Vintage air compressor identification

[Darkbreeze]

Greetings. I just acquired an old compressor from somebody who just wanted it out of their yard. The pump works and builds pressure fine, however, it's pretty obviously a frankenstein, I think. The tank name plate says Worthington but none of the worthington compressors I've found that were in any way similar, and honestly I didn't find many, had this pump on them so I don't know if it came with it or was changed out. The motor that was on it says The Brown-Brockmeyer Co. Inc. Dayton, O. USA. Again, I don't know if it came with it. I took the motor off because it's wired 220 and I don't have a 220 feed yet so I mounted an old 110 Dayton motor I had to see if it even had compression which it does, surprisingly. I was hoping somebody could identify the pump so I can determine the manufacturers flywheel rotation direction (For proper oiling) as there are no indicators anywhere on the flywheel or the pump, that I can determine. The pump has a plate on the very bottom with 1-5-51 stamped on it and I'm guessing that's the manufacture date although I realize that is by no means certain. There is also a weird logo stamped near it that I can't identify. The compressor builds pressure in both directions, but I want to set it up the way it's supposed to be in case there are connecting rod oil scoops that need to be utilized. I also have a couple of questions regarding the motor. It is a 115/230 and it has the diagram on the spec plate however, and I feel stupid admitting this, I don't understand the connections for 110. It has four wires, two of which are tied together, which the diagram indicates is for 220. The 110 diagram shows all four wires straight, rather than two together, and I don't know if this means to just unhook the two that are together and cap them off then run my hot and neutral like any other motor or if all four need to be connected but just not like the 220 configuration. Any help with any of these issues would be extremely appreciated and I can certainly provide any details I might have that I haven't included. Thanks in advance and I appreciate the help.

 

[930dreamer]

I'd go with "Worthington" from the tank, but not sure if the pump is correct.

 

[bsaint]

It looks like a refrigeration pump.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yeah? So did everything in 1951. Honestly guys, it's a compressor pump. And an electric motor. I just want to find out if anybody has any experience with a similar machine and actually knows something about it. The previous owner said it was still being used and worked, when he sold the house to the guy I got it from. This thing ran two bays in a home garage so there is no question as to it's intended purpose, I just want to get the correct information regarding who made it and specs. Thanks.

 

[bsaint]

Sorry bro, not everything looked like a refrigeration pump back then. Check out vintage Wayne, Worthington, Champion, and IR's. I tell you my 2 cents and you get all bitchy on me. Hope you find what you're looking for but really you can kiss my ***.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I'll give a 98% probability that it is a refrigeration pump.

Does it say Frankenstein on it somewhere?

Charles

 

[GeneralDisorder]

Yeah that appears to be refrigeration style to me also.

It's also TINY and OLD. Scrap metal IMO. Same goes for the tank. At 6 amps that is about a 1 hp motor so the best you could hope for is about 4 CFM. Pretty much a waste of time since you will never find parts for it and sure as **** it will have some kind of failure after you put time and energy into making it work and setting it up.

GD

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well, if it's a refrigeration pump, it's a refrigeration pump that was used to run air tools for 20 years as that is how long the thing was plumbed into the walls of the garage I took it out of. I suppose that's possible, however, it doesn't seem likely. By the way, after rewiring the motor, which works fine, it takes about five minutes to fill the sixty gallon tank from empty to cutoff. And as far as the motor, it's 12.4 amps, at 110, and 6.2 @ 220. Just to be sure of what I felt about your comments, I looked up brand new replacement motors in the 2 to 4 HP range and almost every single one of them was 12-15 amps @110 and 6-8 amps @ 220 so apparently you don't know as much as you think you do. You know, I wasn't trying to be a smart *** to anybody in my previous posts, I was just being honest. But after the couple of replies I received from supposedly "senior" members of this forum, you all know what you can do. I've received far better feedback from other sources anyhow, not just, your machine ***** ***, dump it and go buy some junk china ****. The whole idea is supposed to be saving money while at the same time prolonging the useful life of a vintage american made tool. I guess you must have forgotten that. Consider yourselves reminded. Why even bother having a forum and making posts if all you can do is offer negative feedback. Seems like a waste of energy. Have a nice time.

 

[GeneralDisorder]

Modern motors are not equivalent in amperage draw to that ancient pile. It draws many more amps than the power output would imply based on modern motors due to its inefficient design.

The nameplate says 3/4 HP right on it.... Apparently you can't read.

I do know a thing or two about motors - past and present - and one thing that's generally a given is that old American motors are under-rated. You can usually pull 15 to 25 percent more power from them than their nameplate rating since they were overbuilt in an era of sliderule calculations and cheap American steel.

As I stated that's about a 1 HP, 4 CFM machine and that's the facts. I DO know what I'm talking about and others here will back me up I'm sure. It's a pile that is TOO old to be useful as such its garbage or a museum piece.

And let's not even get into how dangerous that rusty old tank may be. Obviously its certification has expired - probably around the same time the original pump did. It's not worth the potential explosive risk of putting pressure in it. A 60 gallon tank holds enough energy at 100 psi to level a small house....

GD

 

[Darkbreeze]

I'm sure you do know a thing or two, nobody disputes that. However, as of ten minutes ago that old piece of **** cycled that garbage pile through five repeat cycles with no effort. So after reading your post, I went out to the shop and scoped the tank and guess what? Other than some oil residue and two very small rust spots on the fitting welds, it's fairly clean inside. Some discoloration and a little bit of chocolate milk from the oil and moisture mixing together but all in all it looks trustworthy. AND, I think I'd trust those forty year old american welds over any brand new china welds any day. But that's just me and I guess if I blow my garage apart someday you can say I told you so. New compressor = 800.00+ dollars, old compressor = 24.00 for two gates belts and 24.00 for a new motor pulley. And, if it takes a ****, I can always reuse the belts and pulley. Thanks.

 

[Carson_13]

100 psi leveling a house?!?! not a chance it could completely explode and you MIGHT lose a garden shed

 

[GeneralDisorder]

100 psi leveling a house?!?! not a chance it could completely explode and you MIGHT lose a garden shed

Clearly you haven't experienced the power of that much stored energy.

Now granted a complete catastrophic failure is unlikely - a crack in a weld or a pin-hole leak is much more likely to be the failure mode that he would see. But in the event of a sudden and complete failure all the energy would be released at once and I would not want to be in the same neighborhood let alone the same house with such a failure.

There was a time before modern safety features made it uncommon when water heaters and pressure cookers were to blame for a lot of carnage in suburban America. The pressures involved are similar.

GD

 

[GeneralDisorder]

I'm sure you do know a thing or two, nobody disputes that. However, as of ten minutes ago that old piece of **** cycled that garbage pile through five repeat cycles with no effort. So after reading your post, I went out to the shop and scoped the tank and guess what? Other than some oil residue and two very small rust spots on the fitting welds, it's fairly clean inside. Some discoloration and a little bit of chocolate milk from the oil and moisture mixing together but all in all it looks trustworthy. AND, I think I'd trust those forty year old american welds over any brand new china welds any day. But that's just me and I guess if I blow my garage apart someday you can say I told you so.

Looks can be deceiving - without a hydro test on the tank it's not worth the risk to run something that old that has obviously been in service for quite some time. No question it was quality made when it was new but that could easily have been sometime in the 1940's. My state (and probably all of them) require a type of boiler permit for pressure vessels and they would have kittens if you wanted to put that in operation under their jurisdiction.

New compressor = 800.00+ dollars, old compressor = 24.00 for two gates belts and 24.00 for a new motor pulley. And, if it takes a ****, I can always reuse the belts and pulley. Thanks.

I never said it wasn't cheap - and you will probably never suffer any ill fate due to that desire to save money but the potential for risk IS higher. And that's not really close to a machine that's worth $800. The volume is very low and I have sold quality used machines in that class for $200 when their new price was around $400.

GD

 

[e-tek]

I'm feeling bad for the OP here. Although your post (#3) was the one that set the negative, don't take the couple of ya-hoo's that are dominating the thread paint the entire bunch of us.

This forum is generally friendly and has gotten even more so as Ryan has cleaned it up. (Hope you don't get swept up in the process!). If you shift through some peoples obvious lack of civility, you'll likely find some good information in their posts.

Lastly, (and this is totally a personal opinion) we always get the "Safety Officer" types who like to chime in and ruin the fun. Of course you'll make your own decisions based on what you see and determine to be safe, so I'm not sure why people bother with telling others that the sky may fall....

Continue on!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Thanks e-tek. I'm over it already and I appreciate the comments. Thanks.

 

[A_Pmech]

It's a Universal Cooler Type M refrigeration compressor.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well, it certainly looks identical to Universal Cooler Model A15F6I-2 refrigeration assembly, or at least it's the same pump housing. What are the chances these pump housing's were used for multiple applications? Just wondering due to this tidbit I found,


Commercial refrigeration machine

Item Commercial refrigeration machine
Manufacturer Universal Cooler, Brantford Ont.
Make Universal Cooler
Model A15F6I-2


Technical Significance
The 1950's and on into the 60's was the "golden age" of the open-system refrigeration machine. Behind the industry were its crude beginnings in Canada. Machines were now operating on non-noxious refrigerants [principally F12], were smaller, lighter, quieter, more efficient and reliable.As important was the fact that they were readily field serviceable, allowing major components to be removed for repair or replacement. Too, major component replacement was facilitated, even with parts of a different manufacture, because of the level of universality and flexibility, which was an inherent part of the open-system design, a feature which would soon be lost, as the industry moved to higher efficiency, less costly sealed system design.

Is there any reason it shouldn't be used as an air compressor, because it obviously was for some time, and it does fill the tank fairly quickly. Plus, it's much quieter than any air compressor I've ever seen.

 

[GeneralDisorder]

You just havent seen any quality compressors.

For intermittent use and low pressure (100 to 120 psi) it won't likely hurt it. It's not ideal since its quite small and being run very slow. Based on sheave sizes I would estimate around 600 to 700 rpm. Since its been cobbled together from disparate components you NEED to check amperage draw to determine max pressure and in any case you shouldnt run more than 120 psi and you should keep it to a max duty cycle of around 50% or less to insure you don't overheat it - it has little in the way of cooling fins nor any method to push air across the cylinders.

It's not designed for what its being used for and if you actually time how long it takes to fill the tank and you calculate the size of the tank you can determine the CFM output. The number will not be large....

GD

 

[DHS]

I have a refer compressor on my small air compressor and it is quiet. I like it but don't use it continuous. If you are not trying to sandblast or run a sander you will probably be fine.

 

[sirweldalot]

I am also looking for some ''Old school'' Parts for my compressor. Someone posted about '' Scrapping it '' on your compressor. I say''Keep it running. I have an old 60 gal. 3 cyl. single stage Curtis Toledo compressor that I would not trade for a new one.I have rebuilt it and I love it.