Today (Saturday Sept 14, 2013) a friend gave me an
air compressor. Says when he ran it six months or
so ago, ran fine. Sears oilless, 12 gal tank. Said to
deliver 3.3 SCFM (think that's right) at 90 PSI.

I got home, the air all blew out the safety pressure
device. Spent a bunch of time on the Sears web site. The
web site has a BIG pdf that takes most of the computer
screen, can only read the parts list on the tiny edge of
the screen. Sears wants $31 and change, for the safety
valve. Amazon $22 or so. Went to the auto parts, they
said to go to the farm and garden store 20 miles away.
Just for grins, went to Lowe's, about two miles away.
They had one for eight bucks.

Got home, install the safety device. Compressor still
hisses, and won't come up to pressure. Some looking,
find the drain valve under the tank is open, and a lot
of very black water on my floor. Mop the black, close
the valve.

Decided to run the compressor through a cycle. Ran for
a while, and then sounded like fire crackers popping
about once a second. Look at the gauge, find it's up
to 120 PSI. So, the electric cut out needs adjusting.

I turned off the power, and bled the air down to about
80. Turn it back on. The compressor growled, but didn't
start.

Oh, bother, the unloader is bad too.

I tried to take the cover off, to get at the unloader.
But one of the screws is rotted and stripped, and after
an hour I can't get it to come loose. I guess I'll load
the compressor in my van, and take it back tomorrow. I
can use a larger compressor, but this one is a loser.
And the guy who gave it to me cleaned out the unloader
on his other compressor. Maybe he can get this one
working.

I guess this just hasn't been my good week. Wheel fell
off the truck (for real) and missed the church picnic.
What next?

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

Stormin Mormon fired this volley in
news
Today (Saturday Sept 14, 2013) a friend gave me an
air compressor. Says when he ran it six months or
so ago, ran fine. Sears oilless, 12 gal tank. Said to
deliver 3.3 SCFM (think that's right) at 90 PSI.

---
Fooey... It couldn't be both Sears AND 'ran fine'.

Stormy, 3.3 SCFM isn't enough for anything but an airbrush.

Junk it. Keep looking.

Lloyd

On Sat, 14 Sep 2013 21:06:49 -0400, Stormin Mormon
wrote:

Today (Saturday Sept 14, 2013) a friend gave me an
air compressor.

I bought one at a yard sale for $5 or $10 at least ten years ago. It
fired right up and has worked reliably every time I've tried to use it
since. Got a smaller one for almost nothing at Harbor Freight. It's
always worked too. Even the mail order one I carry in the Jeep.

Put it with your corroded batteries. Must be the Mormon "spirit" that
talks to you is really an evil ghost and your trailer is haunted.

The
web site has a BIG pdf that takes most of the computer
screen, can only read the parts list on the tiny edge of
the screen.

pdf files can be sized to fit any screen. You really are pretty
clueless.

You are so right. It's in the van, and going
back to the donor, tomorrow. Maybe he can get
it going again. I've had enough.

..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 9/14/2013 9:17 PM, Lloyd E. Sponenburgh wrote:
Stormin Mormon fired this volley in
news
Today (Saturday Sept 14, 2013) a friend gave me an
air compressor. Says when he ran it six months or
so ago, ran fine. Sears oilless, 12 gal tank. Said to
deliver 3.3 SCFM (think that's right) at 90 PSI.

---
Fooey... It couldn't be both Sears AND 'ran fine'.

Stormy, 3.3 SCFM isn't enough for anything but an airbrush.

Junk it. Keep looking.

Lloyd

On 2013-09-15, Stormin Mormon wrote:
You are so right. It's in the van, and going
back to the donor, tomorrow. Maybe he can get
it going again. I've had enough.

Just put it in your scrap hopper. Save enough scrap, take to scrap yard.

i

.
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
.

On 9/14/2013 9:17 PM, Lloyd E. Sponenburgh wrote:
Stormin Mormon fired this volley in
news
Today (Saturday Sept 14, 2013) a friend gave me an
air compressor. Says when he ran it six months or
so ago, ran fine. Sears oilless, 12 gal tank. Said to
deliver 3.3 SCFM (think that's right) at 90 PSI.

---
Fooey... It couldn't be both Sears AND 'ran fine'.

Stormy, 3.3 SCFM isn't enough for anything but an airbrush.

Junk it. Keep looking.

Lloyd

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
news
Today (Saturday Sept 14, 2013) a friend gave me an
air compressor. Says when he ran it six months or
so ago, ran fine. Sears oilless, 12 gal tank. Said to
deliver 3.3 SCFM (think that's right) at 90 PSI.

Nice friend, and a liar at that! You're such a gullible putz.

In article ,
Stormin Mormon wrote:

Today (Saturday Sept 14, 2013) a friend gave me an
air compressor. Says when he ran it six months or
so ago, ran fine. Sears oilless, 12 gal tank. Said to
deliver 3.3 SCFM (think that's right) at 90 PSI.

I got home, the air all blew out the safety pressure
device. Spent a bunch of time on the Sears web site. The
web site has a BIG pdf that takes most of the computer
screen, can only read the parts list on the tiny edge of
the screen. Sears wants $31 and change, for the safety
valve. Amazon $22 or so. Went to the auto parts, they
said to go to the farm and garden store 20 miles away.
Just for grins, went to Lowe's, about two miles away.
They had one for eight bucks.

Got home, install the safety device. Compressor still
hisses, and won't come up to pressure. Some looking,
find the drain valve under the tank is open, and a lot
of very black water on my floor. Mop the black, close
the valve.

Decided to run the compressor through a cycle. Ran for
a while, and then sounded like fire crackers popping
about once a second. Look at the gauge, find it's up
to 120 PSI. So, the electric cut out needs adjusting.

I turned off the power, and bled the air down to about
80. Turn it back on. The compressor growled, but didn't
start.

Oh, bother, the unloader is bad too.

I tried to take the cover off, to get at the unloader.
But one of the screws is rotted and stripped, and after
an hour I can't get it to come loose. I guess I'll load
the compressor in my van, and take it back tomorrow. I
can use a larger compressor, but this one is a loser.
And the guy who gave it to me cleaned out the unloader
on his other compressor. Maybe he can get this one
working.

I guess this just hasn't been my good week. Wheel fell
off the truck (for real) and missed the church picnic.
What next?

I absolutely hate those oilless compressors... in my opinion their only
claim to fame is separating people from their money, and the conversion
of otherwise useful energy to a loathsome din.

Let it go; don't look back... run, don't walk... and never forget the
old saying:

"It's far better to have a horrible ending, than to have horrors without
end"

--Unknown

Erik

Anything can be fixed... let it sit for a day or two while you think
about it. The unloader is just a check valve. I put two compressors on
the same line and usually just run one, when I need more volume and
higher pressure I also turn on the bigger and noisier larger one.
There is no such thing as a bad air compressor, it just needs a
little help.

On 15/09/2013 9:06 AM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
Today (Saturday Sept 14, 2013) a friend gave me an
air compressor. Says when he ran it six months or
so ago, ran fine. Sears oilless, 12 gal tank. Said to
deliver 3.3 SCFM (think that's right) at 90 PSI.

I got home, the air all blew out the safety pressure
device. Spent a bunch of time on the Sears web site. The
web site has a BIG pdf that takes most of the computer
screen, can only read the parts list on the tiny edge of
the screen. Sears wants $31 and change, for the safety
valve. Amazon $22 or so. Went to the auto parts, they
said to go to the farm and garden store 20 miles away.
Just for grins, went to Lowe's, about two miles away.
They had one for eight bucks.

Got home, install the safety device. Compressor still
hisses, and won't come up to pressure. Some looking,
find the drain valve under the tank is open, and a lot
of very black water on my floor. Mop the black, close
the valve.

Decided to run the compressor through a cycle. Ran for
a while, and then sounded like fire crackers popping
about once a second. Look at the gauge, find it's up
to 120 PSI. So, the electric cut out needs adjusting.

I turned off the power, and bled the air down to about
80. Turn it back on. The compressor growled, but didn't
start.

Oh, bother, the unloader is bad too.

I tried to take the cover off, to get at the unloader.
But one of the screws is rotted and stripped, and after
an hour I can't get it to come loose. I guess I'll load
the compressor in my van, and take it back tomorrow. I
can use a larger compressor, but this one is a loser.
And the guy who gave it to me cleaned out the unloader
on his other compressor. Maybe he can get this one
working.

I guess this just hasn't been my good week. Wheel fell
off the truck (for real) and missed the church picnic.
What next?



Glad the wheel missed the church picnic. That could have had terrible
consequences!

That may also be a fitting end for such a machine. It surely isn't
playing nice, at this moment.

With domestic refrigerators, I figure that if the compressor works, the
rest is repairable. But this one, the cylinder and motor work, but the
rest is turning out to be a mess.

..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 9/14/2013 9:46 PM, Ignoramus8750 wrote:
On 2013-09-15, Stormin Mormon wrote:
You are so right. It's in the van, and going
back to the donor, tomorrow. Maybe he can get
it going again. I've had enough.

Just put it in your scrap hopper. Save enough scrap, take to scrap yard.

i

That's not the impression I get.

..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 9/14/2013 10:03 PM, colbert wrote:
"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
news
Today (Saturday Sept 14, 2013) a friend gave me an
air compressor. Says when he ran it six months or
so ago, ran fine. Sears oilless, 12 gal tank. Said to
deliver 3.3 SCFM (think that's right) at 90 PSI.

Nice friend, and a liar at that! You're such a gullible putz.

I appreciate the wisdom. I have a couple oilless
12 volt compressors for emergencies. They do OK.
This one was probably OK for consumers who use
the unit once every couple months.

..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 9/14/2013 10:19 PM, Erik wrote:

I absolutely hate those oilless compressors... in my opinion their only
claim to fame is separating people from their money, and the conversion
of otherwise useful energy to a loathsome din.

Let it go; don't look back... run, don't walk... and never forget the
old saying:

"It's far better to have a horrible ending, than to have horrors without
end"

--Unknown

Erik

No such thing as a bad compressor, only a bad teacher?

I'm frustrated now, too much gone wrong with the unit.
I can use a big compressor now and again, but this one
has so much wrong.

That's a wise policy, to run the larger one only when
you need the higher volume.

..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 9/15/2013 1:02 AM, Fat-Dumb and Happy wrote:



Anything can be fixed... let it sit for a day or two while you think
about it. The unloader is just a check valve. I put two compressors on
the same line and usually just run one, when I need more volume and
higher pressure I also turn on the bigger and noisier larger one.
There is no such thing as a bad air compressor, it just needs a
little help.

Stormin Mormon fired this volley in
:

I appreciate the wisdom. I have a couple oilless
12 volt compressors for emergencies. They do OK.
This one was probably OK for consumers who use
the unit once every couple months.

.
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
.

On 9/14/2013 10:19 PM, Erik wrote:

I absolutely hate those oilless compressors... in my opinion their
only
claim to fame is separating people from their money, and the
conversion
of otherwise useful energy to a loathsome din.


I have to agree with Erik on that point. I have one little 12V buzz-box
in the boot of wifey's van for the emergency low tire. She's too weak to
change one, but not to top it off just to avoid waiting for AAA.

I have only two compressors right now: One nice 'man portable' double-
sausage Emglo (about 120lb), and a true 5HP upright with a 150-gallon
tank. The Emglo goes on indoor jobs like spray painting, mud-gunning,
air-nailing, and stuff like that. It's not an oil-less, but it still
makes the unpleasant "small piston, fast motor" buzz. The big one is a
shop fixture with slow RPMs, so very quiet.

I do have a nice 3HP servo motor that will run at about the right speed
on 12VDC to power the Emglo, and the face footprint is about right for
adapting it to the Emglo motor mount. That might be a worthy experiment,
if I can make the motor quick-change.

Lloyd

Stormin Mormon wrote in newsK7Zt.56706$ps1.5294
@fx07.iad:

Today (Saturday Sept 14, 2013) a friend gave me an
air compressor. Says when he ran it six months or
so ago, ran fine. Sears oilless, 12 gal tank. Said to
deliver 3.3 SCFM (think that's right) at 90 PSI.

I got home, the air all blew out the safety pressure
device. Spent a bunch of time on the Sears web site. The
web site has a BIG pdf that takes most of the computer
screen, can only read the parts list on the tiny edge of
the screen. Sears wants $31 and change, for the safety
valve. Amazon $22 or so. Went to the auto parts, they
said to go to the farm and garden store 20 miles away.
Just for grins, went to Lowe's, about two miles away.
They had one for eight bucks.

Got home, install the safety device. Compressor still
hisses, and won't come up to pressure. Some looking,
find the drain valve under the tank is open, and a lot
of very black water on my floor. Mop the black, close
the valve.

Decided to run the compressor through a cycle. Ran for
a while, and then sounded like fire crackers popping
about once a second. Look at the gauge, find it's up
to 120 PSI. So, the electric cut out needs adjusting.

I turned off the power, and bled the air down to about
80. Turn it back on. The compressor growled, but didn't
start.

Oh, bother, the unloader is bad too.

I tried to take the cover off, to get at the unloader.
But one of the screws is rotted and stripped, and after
an hour I can't get it to come loose. I guess I'll load
the compressor in my van, and take it back tomorrow. I
can use a larger compressor, but this one is a loser.
And the guy who gave it to me cleaned out the unloader
on his other compressor. Maybe he can get this one
working.

I guess this just hasn't been my good week. Wheel fell
off the truck (for real) and missed the church picnic.
What next?


I can't believe you don't know what's wrong. Stormy, you forgot to pray.
Geeesh...

slaps head You are so, so right.



..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 9/15/2013 8:48 AM, Red Green wrote:
I guess this just hasn't been my good week. Wheel fell
off the truck (for real) and missed the church picnic.
What next?


I can't believe you don't know what's wrong. Stormy, you forgot to pray.
Geeesh...

On Sat, 14 Sep 2013 21:06:49 -0400, Stormin Mormon wrote:

Today (Saturday Sept 14, 2013) a friend gave me an air compressor. Says
when he ran it six months or so ago, ran fine. Sears oilless, 12 gal
tank. Said to deliver 3.3 SCFM (think that's right) at 90 PSI.

I got home, the air all blew out the safety pressure device. Spent a
bunch of time on the Sears web site. The web site has a BIG pdf that
takes most of the computer screen, can only read the parts list on the
tiny edge of the screen. Sears wants $31 and change, for the safety
valve. Amazon $22 or so. Went to the auto parts, they said to go to the
farm and garden store 20 miles away. Just for grins, went to Lowe's,
about two miles away. They had one for eight bucks.

Got home, install the safety device. Compressor still hisses, and won't
come up to pressure. Some looking, find the drain valve under the tank
is open, and a lot of very black water on my floor. Mop the black, close
the valve.

Decided to run the compressor through a cycle. Ran for a while, and then
sounded like fire crackers popping about once a second. Look at the
gauge, find it's up to 120 PSI. So, the electric cut out needs
adjusting.

I turned off the power, and bled the air down to about
80. Turn it back on. The compressor growled, but didn't start.

Oh, bother, the unloader is bad too.

I tried to take the cover off, to get at the unloader. But one of the
screws is rotted and stripped, and after an hour I can't get it to come
loose. I guess I'll load the compressor in my van, and take it back
tomorrow. I can use a larger compressor, but this one is a loser. And
the guy who gave it to me cleaned out the unloader on his other
compressor. Maybe he can get this one working.

I guess this just hasn't been my good week. Wheel fell off the truck
(for real) and missed the church picnic. What next?

Well it could have been worse -- the wheel could have fallen off and
_hit_ the church picnic!

--
Tim Wescott
Control system and signal processing consulting
www.wescottdesign.com

Or, I could have the wheel fell off at the church
picnic, and I have no air. Suffocate to death
with a flat tire.

..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 9/15/2013 11:35 AM, Tim Wescott wrote:

I guess this just hasn't been my good week. Wheel fell off the truck
(for real) and missed the church picnic. What next?

Well it could have been worse -- the wheel could have fallen off and
_hit_ the church picnic!

On Sat, 14 Sep 2013 21:06:49 -0400, Stormin Mormon
wrote:

Today (Saturday Sept 14, 2013) a friend gave me an
air compressor. Says when he ran it six months or
so ago, ran fine. Sears oilless, 12 gal tank. Said to
deliver 3.3 SCFM (think that's right) at 90 PSI.

I got home, the air all blew out the safety pressure
device. Spent a bunch of time on the Sears web site. The
web site has a BIG pdf that takes most of the computer
screen, can only read the parts list on the tiny edge of
the screen. Sears wants $31 and change, for the safety
valve. Amazon $22 or so. Went to the auto parts, they
said to go to the farm and garden store 20 miles away.
Just for grins, went to Lowe's, about two miles away.
They had one for eight bucks.

Good auto parts stores should have them too.

Got home, install the safety device. Compressor still
hisses, and won't come up to pressure. Some looking,
find the drain valve under the tank is open, and a lot
of very black water on my floor. Mop the black, close
the valve.

And the butterfly valves are always messy - if you have to roll it
outside, it never gets drained. Pull that stupid valve, put on a
street elbow, a short nipple to get clear of the tank, and a regular
1/8" or 1/4" ball valve and a barb fitting where you can attach a
hose. Then direct the hose into a bucket where you can catch the muck
water, or on a semi-permanent under the workbench route the hose
outside.

Decided to run the compressor through a cycle. Ran for
a while, and then sounded like fire crackers popping
about once a second. Look at the gauge, find it's up
to 120 PSI. So, the electric cut out needs adjusting.

I turned off the power, and bled the air down to about
80. Turn it back on. The compressor growled, but didn't
start.

Oh, bother, the unloader is bad too.

No, you didn't actuate the unloader by having the pressure switch hit
the high 'Off' setting - someone set it too high. And when you tried
starting it by just plugging it in again, the motor was still fighting
against head pressure and stalled.

Now you know what Locked Rotor Amps means, and you might have to find
and push a Reset Button on the motor.

Adjust the pressure switch so it kicks off when it's supposed to -
about 105 to 110 PSI - and try it again. Follow the cord, you'll hit
the pressure switch. Pop the top, there will be an adjustment screw
or nut dead center, and usually a notation as to which way is Up and
Down.

If the Unloader valve sits there and hisses and the tank slowly bleeds
out.... You need a new check valve going into the tank.

Standard item, should be right next to the safety valves at Lowes. But
call first, they can tell you. It's either 1/2" NPT in and out, or
5/8 Copper Tubing in and 1/2" NPT out.

I tried to take the cover off, to get at the unloader.
But one of the screws is rotted and stripped, and after
an hour I can't get it to come loose. I guess I'll load
the compressor in my van, and take it back tomorrow. I
can use a larger compressor, but this one is a loser.
And the guy who gave it to me cleaned out the unloader
on his other compressor. Maybe he can get this one
working.

I guess this just hasn't been my good week. Wheel fell
off the truck (for real) and missed the church picnic.
What next?

When you get it back, if he gets the pressure switch set right and the
unloader working, and it still has starting issues, see if the motor
has a Start Cap or a Run Cap. Cheap to try, often they get dried out
and go bad after 30 years.

On 9/18/2013 1:49 AM, Bruce L. Bergman (munged human readable) wrote:
They had one for eight bucks.

Good auto parts stores should have them too.
CY: The one auto parts place I tried, got a blank look.


Got home, install the safety device. Compressor still
hisses, and won't come up to pressure. Some looking,
find the drain valve under the tank is open, and a lot
of very black water on my floor. Mop the black, close
the valve.

And the butterfly valves are always messy - if you have to roll it
outside, it never gets drained. Pull that stupid valve, put on a
street elbow, a short nipple to get clear of the tank, and a regular
1/8" or 1/4" ball valve and a barb fitting where you can attach a
hose. Then direct the hose into a bucket where you can catch the muck
water, or on a semi-permanent under the workbench route the hose
outside.
CY: I'll have to wheel the unit out and drain once a year or so, if it
ever comes back.


Decided to run the compressor through a cycle. Ran for
a while, and then sounded like fire crackers popping
about once a second. Look at the gauge, find it's up
to 120 PSI. So, the electric cut out needs adjusting.

I turned off the power, and bled the air down to about
80. Turn it back on. The compressor growled, but didn't
start.

Oh, bother, the unloader is bad too.

No, you didn't actuate the unloader by having the pressure switch hit
the high 'Off' setting - someone set it too high. And when you tried
starting it by just plugging it in again, the motor was still fighting
against head pressure and stalled.

CY: Hmm. So, the pressure switch set too high, and the unloader didn't
activate? Might be a simple adjustment then?


Now you know what Locked Rotor Amps means, and you might have to find
and push a Reset Button on the motor.

CY: Didn't need to reset.


Adjust the pressure switch so it kicks off when it's supposed to -
about 105 to 110 PSI - and try it again. Follow the cord, you'll hit
the pressure switch. Pop the top, there will be an adjustment screw
or nut dead center, and usually a notation as to which way is Up and
Down.

CY: I'll pass that along to the guy who's got the compressor. Thank you.


If the Unloader valve sits there and hisses and the tank slowly bleeds
out.... You need a new check valve going into the tank.

CY: OK....


Standard item, should be right next to the safety valves at Lowes. But
call first, they can tell you. It's either 1/2" NPT in and out, or
5/8 Copper Tubing in and 1/2" NPT out.

CY: Thank you.


I tried to take the cover off, to get at the unloader.
But one of the screws is rotted and stripped, and after
an hour I can't get it to come loose. I guess I'll load
the compressor in my van, and take it back tomorrow. I
can use a larger compressor, but this one is a loser.
And the guy who gave it to me cleaned out the unloader
on his other compressor. Maybe he can get this one
working.

I guess this just hasn't been my good week. Wheel fell
off the truck (for real) and missed the church picnic.
What next?

When you get it back, if he gets the pressure switch set right and the
unloader working, and it still has starting issues, see if the motor
has a Start Cap or a Run Cap. Cheap to try, often they get dried out
and go bad after 30 years.

CY: Thank you. It started just fine,first time.

On Wed, 18 Sep 2013 08:44:55 -0400, Stormin Mormon
wrote:


On 9/18/2013 1:49 AM, Bruce L. Bergman (munged human readable) wrote:
They had one for eight bucks.

Good auto parts stores should have them too.
CY: The one auto parts place I tried, got a blank look.

I said a Good Auto Parts like a NAPA, someplace that sells to real
mechanics. A Beauty Parts Store like O'Reilly or Pep Boys will look
at you strange.


CY: I'll have to wheel the unit out and drain once a year or so, if it
ever comes back.

You'll have a rusted through tank real fast, unless it only gets used
once a year. You want to drain it every week or two, once a month
max. If it's getting used heavily, at the end of every day. This is
why you rig a drain.

-- Bruce --