BOOM! Lucky day?

stevob671

Member
Tractor had a low tire- turned on compressor and walked away. In the back of the shed doing other stuff and BOOM! I hit the ground. When everything else hit the ground and stop moving I get up and slowly head toward the front of the shed. There's the compressor laying all twisted up. Some blocks I had stacked up nearby were tossed out the shed door, log chain tossed toward the inside of the shed. Stuff on top end of the work bench bent up(about 5') Guess it was my lucky day! That I wasn't near the darn thing when it went!
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I'd also guess the tank rusted from the inside. Some older tanks get pin hole leaks along the bottom.

I'm very glad no one got hurt.
 
Speaking of draining the tank, seems to me like regardless it would stay wet (no air circulation) and not make much difference.
 
Wonder if it had a pressure safety pop off valve ?
If it does then it must of gotten plugged up.
 
If what I'm looking at with a hole in it is an air you are definitely lucky. The tank looks like it was made from recycled beer cans.

Google consumer product safety commission and see if there were any recalls or bad press on air compressor. Definitely looks like a safety problem.
 
Cold weather sometimes does odd things to the pressure switch on my old compressor. When the safety pops off, it'll scare you out of your hide.

Glad no one was hurt in your blowup.
 
You where very lucky!!! Better give the fellow upstairs a THANK you for now.

Where are you located at??? I have a good tank that is for a stationary compressor. I would say 30-40 gallon. Northeast Iowa.
 
Really Odd that i see a picture of a compressor blown up. Just this friday the NCDOL (North Carolina Department of Labor) came buy our shop to inspect out 2 big shop compressors (every 2 years). They check for rust on the bottom of the tanks ,any cracks on the leg welds, pop off valves. And to think that 10 gallon of yours did all that, I would hate to see a 150 gallon one would do. Just think God you werent standing beside it when it blew. Count your blessings my friend.
 
That's scary! Got one just like it, same brand but a little bigger. It has to be 40 years old.

Never seen that happen before, but sure it has. Be nice to know if that was caused just from rust or if the switch failed and it over pressured...
 
It blew on the bottom so that is a rust caused explosion. You also could have had a bad pressure switch. Last would also be the saftey pop off valve was stuck or full of crap. Every so often you should pull that little ring on you saftey to see if it works! close one!
 
Hopefully this is evidence enough to settle once and for all the recurring discussion about repairing air tanks. But I doubt it.
 
Mark,
Doesn't the air tank look like the ends are flat? There is a seam on tank, like someone made it using an oil drum?

Every air tank I've seen had rounded ends, not flat ends and a seam.
George
 
>Doesn't the air tank look like the ends are flat?

Looks factory to me. I think the picture was taken from a short distance so there's a bit of distortion to it. It certainly doesn't look like a oil drum.
 
It is almost impossible to remove all water from an air tank. Even if you drain it after use, condensation will occur as the tank cools. So it is not a matter of "if" a tank will rust through, but "when". The better (thicker) the tank, the longer it will last.
 
Mark,
Could be camera angle. It still looks like it was made from tin, not metal. The ends on all my tanks are hemispherical. It looks like there are 2 tanks. Can't see how they can be hemi shaped.

Would like to have model #s and google it's safety record.

My oldest tank is 65 years old. I'm worried about it blowing. Mine is made of real metal.
 
(quoted from post at 07:03:05 11/17/14) It is almost impossible to remove all water from an air tank. Even if you drain it after use, condensation will occur as the tank cools. So it is not a matter of "if" a tank will rust through, but "when". The better (thicker) the tank, the longer it will last.

I will get probably 10 ounces from mine during warm months and nothing during cold months so it seems like it stays dry during the cold dry months.
 
Wow. Good thing you were not close to it.

Years back a good friend was filling one of those $30 portable air tanks you get at the parts store. It did the same thing and blew out the bottom and killed him while he was bent over it filling it up.

I always wonder about these old compressors and tanks.

Greg
 

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