Air Compressor WARNING!

[Budweiser John]

Looking at that video and all the rust colored spray on the wall it is clearly evident in my mind that compressor had not seen any maintance in years.
Personally I am not sure about auto drain systems as they can fail and it is too easy to become complacent and forget about keeping track of their operation.
I retrofitted the drain on the bottom of my 80 gallon vertical with a 1/4” street ell and a horizontal nipple with a 1/4” ball valve I can open and close with the toe of my boot. Every day or so depending on use I drain the water which varies between a few drops to a pint or more depending on the humidity and temperature.
With the thousands of cheap imported compressors sitting around in garages and farm shops not being maintained I am suprised there are not more bombs going off.

B. John

 

[Bird]

Wish I had pictures of the fire at the Acetylene plant...

Welding tanks peeled open like bananas and often shooting hundreds of feet in the air...

Same with drums of solvents in a fire... airborne... Awho knew they could fly?

What makes compressed air tanks different is they are innocuous being found everywhere.

An old navy guy wrapped his air tank in heavy wire saying he learned it in WWII... it looked like a spool of thread.

Many years ago, when I was a young patrolman, there was a fire in Dallas at a cylinder gas place. It was quite a sight to watch. I was behind a building watching the fire balls go up into the sky, and periodically one of those gas cylinders would go off into the sky like a rocket. The firemen were lying in the borrow ditch in front of the place with their water hoses aimed at the building that was burning.

 

[Peter 315]

My tank has a dated sticker to take out of service after 10 years..

 

[dodge man]

I’m probably guilty of not draining mine often enough. I normally don’t get much moisture out of it. Mine is single stage so not real high pressure, probably 125 psi. They say you are suppose to let all the air out every time you use it and drain it. I don’t, mine is always full.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Kind of weird. When ever I think of doing it, there is never much water in a tank. When I forget for a while, a whole bunch!

Maybe, more should be known about this incident before one gets too paranoid. I just thought the results were worth seeing.

 

[Looking4new]

I was under the impression that ALL pressure vessels had to have a rating tag on them and that rating tag was the maximum pressure said vessel could be pressurized to.

 

[dodge man]

Mine has some kind of stamped tag, never paid much attention to it. When I went to get the mail I stopped in my shop, let the air out of the tank to about 30 psi and drained the water, maybe a little less than a quarter cup. I’m glad I saw this thread, I need to do that more often.

 

[MoKelly]

Me, too. I keep my compressor aired up, and use it briefly nearly every day. When I shave with my electric razor, cut my hair with our clippers, run the vacuum in the house, etc. I always step out to the shop and blow clean them. And then I briefly open the valve at the bottom of the tank to blow out any moisture.

Did I read that right - you cut your own hair?

MoKelly

 

[Tractor Seabee]

I picked up a free compressor with a couple pin holes in bottom of tank,which do you reccomend,JB Weld or 7013? :laughing:
I've never witnessed a busted air tank but was withing 20 or 30 feet when a split rim come apart while it was being aired up after replacing the tire. It tore a hole through a concrete block wall. For all i know,one of the loafers hanging around the shop might have ran through that wall because there were a bunch of a-holes and elbows when it happened.

Get rid of it, fixing only prolongs disaster. It is already compromised beyond repair.

Ron

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Reminds me of the companion danger involved with hot water heaters and boilers. I have seen the actual damages and many safety videos of boilers/heaters blowing up. Believe me you do not want to be around. Those items are vulnerable to bad safety valves and burner/heating element controls failing or deliberate over-firing or tampering.

Ron

 

[crazyal]

Did someone say gas cylinder explosions?

 

[crazyal]

When I was a kid I had probably the worst air compressor ever made. It was a refrigerator pump connected to a shallow well water than that had rusted out. One of the extra ports had a rubber hose on it with a bolt in the other end held on with hose clamps. To fix the rust holes I welded steel plates (a flat plate from a 4x4 outlet). It took forever to fill with air and on more than one occasion I left it filling and forgot only to find the rubber hose had failed. Of course when you have no relief valve or pressure switch something's going to let go. The pump really didn't have the ability to get much above 70 psi so it limited the damage. But when you are a kid and it's that or a bicycle pump you don't think about the risks.

 

[user.69169]

Howbout genuine propane tank explosion done on purpose instead story from truckstop waitress telin what she think she heard on CB radio?

Propane Tank Explosion - YouTube

 

[Bird]

Did I read that right - you cut your own hair?

MoKelly

:laughing:Yeah, for several years now, I just shear it all off as close as the clippers will cut it, but don't shave my head as some do.:laughing: My wife usually sees me start with the clippers and she finishes the job. She's afraid I'll miss some.:laughing:

 

[RandyT]

I’m probably guilty of not draining mine often enough. I normally don’t get much moisture out of it. Mine is single stage so not real high pressure, probably 125 psi. They say you are suppose to let all the air out every time you use it and drain it. I don’t, mine is always full.

Same here, just takes too long to refill a 60 gallon single stage compressor from empty.

 

[m1garand762]

When i was little, 5 to 6 years old my uncle who worked highway construction had a tow behind expode in his face. He lost an eye and a kidney instantly, had his jaw wired shut for a long time and missed the birth of his son, not being able to even hold him until he was almost 6 months old. Fortunately he survived this incident but he could have very easily passed, especially since this was way before cell phones having to rely on a passer by to go to a payphone and call an ambulance

 

[ultrarunner]

I though all states inspect compressed air tanks used in commerce?

 

[Oldpath05]

Good warning about compressors, did anyone watch part 2....... Investigation on air compressor blow up - YouTube

PS. I do encourage YouTube viewing.............

 

[Industrial Toys]

Interesting. Thanks for the update/link.

Personally, since he determined that the relief valve did not stick closed, I think it was more an issue of chinsey construction. Maybe poor QC as well. The seam was not at the very bottom of the tank, and there would have to be a good amount of water in the tank to effect that seem. I think it's a given that any compressor tank will likely see some corrosion and construction should account for that to a degree. Sometimes I say something is maybe "ten years old" not realizing it's twenty!




As maybe eleven year old kids, we took an old truck air tank to the gas station to get 100 pounds of air. Then went to the two lane highway and blasted traffic with an air horn. I remember a mechanic giving us holly helll one day. How times have changed. Imagine the potential liability with that air tank in the hands of some silly kids!.

 

[ruffdog]

So, it was 10 years old......maybe the pressure switch failed to shut off and it pumped up a higher pressure. I'm glad I wasn't in the garage when it blew up!