 2-stage cast-iron E57 pump. I paid $250, not knowing if it even ran. It was a gamble, but just the motor alone (if working) is worth that so I took a chance on it. I had a retired compressor mechanic go through the pump which cost me another $500, so $750 for a nice, American-made 2-stage 80-gallon compressor that should last for the rest of my life. That deal penciled out OK, but I would still have been hosed if the tank turned out to be bad.

You have to be really careful with older compressors, as some pump parts are NLA (No Longer Available) and you can end up with a really expensive boat anchor. It's amazing what people think their 'antique' compressors are worth!
 
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188slo50

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It has nothing to do with hurting feelings. The pics someone posted are nothing what it looks like now but are from the day I got it. The tank holds pressure just fine and I can wire the compressor up now it will run how ever long needed.
From the awnsers I've got from a few people it's basically it's not new,shiny, and pretty so it's junk basically.


And for the others...
 

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Miss_Sissy

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It has nothing to do with hurting feelings. The pics someone posted are nothing what it looks like now but are from the day I got it.

Those are the only pictures that appear in your craigslist ad and they are still there today. I will take the photos down if you don't want them here -- I wrote that when I initially posted them.

But I'm confused about when the photos were taken. You wrote "the compressor is covered and stays out of weather it was just uncovered for pics and all the parts are there just not on certain things cause I got tired of removing stuff for pics." That was all on the first day you got it?

The tank holds pressure just fine and I can wire the compressor up now it will run how ever long needed.

Then put that into your ad!

This is your ad::

The_Craigslist_Ad said:
"American Kellogg 325, 3hp air compressor 14.2CFM-16.9CFM. I bought it for my shop but don't have the time or anyway to move it.

$400 or reasonable offer or trade for woodstove, wood stove or shop equipment/tools

Drill press,mill, lathe,saw,shop,tools

There's nothing about whether it works, when it was last in use, whether you can demonstrate it, whether the tank holds pressure, etc.

You want helpful suggestions? Okay, here goes:
  • Add this (assuming it's accurate): Motor and pump work great. Tank holds pressure with no leaks. Can demonstrate for interested buyer.
  • Put current photos in the ad if the ones in there don't accurately depict the condition now.
  • Put a photo of the motor plate clearly showing volts, amps, 1 or 3 phase, make, model, etc.

Whether it works, can be demonstrated, and how it looks now are all really important to most potential buyers.

From the awnsers I've got from a few people it's basically it's not new,shiny, and pretty so it's junk basically.

I did not see anything like that from anyone here. This forum is filled with people who have nothing but respect for high-quality, older equipment. People aren't looking for "new, shiny, and pretty." They want something that looks like it was well cared for. If the owner left it out in the weather until it had rust scale all over it, never once cleaning it off and painting it, that's going to concern people.
 
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