Ooops, Werewolf's tip for the day. (compressors)

Werewolf

Werewolf

Werewolf

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Panting like a fiend
If you've got a compressor in the garage and it's and oil lubricated one, change the oil!


We bought a cheap one in 2007, it had a lot of use in the first couple of months putting a wooden floor in the garage/workshop but not much after that (mainly pumping car tyres up).
Fast forward and we're about to give it a good run in the next week so I thought I'd change the oil, what came out looked like something from the bottom of the deep fat fryer, black and slightly sludgy (it was basically the oil it recommended changed after the first 50 hours of use although it's not had much more than that).

This time round I'm putting a label on the side with the last oil change noted, and I'll probably change the oil again after the upcoming job to make sure it's clean.
I'm also going to see about changing one of the outlets to a stubby 1/4" fitting as all our oiled tools are on those whilst the "clean" tools are on the euro fittings (the idea was to stop an oily hose being used on car tyres or a blow gun), especially as one of the outlets does appear to not be shutting off properly when it's not got a tool in it (very slow leak).

The stupid thing is I'd bought a bottle of both compressor oil and tool oil at the time, but they've sat there as I've not used the tools (apart from the inflater) much and kept forgetting the compressor oil
 
And the *insert string of expletives* thing just died on me.

Half way through the job I needed it for.

I've had to order one to be delivered to my local screwfix store as I can't find anyone near me who has a suitable one in stock without me travelling too far.
I had the choice between an oil free one that had a throughput that is really too low for what I need, or an oiled one that either had a larger tank than my current one (but lower airllow), quieter with the same tank but lower airflow, or same size tank and noise but higher airflow.

I went with the 25l tank and a ~400 litre throughput as opposed to 25/180 or 50/200 as I need something capable of about 250lpm (which my old one did)
 
It's still got pistons so it may not be that much quieter (I can't see any information on it), although with that tank and motor it probably won't need to run too much of the time.

That'll probably be overkill for a lot of stuff, but great if you've got the room for it and use it often enough :)
 
Got quite a few projects in mind some of which need a lot of air.
Db rating is the same as direct drive but reviews say it's quieter, will have to wait and see.
I was wondering if the one I posted was the same as your broken one but I guess not :D
 
Nah, my broken one was a Powercraft (Wolfcraft badged for Aldi) Aldi special from 2007, a 25/250 or something similar.

We paid all of £80 for it complete with an airhose and set of basic accessories :)

We think we may be able to get it working again as it could just be a gasket that's gone, so we're going to hang on to it for now and look for a service kit for the piston as there are a lot of units that appear to be the same unit but in different colours (usually to match a specific retailer) and 1 outlet rather than 2.
 
Cheers DJ :)

I'm hoping it's just the gasket but I don't have the time (or space) to pull it apart before I need it as we're spraying Graphotherm onto the underside of the garage roof and the weather window is running out, hence why I'm having to buy a new one straight off.

Hopefully once the roof is done and I can get in there to work I'll be able to pull the head apart and have a look at it (if I can get it working it'll be handy as a spare/loaner, if not I'll see about turning the tank into a secondary).
 
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