I’m getting worried about my old stanley pancake compressor. I read somewhere that a guy had a tank explode on him and sent shrapnel everywhere luckily no one hurt. My compressor is about 15yrs old with very low hours and I am careful to keep in ambient temps (no big temp diffenentials to cause condensation) and I open the cock now and then do drain it. But I am now putting it in the garage or behind the house on jobs to be in another room away from it. Am I couting disaster???
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Replies
I've heard of compressors blowing up too, but don't you think the thing would fail first at one small hole and blow out its 120psi rather harmlessly?
I'm sure somebody'll be along in a moment to quash that notion--into schralpnel addled bloody pulply explosion ... whatever...
"Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing..."
<schralpel addled bloddy pluply explosion>
This good enough? (not sure about some of your words)
http://www.newschannel10.com/Global/story.asp?S=7893793&nav=menu429_2
Forrest - also hitting the hooch
Now see, there's all this INFO that's missing from the story...
You're going to have to do better than that...
See, people are only interested in the <schralpel addled bloddy pluply explosion> part of the story... or it wouldn't be worthy of the 6 oclock 'news.'
"parts of the compressor were found '70 feet away"
"He had major damage to his face"
Why?
Howcome?
Was it a big compressor?
Why was he working on it in his front yard?
Whas the pressure regulator not working and the thing had a sound tank but when it just kept PUMPING and PUMPING and PUMPING!! and then BLAM! @ like 620psi or something?
I'll bet that's why compressors blow up. Those lazy news people need to do the victim some justice and really do some REPORTING and figure out why compressors blow up, and warn us unseemly contractor types not to F with the regulators!
;-)
Pat -- 1 beer a night, above 7.6% alc content IPA that is... I like the Terminal Gravity IPA, which is like 8.3% or something... Then you got your Double IPA's... they can be higher!"Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing..."
was on site when one blew up.
I was working in another room.
buddy was in the room but at the other end of the hose.
no one hurt ... no blood ... but it was loud, and I'd imagine if U were standing next to it it would blown yer ankle off!
very old emglo ... 4 gal double hotdog tank style.
blew the welded on end cap "up".
must have failed at the bottom of that weld ... didn't blow anything "off" ...
nothing but air went flying ...
but the cap ended up being ripped upwards.
it was a company compressor my buddy had run for years ... probably 10 or so ... and never once drained it.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Compressors all have safety relief valves, but when was the last time any of us tested the valve on ours?A machinist friend told me a story about several family members killed when a big compressor exploded in the 1940s. He was just a kid and remembers the big funeral for his relatives and others who were working at the quarry that day.
> but when was the last time any of us tested the valve on ours?<
How would one test these valves? I would love to know!
I yank the little ring on the valve and bleed some air off every now and then to make the compressor kick on for various reasons.
The fact that the valve opens via a manual pull tells me the valve is not stuck, but I have no idea what pressure would cause it to open on its own.
After use my compressor gets drained every night and is stored inside with the drain valve open between uses - might be tomorrow, might be next week.
JimNever underestimate the value of a sharp pencil or good light.
I was in Providence, RI recently.
Stopped in at Trinity Beer Company. They had a Rhode Island IPA that was delicious!!
They also had it in an oak cask. Drawn beer, not all gassed up. Warmish. That was something else!
I was wondering the next day why my head hurt. Then I went back and saw the alcohol content!yourcontractor@aol.com
Two days in the yard... birds and other critters would have...jt8
So what was that like?It was like coming THIS close to your dreams. And then watch them brush past you like a stranger in a crowd. At the time you don’t think much of it. You know we just don’t recognize the most significant moments of our lives while they’re happening. Back then I thought, “well, there’ll be other days.†I didn’t realize that that was the only day. --FoD
I would think if your pressure relief valve & pressure switch for turning it off when it reaches pressure are in good order you should not have any problems, that being said, probably any tank could blow. Some tanks are stamped with a disposal date.
No one should regard themselve as "God's gift to man." But rather a mere man whos gifts are from God.
most air pressure related explosions seem to be a rupture and not an explosion. if you really are concerned about it, check for the amount of rust by taking off the motor/pump and looking in the hole to see how bad it is.
personally my shop compressor is in another room because I got it from a friend who is notorious for not caring for his tools. so, I'm just being safe.
There's enough youth in this world, how 'bout a fountain of SMART??!!
YEAH!
Forest...SEe
Andy agrees with me."Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing..."
..... and I open the cock now and then do drain it.
On another note, I was told to always leave the cock open until the compressor was ready to be used.
Do you think it might be worth your piece of mind to just buy a new compressor?
Draining the compressor every day after you use it is key to it not corroding inside. When I do mine, I let it run for a minute or so so the air pushes out the moisture.
steve,
If so then my Cambell Hausfeld compressor which is nearly 30 years old should be a real death trap..
However I tug the pressure relief valve to verify that its still open, drain the tank periodically (maybe every other month) and refuse to jack up the relief valve in a foolish attempt to make a nail gun do a job it was never intended to do.
Most nail guns hit with 880 pounds of force. If you need one to hit with 1000 pounds of force buy a Bostrom N88WW. Don't think that by jacking up your relief valve you can make it do a job it wasn't designed to do..
By the way I have a no name Chineese made cheapie that I paid $50.00 for when it was brand new about 25 years ago that I trust.
worry about something else..
Frenchy--
Is that C-H compressor of yours a twin-hotdog? Mine's about 13 years old; that was when they were still making a 'professional' line of tools (or so-labelled, anyway). Oilless, 2.5hp, twin-tank. I forget the cfm figures.
I'm not as good as I ought to be about draining it. Note to self: Be Better....
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
While blowouts occur at failed welds and seals due to corrosion, actual air compressor explosions normally occur from internal ignition of oil/air mixtures when high heat conditions exist.
Basically an older or poorly maintained compressor can end up igniting the oil inside the compressor lines that has accumulated over time. This condition usually only occurs when constant use, or overheating has happened and causes carbon buildup and even corrosion internal to the compressor. The combination of high pressure air/oxygen and heated oil combines to allow the explosion.
Thankfully I haven't witnessed this, but I had this explained to me by a maintenance supervisor at a place I used to work after a compressor blew up. The compressor was enclosed in a cage so no one was hurt. The cage looked pretty bad though.
Edited 4/10/2008 12:07 pm ET by WindowsGuy
actual air compressor explosions normally occur from internal ignition of oil/air mixtures when high heat conditions exist.
So if that's the case, an oil-less compressor shouldn't explode, even though a rusted tank or bad weld might rupture under pressure.
Well, that's some compensation for the extra noise they make....
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
That' got to be the reason for the big explosions.
I am not an expert, but a compressor pumping less than 120 PSI cannot do a lot of damage unless you had a very large volume of air. Think what happens when you do a quick release from the supply line, it will only carry the half of a pound hose a few feet before it hits the floor.
As long as the high pressure relief valve is working I would think that we are talking minimal damage from a burst tank or leak. If the valve was not working the motor would run for hours on a small compressor.
I leave my tank under pressure all year long. I drain it every fall,
without de-pressurizing the tank. It only runs 3-4 times a year, as
I only use it for odd jobs.What do you think?
why keep it pressurized? it only takes a couple of minutes to charge?
There's enough youth in this world, how 'bout a fountain of SMART??!!
Small compressors are about as dangerous as an inflated truck tire.
Now the big boys... they can takeoff like the shuttle. I never did find the dipstick that went through a steel roof 30' up... wouldn't have wanted to be standing over that when it blew....
you do know that a truck tire that blows out at highway speed can decapitate you. and anyways, the first reason I put it in there was to cut down on noise.
There's enough youth in this world, how 'bout a fountain of SMART??!!
there was a truck that caught on fire so i stopped to help but could do nothing so just stood back, I heard a noise in the woods and saw a small tree fall down and the grass get mowed, The tire wheel blew off and went flying, I had just been standing there, That was scary
One thing I learned from my years of driving a "big rig": always expect the unexpected, and it can happen sooo fast!! Losing a drive tire is an unforgettable experiance, you would swear a grenade went off, and the wreakage it leaves! Kiss your "on time delivery" goodbye. Fortunately I never lost a "steer tire".
There have been a couple of fairly dangerous misperceptions bandied about here.
First, there's plenty of potential energy in 5 gallons of air at 120 psig. Though the stored energy in a small air compressor tank may well be equivalent to what's in an inflated truck tire, the material that the tank is made out of MATTERS to whether or not it will injure someone when it fails. It matters both in how quickly the failure happens (ie. how intense a shock wave you get during the failure), and what the shrapnel is made out of (ie. how badly it hurts you when it hits you). Rupture of a steel tank and of a truck tire are not at all comparable- the tank is FAR more likely to hurt you or destroy your property. And comparing the failure of a tank wall to what happens when a fitting pops off the end of a hose is totally ridiculous- that's like comparing being hit by a baseball in the outfield versus being hit by the BAT!
Secondly, failures are unpredictable. You may get leakage as a warning prior to failure, or you may get a rupture without prior warning- depends on what caused the flaw. Many of the failures I've heard reported on these are due to fatigue at the welded joints between the tank shell and the motor mount due to vibration, and that's likely to generate a crack and hence a sudden rupture rather than a leak. Considering the quality and thickness of the Chinese steel a lot of these are made out of today, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see sudden brittle fractures from time to time.
Third, an air-oil explosion inside a compressor tank at 120 psig is very, very unlikely unless somebody is using something OTHER than oil as a lubricant- or compressing oxygen instead of air. That doesn't mean that there isn't enough energy in the compressed air alone to cause serious damage when suddenly released.
Injury and property loss can happen from schrapnel or flying debris, hearing loss or other injury due to the shock wave, the surprise of the explosion, or from damage to the building the unit is in. Even a 5 gallon compressor at 120 psig which ruptures suddenly can generate a 1-2 psi shock wave inside a small building. That will take out windows and certainly can damage building construction.
Drain your compressors regularly, or better still, install an autodrain. And unless yours comes with an ASME-rated tank, don't expect 20 years of daily use out of them. Test your relief valve and make sure your pressure switch is working. And if the motor mounts are cracking or the thing's getting rusty, chuck it out and get another one.
Made me think of something - I had gotten a small bottle of 25%CO2/Argon, and forgot it was in the passenger footwell in the truck for a few days - kind of rattled around down there against the sawzall and nailgun 'til I took it out this morning. No cap, of course.
Wonder what 4000 psi would do in the enclosed space of a cab, if I knocked the valve off?
Forrest
"Wonder what 4000 psi would do in the enclosed space of a cab, if I knocked the valve off?"
It wouldn't be in the cab for very long .... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUmLe9WCXX0&feature=related
Jeff
Edited 4/12/2008 1:49 am ET by Jeff_Clarke
I like the exploding oxygen tank:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lw_fhNAIQc&feature=related
Billy
Yeah - wasn't that grim? When I saw the first pic, with the latex-gloved "official" hand, I knew we were gonna' see bits of the guy spread around the shop.
Evidently he just lost the arm - the one with the watch.
Forrest
It looks like the video was done for a court case. Anyone watching that video isn't going to slap a wrench on a compressed gas tank. That is, unless they are trying to win a Darwin award. It must have been one hellacious 1/10 of a second for that guy, plus having to deal with the aftermath.
Billy
I brought up the truck tire thing as a way of making a point, (although we seem to have moved much farther along) truck tires run about 105 PSI incidently. But yes, tire schrapnel can still cause a lot of damage, but that's a little off the subject. The question was originally about compressed air, so I'll try to stay on that subject. Submariners are VERY aware of air/oil explosions, and take great pains to insure that the air being compressed is oil free. Think diesel engines on this one. But ultimately it depends on how volatile the oil and the pressure involved. I would think twice about having ANYTHING around 4000 PSI in an enclosed space. Some years ago, someone accidently broke a HP line on a submarine while in port. Even though the hatch was open, everyone in the compartment suffered ruptured eardrums! Imagine something like this happening while you're driving!! I'm not afraid of compressed gas & air, but I SURE DO RESPECT IT.
"Submariners are VERY aware of air/oil explosions, and take great pains to insure that the air being compressed is oil free. Think diesel engines on this one."I hadn't thought of the problem of keeping oil out of compressed air on the pig boats.
BruceT
Highly compressed air is very tricky, organic compounds will react in almost unpredictable ways. Fortunately, most of us will never see the hazards it poses because we use pressures that will never go that high.
Years ago when trucks were using split rim wheels, tire changers would run up the pressure to seat the beads. Sometimes it wouldn't seat properly, and the tire would explode off the wheel, serious injuries would result and many fatalities. At first heavy changing cages were used, then split rims were outlawed. Today you will see very few split rims, mostly on very old trucks.
split rims = widow makers
I worked in a farm store for a time. In the shop, newbie mounted a 16.5 tire on a 16" rim. The BOOM was loud enough to shake the ceiling tiles in the whole store. He fortunately wasn't leaning over the tire at the time or his head/hand would have been imprinted on the ceiling like the tire. 45# of air is plenty to do major damage. As for compressors, we drained off the water daily, impressive how much blows out in just one humid day. Question tho, I oil my tools, but still get rusty water out of my scub type tanks. Is there anything safe to add to inhibit rust in the tanks?
"Is there anything safe to add to inhibit rust in the tanks?" Good question. I do not know of anything, but maybe somebody else here does. The smart aleck in me wanted to reply that nickel and chromium (to make stainless steel) was safe, but that doesn't help those of us with existing steel tanks.Anybody know of an anti-rust additive safe to add to air storage tanks?Bill
Probably not much help because I can't remember the issue, but years ago FHB had an article on how to rust proof the inside of your compressor and mentioned two sources for the coating. I had clipped the article, but threw it out several years ago when I realized it was just another thing I wasn't going to get to. You might try a thread in the general discussion to see if anyone remembers it.
Probably something like POR 15.
It remember thinking when I read it: If there is an effective way for the owner to treat the inside of the tank, why don't the manufacturers use it in the first place?
Aw, c'mon, you know the answer to that! ;)
Is it the same answer as to "why don't they make caulking tubes resealable"
Here are a few:http://www.marine-paint.com/por-15-tank-sealer.htmhttp://www.rg2400.com/http://www.por15.com/
Amen! I almost had the top of my head removed by one. I was too smart to need the safety strap and besides at 16 I had lightning reflexes. When it launched it ricocheted off of the steel beam above me and broke out a cavity in the cinderblock wall. All that took about a nanosecond. After that I ALWAYS used the safety strap and even threw a small throw rug over the rims just in case.
Its just handier - when I want it; its there! I was wondering about its safety...
"I leave my tank under pressure all year long. I drain it every fall,
without de-pressurizing the tank. It only runs 3-4 times a year...What do you think?"I think you must have the best quick connect fitting around if it holds pressure that long.
BruceT
My quick-disconnect fitting leaks like a sieve. My tank has a pressure adjustment; I just run it down to zero. It has held full pressure for as much as 6 months at a time...
"I drain it every fall, without de-pressurizing the tank."
How do you drain it without depressurizing it?.
.
"Thank goodness for the Democrats! If you are terminally unemployable, enjoy living off of govt welfare and feel you owe society nothing you're in luck: there is a donkey waiting for you."
>>"I drain it every fall, without de-pressurizing the tank."
>>
>>How do you drain it without depressurizing it?I open the drain at the bottom until nothing but air is coming out, then close it...
Oh what the heck, I guess I'll weigh in here. I have a small 3 gallon unit that I use for my brad gun & pin nailer that gets drained every time I use it and is left open to the air when not in use. I didn't worry too much about it, after reading your comments I'm worrying about it even less now. What did pickup my interest though, was when you mentioned volume. Years ago I worked with a splicing crew with AT&T installing an underground cable. I worked with a guy in a large concrete box with a manhole. All the components we were installing were under pressure to keep moisture out. As he was bleeding off air from a large 2' diameter canister, he warned me never to open it under pressure. Why I reasoned if it contained only 15 PSI should it be a problem. "Well he said", "all I know is that some guy opened it up like that and it blew him clear across the room and he sustained some pretty serious injuries".
The volume was the issue there. Think about the effect of a strong wind. Relatively low pressure, high volume.
I agree.
Having watched the MythBusters episode where they shoot a hole in a high pressure scuba tank (2000-3000 psi) and no explosion happens, I am not worried about my compressor blowing up due to corrosion.
I live by the ocean{OR} and my emglos are rusted pretty bad, I worry about it and when i use them i put them behind a shed, Think im gonna find out if i can get new tanks, I have a gas and electric wheelbarrow type
Bobby,Get aluminum replacement tanks.Wouldn't hurt to put a bit of antifreeze in the tank, anyway. Put in a bit every time you start it back up, after emptying it.That helps prevent corrosion.
Politics: the blind insulting the blind.
Click here for access to the Woodshed Tavern
Im gonna find out if Emglo has the Aluminum tanks, Do you know???
I have no idea.But it seems to me that you don't really have to get the tanks from Emglo.If you can find some that fit, who cares who made them ?
Politics: the blind insulting the blind.
Click here for access to the Woodshed Tavern
turn the compressor upside down, take the drain cock off and spray a whole sh*tload of wd40 inside it. let 'er dry out, and you're good to go. corrosion problem solved, or at least kept in check. if i was in the market for a new compressor, i'd get the ridgid with the aluminum tanks. no rust, and way way lighter to boot.