Where do I get compressor repair parts?

Stan in Oly, WA

Well-known Member
I have a 10+ year old Harbor Freight pancake compressor which has been adequate for topping off tires, cleaning things with high pressure air, and occasionally using an air tool that doesn't require much air. A while back, the 1/4" tube from the compressor to the tank came loose and I haven't been able to reattach it so that it will stay connected. It was plastic, and used a brass compression fitting at the compressor end, and a flared brass tube that slid into the plastic tube in a different kind of compression attachment on the tank end. That configuration doesn't make sense to me. It's hard to see what creates the compression that would hold the pipe in place, and that is the place that came loose and won't stay on. I have 1/4" copper tubing which I could use, but I would have to use an adaptor to change to a male threaded end and I don't know how to measure for what I need, or where to go to buy the parts. What I would like to do is go to the parts desk of a (plumbing? refrigeration?) supply, show the parts to a knowledgeable person at the desk, and be advised on what I need. Can you advise me on this ?

Stan
 
Hello Stan in Oly, WA,

I think the picture shows the type of fitting you describe. There is a flared insert but also a ferrule that sldes over the line. The nut crushes the ferrule, making the seal,

Guido.
a237697.jpg
 
Best bet will be a place that deals with industrial fittings, tubing, hydraulic lines, etc.

This may not be an easy task, it may have metric tubing, not real popular here.

I would take the whole compressor in so they can see just what you are up against.
 
What you describe and what Guido shows is air line. If you change to copper just use fittings for that. Plumbing supply should have them all.
 
Thanks Guido, Steve, and Dave. I think that's enough information for me to be able to take care of it now. I'll sure be glad not to have to use a bicycle tire pump to pump up my wheelbarrow and hand truck tires any more. As for my vehicle tires, I don't even try. If the pressure on one of those tires gets low, I just drive it that way until I can remember to stop by the local tire shop to have them top it off.

Stan
 
Hello Stan in Oly, WA,

I neglected to add that those fittings are used on air equipped trucks. So. A truck stop or a truck dealer should have them in stock. Take the line with you for show and tell,


Guido.
 
You can use regular brass compression fittings that you can get at any hardware store. Keep in mind that for plastic tubing, you need the little reinforcement sleeve that goes inside the tube to stiffen it up so that the ferrule will bite into it.
 
Hi Jim;

Since you mentioned that reinforcement sleeve that fits inside the plastic tubing, maybe you can tell me this. The thing which I noted in my original posting that didn't make sense to me is that the plastic tubing does have that little reinforcement sleeve inside it, but then it inserts into a male threaded brass fitting which threads into the female threaded input to the tank. There is nowhere for a ferrule to go in this arrangement, and there is nothing which creates compression. To me it's clear that this is why the plastic tube slipped out. Oddly, the connection at the other end of this piece of plastic tubing uses a standard reinforcement sleeve and brass ferrule, so it is perfectly sound. Why would the manufacturer use a conventional and effective method of attachment at one end of a pressure line, and a different, inadequate method at the other end?

Stan
 
Possibly the end of the male fitting itself was supposed to compress on the plastic, and may have been missing from the beginning. Without actually seeing it I can't really say. I did work with a lot of tubing in my brief (4 years) experience in the high pressure industry. There are many varieties of fittings for tubing ranging from simple compression and flare fittings to exotic cone and collar fittings that can go up to over 100,000 psi.
 

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