Compressor exploded

[cjtoombs]

I think the galvanizing would be better, But they cannot galvanize, or powder coat the threads for the drain valve, so there will always be a place for rust to start. Thats why I add some oil to the line going into the tank every month or so. Except maybe for tires, there is nothing that I use the air for that the oil will hurt.

The coolest setup I have seen, and what I will someday copy. A truck maintenance shop in Pa, had two compressors, each fed into its own 15 or so gal tank, which then fed into a large 50 gal tank. Had a setup so that each compressor alternated which one started each time, and if the air dropped enough, both kicked in. From each compressor to the small tank, was over 10 feet or so of pipe, which he had wire wrapped around, to help it shed off some heat. most of the moisture settled out in the pipe, and small tanks.

The nice thing about galvanizing is that it basically coats the metal with a anodic protection, so it will protect areas that are uncoated, so long as they are close to the coating, so the threaded areas may not be a problem.

 

[Jim Dobson]

I see a fair few aluminium tanks for sale on new compressors here in Oz.

 

[TQA222]

It seems to me that there will always be some water in the tank even if you drain it daily, So over time there will be corrosion. Will there be more and deeper corrosion if the tank is left half full of water maybe a little but maybe not.

I used to run a large garage and we had several compressors. Our insurance co required that they be inspected every year and they all had inspection ports maybe 6" x 4" over a 15 year period we had one tank condemned. It was wartime marine stock and came from Rosyth dockyard from a scrapped ship.

If I had an old air tank I would buy a borescope and do an annual inspection.

BTW Thin steel ranks scare me see here LINK

 

[Superburban]

Only thing, is a bore scope can miss or just not see a lot of the pitting. Thats why I squirt oil in every month or so, hopefully it keeps the moisture away from the metal. I also have a water separator between the pump, and tank. I think another good idea is a long metal line between the pump and tank, to dissipate some of the heat.

 

[whitmore]

It seems to me that there will always be some water in the tank even if you drain it daily, So over time there will be corrosion.
BTW Thin steel ranks scare me see here LINK

And, even thick tanks, if not properly engineered and inspected, have a dismal history of accidents: case in point <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Molasses_Flood>

 

[Boswell]

Perhaps a small (to keep the cost down) aluminum tank for the first tank where most of the water will collect and a larger tank for air volume?

 

[hman]

Thats why I squirt oil in every month or so, hopefully it keeps the moisture away from the metal.

OK, just spitballing here ... but because oil floats atop water, I'd be concerned that the moisture on the surface of the tank will somehow keep the oil from getting where it's needed. But what if you squirted in a bit of a soluble oil (like Kool Mist) instead? Among other things, it supposedly prevents rusting of machine ways, etc.

As I said, just a random thought I had. I'll leave the evaluation/discussion to folks more knowledgable than I am.

 

[MikeInOr]

Lots of poor reviews... (???)

Yep, there seems to be several. I bought mine 15 years ago and the only time I had a problem with it was when I scraped the belly of my compressor over a 2x4 and had to replace an air line. It is probably not the best for a portable compressor but for my mostly stationary compressor it works fine.

 

[mmcmdl]

All of this makes me want to just live with my leaking tractor tires .

 

[Bob Korves]

All of this makes me want to just live with my leaking tractor tires .

Get the tires foam filled and forget about them.