Hello,

I hope someone can help me, I definitely need it! I don't know too much about compressors, because I have never had to repair one. There seem to be some very knowledgeable people here, so I thought I would ask. I will really appreciate any advice anyone can give me.

I have an old Sears compressor which has a crack where the coupler for the air line connects to it. The sears part comes up as a regulator manifold. This part has been discontinued. I called devilbiss, and they say the same thing. I asked if there was another manifold I could use, they said no. It just doesn't seem right that there is no other part that will work. This part is in line between my tank and the pressure switch. It looks like the tank line and the pressure switch are both 3/8" pipe. OD is about .675" so I think that makes it 3/8", right? It has both gauges on it, one for the tank pressure and one for the air line pressure distributed by the regulator. It seems so simple.

So I just need another regulator manifold that accepts 3/8" pipe, or some way to step up or down to that size, right? Am I missing something? I am handy enough to fix this, I just don't know what parts I can use being inexperienced with compressor repairs.

Here is a picture of the part, you can see where I had to put jb weld to keep the air from leaking. Very frustrating.

http://www.sterlingfive.com/hffu76.htm


I hope someone here is able to help, I am really stuck on this one.

Thank you very much,
Joe

 

Ok so first off don't freak out... I have a very similar setup i just removed from my 2HP compressor it's 1/4"NPT fitting though. Here's what i think you should do... As long as your pressure switch still works then the system will stay safe, remove the regulator manifold, buy an actual regulator to set your pressure. Basically you can go up or down in pipe size with NPT, just go to your local hardware store...they have it all...

Swcond thing you could do is to get a new manifold, Campbell Hausfeld makes them... Give them a call... www.chpower.com ...or you can have mine i'll mail it to you...for free. The only catch is that the pipe size is 1/4". You can get a reducing coupler to go from 3/8 to 1/4... Good luck i think the new part is ~$35 from campbellHausfeld.

Good luck...

 

Hey Duke,

That is really cool of you to offer. And thanks for telling me not to freak out, cause I kind of was. I just bought this 30 gal compressor to replace my little 1.5 gal that was definitely not doing its job well. And to think that it was not going to work.....just was frustrating me so much. Not that I paid that much for it, but I need it to work!

I have since hacked off the part of the threads that was cracked, to see if I could get past the crack. But the problem now is that the previous owner also screwed up the threads in there. So even though I am mostly past the crack, I still get a leak there. I looked closer and I think this very well might be 1/4", but the OD of the pipe from the tank is about .67" so I'm not sure. Anyway, I really appreciate the offer, and feel much better knowing I have a solution. I am going to give one more shot at this thing this morning and see if it's not salvagable. If I can't get it to work today, I will take you up on your offer. But it wouldn't be right to take it for free, so I'll make an arrangement with you through PM if it comes to that. Very cool of you to offer the help like that, I appreciate it. I'll post up later after how it works out today.

Thanks again

 

The 1st thing I do when I get a new compressor is take the reg manifold off. So not loss. All you need is the compressor on/off controller and single line out to for your hose. The factory regulators are so restrictive for power tools and painting equipment. I come of my compressor to a filter drier straight to my hose. I have it manifold so I can connect a regulator to the drier if needed. But normally I do it closer to my tools.

I have mine regulated to control 80-100psi, Ideal for power tools.

 

Did you put any teflon tape on the threads before you hooked it up? If not you would prolly get a leak for sure... Try that if you didn't. Pipe goes by ID, so you probably have 3/8". Also what blue said is true the factory regulators are very restrictive, that's why i don't use mine either. My small compressor is setup so that the airline coming from the tank hits a Tee, i connected my pressure switch to one side of the Tee and the other side runs to the system. The regulator is at the end of the run where i have my first drop, for tools. Take a look at my webshots page, it has all of my shop pictures...

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2986840860102354164NaRprh

Ps. If you decide to take the regulator i have, i won't take a dime for it, i have had so much stuff given to me for free, i need to share the wealth... Good luck.

 

Wow! I am overwhelmed with your responses! Thank you so much. I have been taking all the advice and trying what I could. I didn't realize it could build this with standard parts so easily, it's pretty simple....I just needed some guidance.

I cut off the cracked outlet past the crack hoping it might be salvageable, but the threads were screwed. (pardon the pun) Pretty much realized there is a reason they discontinued this manifold. LOL

So, here is what I did today. I went and bought some tees, nipples, couplings, etc. And a regulator from the Depot. It's a husky, but it's all they had. I got my tee coming off the tank, out forward from the tee I have a nipple which goes to a full pressure quick coupler. Up from the tee I went to my regulator which has a gauge mounted on it. Up from the regulator I went to another tee which has a quick coupler out the front for regulated air, and out the top to my pressure switch. I didn't get a picture up yet, but I can tomorrow. It's pretty basic for you experts though. Only thing I still need to add is a blow off valve. The ones at the Depot were only 115 psi, do I need to get this somewhere else if I want it to have more pressure? The switch is set to 130 psi, and I like it like that.

So the manifold works, sort of. I'm a little frustrated because I put a lot of hours into this today, and it is leaky. I hit every single connection with soapy water, didn't get any bubbles anywhere. I just finished working on it an hour ago, and it lost about 10 psi already. I just went out and checked again right now and noticed I didn't push the regulator **** back in. Would that make it leak? It doesn't seem like it really does much of anything, but it's the only thing that is unchecked. I literally soaped everything, and it's not leaking anywhere else. Any ideas as to what else I can check for leaks? Oh yeah, I put teflon tape on every connection. Not really sure if I used too much though. How many wraps do you guys normally do on your threads?

So with the great advice everyone here provided I really got the confidence I needed to do this. Thanks a million for everything thus far. I am a real perfectionist though and I can see this is something that I am going to put a lot of time into making it just right. I already got in trouble with the wife for spending so much time on this today. Crap, this is just my first day working on this.....I'm gonna be in big trouble. Thanks a lot for opening this can of worms for me guys.

So I wouldn't mind investing in better equipment if the problem is this husky regulator, what do you guys think?

Hey Duke, at first you said you had a manifold. Then you just said regulator. I think you meant manifold though right? Your setup looks good man. I like the ball valve, looks convenient. You only have one guage though? You don't feel the need to have a gauge for the tank pressure?

Everything I got today is returnable.....I was just really impatient to get this thing working. Like I said, I'm a perfectionist, and an impatient one too! But if this Husky regulator turns out to be a flop....I may just start all over. Well, we'll see I suppose. Thanks again for the offer. What goes around....right? Very nice of you.

Y'all rock! Thanks folks.

 

A 115PSI blow off valve with a 130PSI compressor will not work. You will be releasing pressure before the compressor cuts off. The blow off valve is a total last resort, so the pressure can be pretty high. 175 or 200 would probably be okay. I have never seen one blow off because the compressor just can't build that much pressure.

If you will be using an HVLP gun you will need fittings larger than 1/4" NPT. Even with those fittings, an HVLP will only work for panels with that compressor not a whole car. Even with panels, you will need ALL fittings between the tank and the gun to be 3/8" ID or larger. If later you gang multiple compressors, you will need these large fittings to be between the main pipe and the gun.

This means that if you plan on upgrading later, it would be worth the few extra bucks to use larger fittings, regulator and filter, so you can use them in your ultimate system later. The Husky regulator will work okay, but just get the one with 3/8" NPT connections rather than 1/4".

My Sears compressor, that is probably similar to the one you describe, is over 30 years old and has seen lots of use. The manifold and fancy plastic cover that makes the guages look like a dashboard came off probably 15 years ago. At that time I replaced the regulator and put on a standard pressure relief switch from the hardware store.

Along the way the pressure relief switch fouled up causing me to lose a belt, so I bought a few belts, fixed the switch and the replacement belt has probably been on it about 8 years with the spare still hanging on a nail above the compressor.

As long as the compressor still compresses, the motor still runs and the tank isn't broken half in two, you can fix the incidentals as you have discovered.

When you get ready to upgrade to more volume again, DON'T throw the old compressor away. Read some of the threads in which Duke and I have been corresponding regarding ganging compressors together with a plumbing system that will give you LOTS of clean, dry air.

Also, when doing paint work with your compressor, USE ONLY NON DETERGENT OIL IN THE COMPRESSOR!! Detergent motor oil does not agree with automotive paints. I just pay the extra money and buy air compressor oil. I used motor oil for years and only recently learned about the detergent reaction with modern paint.

Good luck,

 

That gauge you saw is monitoring the tank pressure... I don't have it setup with a manifold anymore. Basically there is the pressure switch, a gauge, a blowoff valve and the main line. This means the main line and the tank pressure are the same, always... I come off of the main line with a drop, my main line is 3/4" NPT black pipe and my drop is 1/2" black pipe. The drop has the regulator, the reason for this is because i want nice dry clean air, www.tptools.com They have the setup that i run, you can buy it there i made mine myself.

Anyway this is how it works... You want dry clean air for just about everything, water and crud is no good for anything, even sand blasting requires clean air to keep from clogging. So when you compress air it heats up, hot air carries water vapor... Water is bad, you want to run a line that slopes back to the tank, reason why is because as the air travels through the pipe it cools and drops the water. You want this to happen, the water should run back to the tank. It also helps to push the air up towards the ceiling of your shop this really drops the water. Once you have done this you have done yourself a big favor because now you run the air to a water separator/filter, it will take 99.9% of the remaining water out now that you've dropped most of it out in your pipe the filter doesn't have to work so hard or fill up as fast. For most tools this is fine, for painting you'll need to filter further down to .01um filtration.

Sounds complex and expensive, it's really not. It's a pain in the pills setting up the pipe and planning everything, but you can get everything from the local hardware store. The filter to go down to .01um for painting, is ~$80. Pretty cheat since the paint and prep are very expensive...

Check out TPTools and search the forum for compressor info you'll be fine.

One thing i noticed in your post is that you said you went from your regulator to you pressure switch... You should regulate after the pressure switch... Your compressor will never shut off if the pressure never reaches the upper limit.

Come out of the tank straight to the pressure switch, safety first. Then regulate and tee from there. That switch has to see the tank at all times. You can find the blow off valves all over the net, call CampbellHausfeld they have them for sure. www.chpower.com

 

Doc and Duke,

Thanks. Great tips. I didn't even think about running the line up to take out moisture. Really good information. I stuck to all galvanized, didn't know I could use black, it's all cheap anyway. I'll look arount for that blow off valve. I'm doing leather/upholstery work, so mostly using to spray advesive, cleaning with blow nozzle and running a pneumatic embossing press. The press has it's own oiler/regulator so I'll run off the full pressure line to that machine and the regulated line to my spray gun, etc. I like the piping a lot, maybe I'll design a more permanant system like that since I'll never really need to move the unit anyway.


I put another couple photos of what I've got done up till now.
http://www.sterlingfive.com/hffu76.htm

Everything seems to be working good, except this leak I still have. The only things I didn't check are inside the pressure switch and inside the actual compressor. I wouldn't know where to start with that. I just don't know where else it could be leaking from.

I guess I could take off the regulator, plug that line out and see if it still leaks. If not, it must be the regulator. If it still leaks, start narrowing down something else. It sounds like it's gonna be a bit of a process, ugh.

 

Check that regulator, if you have it in backwards it may leak. Mine did, i was so embarasses when i called the manufacturer to ask if there was something wrong with the part, turned out it was me...

I see you have your pressure switch correctly attached. It's probably some little fitting leak, you'll get it. I usually wrap the teflon tape about three times around.

 

Alright, I triple checked the regulator. It's in the right way. That is a funny story about putting it in backwards. I haven't checked the regulator for leaks, but I did find another major leak. It appears the check valve is bad. So I need to pick up a new one now. Should I get the craftsman part from sears? Or is there a step up I could go to? I just want what's best.

 

tptools.com has a very nice blow off valve.

 

Check valves and Pressure release Safety valves are too different things. If the relief valve is leaking, check to see what psi it is rated at, then check your tank pressure. Then take a look at the pressure ratings of your tank, don't exceed the recommended operating pressure. Believe me you don't want to be around when it fails......

Sometimes you can pull the ring up and release it and it will reseal. But if it's leaked a long time they have the tendency to cut the seat.

 

I got some excellent advice here, thanks for all the help. I got to work on the compressor again today, and just finished about an hour ago. Figured I'd come and post my results. I have created what seems to be a weak manifold. Okay, it's strong, but it moves. It tuns a bit on the threads because there is so much leverage, but the seals are all good, not a leak in sight. Or out of sight for that matter. (well, there is still one leak)

I'm put up more pics here.
http://www.sterlingfive.com/hffu76.htm

So the manifold, gauge, regulator, quick couplers, blow off valve, and all the connections in between are completely leak free. Against the lesson I have always been taught, I used a small amount of teflon tape and dope. Not a single issue with the connections.

However, I still have a leak. I have checked every single thing, and have only found one leak, but I don't see how it's causing the pressure drop in the tank. The line that goes between the compressor and the pressure switch has a leak. But that only leaks when the compressor is running, then there is no worry about that when the tank is sitting charged, right? The only other place I could understand there being a leak that I can't see, hear, or find at all would be in the pressure switch. I sort of opened the switch box, but didn't know what to look for. I opened the top though. Then realized I should probably open the bottom where it connects to the tank. I'll try that tomorrow, but don't know what to look for. Maybe when I get there, I'll figure it out? I looked around on ebay at pressure switches, but didnt know if they all work the same. I don't really want to buy the wrong thing. Like the blow off valve I bought.....told the guy I wanted the 150 psi or 135 psi, or whatever it was, and he sold me the 165 psi. Didn't realize that until today, and it's already on there. I guess that's not much of protection for a tank that's rated for 135 psi, is it?

Oh yeah, that stupid husky regulator broke the first time I used it. Got another one, little more heavy duty one too.

So the top 4 pictures are the new setup. On the left bottom leg there is a tee with the blow off valve and a plug on the back. That spot is left open for a tank pressure gauge. I ran out of bushings, so I couldn't hook it up tonight.

And the reason I had to spread everything out more was because I was having to disassemble the entire manifold every time I had to change one little thing. It's really tight in there unless I take the motor off the tank. That's a pain too, so I spread out the manifold more.

I guess I'll have to check this pressure switch now and hope that's the last problem.

Thanks so much for the support, this community has been very helpful. I really appreciate all of your help.

 

Looks good, the only thing i will caution you on is the water in the line.

The pressure relief valve should really be sized correctly too, it's a safety part so it needs to work. The tank is probably rated for 150MAX PSI, there should be a stamped tag somewhere on the tank, my tag is on the frame that holds the motor.