Inspired by petersirfix’s problem with his compressor, I thought I would take a closer look at mine. I’ve been meaning to strip it for a while, and as I’m in between builds, now would be a good time.
I’ve noticed it runs more frequently, and for longer these days. When I picked it up, there was a faint sound of water inside.
First job, drain the water.
I removed the tank plug from underneath, and nothing happened. The hole was blocked, not a good sign. Anyway, a quick poke, and this little lot came out.
Next was off with it’s head. Just 4 little 3mm Allen bolts hold the head on. Mine were hardly tight at all.
And this is what we find inside. The ring I’ve moved to the right is the cylinder the piston rides in. The top of the piston has suffered the effects of water, I don’t want to use any abrasives here, so just a small drop of WD40 and a liberal scrub with the wife’s toothbrush will suffice. The piston ‘ring’ appears to be nylon / Teflon, well some sort of self lubricating material, as we know, these are oilless compressors.
I will say at this point, the piston moves really nicely. Very smooth and well weighted.
This black plate containing the valves is sandwiched between the cylinder head and the comp’ body.
These feel like silicone and simply work by deforming when air is drawn through them.
It looks like I’ve got a few air leaks around this plate, indicated by the white marks.
Lifting a valve up, shows an accumulation of dirt, which is probably stopping the valve sealing properly.
The other valve is the same, just fitted the other way around.
Finally, this piece sits on top of the black plate. This has the cooling fins on it. The clean chamber is the air intake. The oxidised chamber is the output, which clearly has been carrying a bit of moisture. The AS 186 does have an external moisture trap and in my case, I get a drop or two, but nothing much.
Once all this was cleaned up and rebuilt, being very careful with the head bolts, I warmed up the receiver tank with a hot air gun and then ran the compressor, leaving the plug out, hoping to dry the tank out.
So there we are, it’s a simple machine. I think I’ve found a few air leaks on mine, and of course getting the water out means I can store much more air, so less running time for the compressor.
My compressor is old. I really can’t remember when I bought it, if it fails tomorrow, it owes me nothing. This is the first time I’ve been inside, maybe I should have done it earlier !
I’ve noticed it runs more frequently, and for longer these days. When I picked it up, there was a faint sound of water inside.
First job, drain the water.
I removed the tank plug from underneath, and nothing happened. The hole was blocked, not a good sign. Anyway, a quick poke, and this little lot came out.
Next was off with it’s head. Just 4 little 3mm Allen bolts hold the head on. Mine were hardly tight at all.
And this is what we find inside. The ring I’ve moved to the right is the cylinder the piston rides in. The top of the piston has suffered the effects of water, I don’t want to use any abrasives here, so just a small drop of WD40 and a liberal scrub with the wife’s toothbrush will suffice. The piston ‘ring’ appears to be nylon / Teflon, well some sort of self lubricating material, as we know, these are oilless compressors.
I will say at this point, the piston moves really nicely. Very smooth and well weighted.
This black plate containing the valves is sandwiched between the cylinder head and the comp’ body.
These feel like silicone and simply work by deforming when air is drawn through them.
It looks like I’ve got a few air leaks around this plate, indicated by the white marks.
Lifting a valve up, shows an accumulation of dirt, which is probably stopping the valve sealing properly.
The other valve is the same, just fitted the other way around.
Finally, this piece sits on top of the black plate. This has the cooling fins on it. The clean chamber is the air intake. The oxidised chamber is the output, which clearly has been carrying a bit of moisture. The AS 186 does have an external moisture trap and in my case, I get a drop or two, but nothing much.
Once all this was cleaned up and rebuilt, being very careful with the head bolts, I warmed up the receiver tank with a hot air gun and then ran the compressor, leaving the plug out, hoping to dry the tank out.
So there we are, it’s a simple machine. I think I’ve found a few air leaks on mine, and of course getting the water out means I can store much more air, so less running time for the compressor.
My compressor is old. I really can’t remember when I bought it, if it fails tomorrow, it owes me nothing. This is the first time I’ve been inside, maybe I should have done it earlier !
