The storage tank of my Sears home type compressor (the tank is about
20" in diameter and 36" long) has developed what appears to be a rust
hole in the bottom of the storage tank. I assume it’s due to
condensate inside.
Are tanks weldable or otherwise repairable, or it is…tanked.
This is the tool I use to inflate the times on my Jaguar (required
Jaguar content)
In reply to a message from Lou Danzico sent Sat 21 Aug 2010:
Lou:
IMHO, it is tanked. It is a pressure vessel and can have around
100 PSI at any one time. to be treated with care as a danger.
Even if it were welded, even by an expert, there is every
possibility, no make that a probability that another hole would
spring up. It isn’t likley that it has only one bad spot in the
bottom.
That happened to my much over worked 30 pounder three HP some years
ago. I had already replaced the reed valves that succombed to the
demon rust. I sold it to a guy that had a good tank and a bad pump.
Probably reed valve failure. I saw tht as an opportunity to up
grade to a sixty gallon 6 HP upright. In shipwright fashipn, I
built a lean totype shed attached to the garage to house it and an
array of shelves for my bits. Win-win!! It ran my sand blast
cabinet much better. The cabinet went, too hard on shoulders, but
the compresor remains. It’s last major duty was to supply the air
for the reroof job on the house a few years ago. It’s next major
task will be to run the HF vacum pump in my ‘‘cool the Jaguar’’ task.
(obligatory Jag content). Oh, it airs tires and runs air tools very
nicely.
Carl–
The original message included these comments:
The storage tank of my Sears home type compressor (the tank is about
20’’ in diameter and 36’’ long) has developed what appears to be a rust
hole in the bottom of the storage tank. I assume it’s due to
condensate inside.
Are tanks weldable or otherwise repairable, or it is…tanked.
This is the tool I use to inflate the times on my Jaguar (required
Jaguar content)
It’s certainly repairable, but here you’d need a welder with a B
pressure certificate and then have the vessel hydrotested afterward. I’m
not sure what the regulations are in the US, but I do know that it
varies from state to state. I work in the oil and gas industry ( vessel
fabrication was one of the major things we did!) and I know the
regulations were so lax in the US that it was essentially impossible to
import a US made pressure vessel into Canada. It was impossible to
determine what (if any!) standards the vessel conformed to, and if it
was even made by a qualified welder. In some states (Oklahoma was one)
if you could weld two coupons together and they didn’t break when bent
in a vice, Congratulations!, you’re now a pressure vessel welder. In
Canada it’s about a 3 year course to become a pressure welder, on top of
already being a qualified welder for things like structural steel. In
Canada there is also full tracability of materials and welders. I can
look up the serial number of any Canadian made vessel and know what the
material is, where it came from, what the material analysis is, and who
did what welds on the vessel. If later there is found to be a batch of
steel that had the wrong chemistry it can be recalled because it is
possible to know exactly which vessels have steel from that particular
mill heat.
We found that Germany is very particular about the qualifications of
people allowed to construct pressure vessels for service there. They
will accept only German qualified welders, with the one exception of
welders who hold an Alberta pressure certificate. No other
qualifications in the world are recognized.
But back to your problem, you can probably buy a new vessel at Harbour
Freight or somewhere like that and transfer over the compressor head and
valves.
Craig
Lou Danzico wrote:> List:
The storage tank of my Sears home type compressor (the tank is about
20" in diameter and 36" long) has developed what appears to be a rust
hole in the bottom of the storage tank. I assume it’s due to
condensate inside.
Are tanks weldable or otherwise repairable, or it is…tanked.
In reply to a message from Bill’s Mail sent Sat 21 Aug 2010:
Craig:
Nice story about the proper treatment of pressure vessels. I agree.
But, in this case, the whoole bottom is like;ly weakened and
already on the way to failure. I would think, that the very act of
applying the heat might just make the hole even bigger.
My son is pretty good with his big Lincoln TIG and we discussed
welding on a really big patch, but discarded the idea in favor of a
new big compressor. For a fleeting moment, I thought of drilling
and taping for the application of a patch. That fantasy went wickly
out of repaedct for the dangers of a pressure vessell. I know what
boilers gone wild can do.
Carl–
The original message included these comments:
… you can probably buy a new vessel at Harbour Freight or somewhere like
that and transfer over the compressor head and
valves.
In reply to a message from Craig Talbot sent Sat 21 Aug 2010:
ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers)
certification is a good way to ensure that your pressure
vessel is first-rate.–
The original message included these comments:
Don’t ask!
How exacting are the standard for Chinese pressure vessel welders?
Thanks to Carl and others who commented. I guess I knew, or should
have known that any thought of using a damaged pressure vessel,
especially one that is not difficult or expensive to replace, is dumb.
Our hobby has enough opportunities for accidents without knowingly
creating one.
The compressor in question is an old Sears unit with the electric
motor and piston assembly mounted next to one another over the tank,
which is on wheels.
I assume that I can purchase a replacement tank and remount the
equipment on top. Anyone ever done that?
Regards
Lou
71 XJ6On Aug 21, 2010, at 10:50 AM, cadjag wrote:
In reply to a message from Lou Danzico sent Sat 21 Aug 2010:
Lou:
IMHO, it is tanked. It is a pressure vessel and can have around
100 PSI at any one time. to be treated with care as a danger.
