Question about air compressor mods?

[yadada]

DO NOT use PVC in a compressed air system, unless you want sharp flying shards of PVC pipe flying around in your shop with you. It may work, but it isn't safe.

[Jerry]

AC compressors are designed to work in a closed system and allow the oil to circulate through the system and back to the compressor

Most newer compressors are lubricated with an additive added to the air conditioning system, the York is not. It has its own crankcase. You need to use a straight-weight oil, non detergent. This can bit a bit hard to find at your local auto parts store, alternative is to use 'compressor oil'. I've been told the oil sold for pressure washer pumps is also good to use, have not tried this.

At any rate, I've not had problems since I built my jury-rig unit back in '78 or '79. One problem is that it does pass a bit of oil past the rings, so a line dryer is needed for any precison work, like painting. For other tools a mini-in-line oiler provides the needed lubrication.

I ocassionally put on a line regulator (pressure regulator) which also has quick-connects on it, good for using my air-powered caulking gun at about 6 psi...

If you have ever tried to seal gaps in a crawl space you would know what a boon this little device is....

[TopCatGr58]

I haven't played with it much yet, but one thing I noticed even before adding the tank is that after a burst of the air gun wrench, I would have to wait a moment.....not for the compressor to fire up, but just for the pressure to refill the air hose! I got a rubber hose, thought that was better than the vinyl? ones they had, it's also long at 50 feet!

What style of hoses are you guys running? Should I get the vinyl kind in a shorter 25 foot length. Is the rubber one expanding like old brake lines, or is it just the time needed to repressurize that length of hose?!
T.C.

[Hammerhead1st]

I have several experiences with air hose...

I worked for a farm as a shop mechanic for a year. They had two air lines they used.First was a 3/8 inch rubber line off of hard plumbed pipes that ran around the shop.Other was a 3/4 inch line for the BIG air tools. Both were 75 feet in length. When either one is used, it takes a moment to recharge the air line, even with the 175 gallon twin cylinder MONSTER compressor they have. I could use the air guns non-stop, but if I used them in short bursts, I noticed they had more torque. You could actually FEEL the air line stiffen up with pressure.

At home, on my setup described earlier in this post, I have 100 feet of plastic (?) air line I use. Same deal...bursts work better than steady on, given the hose has time to recharge with pressure. One solution might be to add an inline regulator at half-length to keep the pressure more steady.

I would also suggest that if you hard-plumb your shop area, you add a line dryer every 50 feet of pipe, and a regulator every 75. That's just my two-cents.

[MacMcMacmac]

There should be a passage behind the input shaft on that York compressor that goes from the seal to the inlet valve area of the cylinder head, that you can tap for a 1/8" Allen head pipe plug that will stop oil carryover. It was probably put there to let pressure bleed out ot the crankcase to the inlet valve area.


Long hose runs require fat hoses, no way around that. Same goes for pipe. Make sure your tanks get drained regularly. There is more than enough energy in them to kill you if they rust through.