Rebuilding Compressor

ryan1;21469 said:
Guess you had it figured outbefore you asked the question.
Click to expand...

actually, no, I just learned about the discount.

Plus there are other good ones, like the one you had posted, thanks btw!

I've heard great things about Quincy. Seem like real work horses. Just looking to see what others have had for experience with similar priced units.
 
In my opinion quincy makes one of the best ...usa made...warranty..power
I have the 5hp 80 gallon magnetic starter and couldnt be happier.

Ingersoll rand definitely makes a good compressor, but the apples to apples comparison the quincy is on top.
Either one and you will be good
 
anyone know how to delete a thread? I don't seem to have the authority or knowledge.
 
Rustbuster,

This is an excellent thread. Lots of newbies like me want to paint but can't justify investing five or ten thousand dollars in equipment for one paint job. Your idea to fix up an old compressor is a great way to save a bunch of money. The fact it didn't work out doesn't make it a bad idea. Documenting your journey could help another SPI forum member in the future. I say keep the thread.
 
Like bob said ...you dont have to spend a ton of money to have a nice paint job.
Some experienced painters are trying to share what they have learned the hard way. I'm learning everyday.

Successful painting takes a few things, clean surface,clean air,clean material ,clean environment, correct temperature/humidity , correct mix ratio,gun set up for material sprayed(needle,nozzle)consistent application.

I understand what you were doing with your compressor ..and you still can use it, but you will need to be creative about filtering the air. Maybe run from the main tank to another with oil/water separators after each one..or a series of large diameter (1-1/2" ?)u bends with a couple of separators. The list noted above is pretty definate. But there are a million ways to get there.
 
my main concern is that it seems to peter out of air way sooner than I would have guessed. Meaning it can't even maintain 40 psi for more than 5 minutes. The duty cycle doesn't either which leads me to believe at best, I'd only be able to shoot panels vs completes.

The good news is that it's paid for and was gotten for a good price. To be fair, I have not run it enough hours yet to get the rings properly seated, I've heard you need to let them run minimum of 10 hours or more for ring seating. How would this be carried out? just hook up a nipple to the outlet, dial down the regular and force it to essentially run constantly for approx 10 hours? maybe that will make a difference. It seems like no matter what unit a guy uses, you will still need oil and water filtration, that seems like a given period. I appreciate the private messages a few of you have sent.
 
i would suggest you keep it to use for other tools. people dont realize that running air tools is the fastest way to trash your air supply. my 5 horse will be plumbed into the shop for everything except paint. i plan to set up a new compressor to run the booth only.
you took a shot but dont let it bum you out. it's hard to learn anything on the internet today because good solid advice is buried by google experts trying to build a reputation with a keyboard.
good luck .
 
Whatever I end up doing, I need 1 compressor that has enough umph to power a spray gun, for my jewelry side of the shop, I run a small sandblaster box and power air engravers...Those don't see hours of use each day, they get used, just not continuously. My 2 spray guns I have currently require (as stated in specs) 6 & 8cfm respectively. I'm guessing my old skool Devilbiss gravity guns would use more than that still, although they are in fantastic condition for being of 1990 vintage. I can't really afford the space for a separate compressor nor the budget for one. Wife says old one must go for new one to take it's place and since most of my tools take up a lot of garage space already, it is wise to respect her wishes :)

If I could make it limp by painting a panel or 2 at a time, I could see keeping it and saving up for a bigger one, main thing is that I need to get working on my projects that are now a few weeks behind and summer in MN is short...if $ wasn't a concern, I'd go get a new Quincy like Ryan suggested at Northern Tool for approx $1300.

If anyone has scrap gold to turn in for cash, I can help :)
 
Not to sound like a broken record, but have you actually tested it with a spray gun attached, to see how long it can maintain spray pressure?
 
I have not, what I did was put a nipple in the quick release post regulator, set regulator at 40 psi and timed how long it would take for compressor to kick on, then kept timer going for approx 4-5 minutes (don't recall exactly) to see if it could maintain that 40 psi, it couldn't. How would hooking up a spray gun (I've yet to take it out of the box) be any different or am I missing something very obvious?

When I get caught up with my customer jobs, I will go outside and play with it. also, I have not done a burn in period to let rings seat so there's always that possibility it's not seeing full compression yet.

Who knows, maybe I'm completely wrong and it will do just fine after proper break in after rebuild, it wouldn't be the first time I was wrong with something ;)
 
It's different because you are dealing with differently sized orifices. You can't accurately simulate the air flow through the gun by using a bare nipple, which I assume has a 1/4" orifice, much larger than the combined size of the various small orifices on the gun.
 
fair enough, I'm glad you suggested that, that's on the short to do list!
 
Ok so I have gun in hand, filled it with water. Set regulator at compressor to 80 PSI
1.5 tip on gun. Experimented with gun until i sae a decent fan pattern. Practiced spraying water on my Honda Accord which is one of my upcoming projects-practicing essentially.

Seeing how it takes to run first before compressor kicks in.

***tested it***

Got through about 3/4 of the side of the car. Perhaps water is poor indicator but it seems that compressor can keep up. Perhaps i could invest in good filtration as I'd need that no matter what.

I don't have $1300 plus to invest in a pro compressor...maybe this one will at least get the jobs done. It's paid for!
 
To break in the cylinder/rings open the drain valve on the tank all the way open and let the compressor run with no load for a couple hours or so, then change the oil before using it.
 
good tip, I have a different type of valve from what I can tell in that it just drips out but no air comes rushing out, not sure if it's supposed to be that way or not. That's one thing I did not remove.
 
That's one thing I hadn't checked. Go figure, I pulled out the drainpipe and valve and the reducing bushing was about 85%+ plugged. I should have known :) I am letting it run all night, checked oil first and it spilled out as soon as I started to take out fill plug so I'm good to go in that regard. Letting it run for about 12 hours or so should get those rings seated I would think. Pressure seems to get better the more it runs, so I may have been quick to jump the gun with my initial assesment and the improper test, thanks to Crashtech, I am not giving up on it quite yet. Here's the first stage filter I got, http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200392578_200392578 Although it seems as if there's a cheaper one that is higher rated, didn't see that at my local Northern Tool. Might exchange that.

For those of you who are either learning what to do or what not to do, hope you can find this either entertaining or least somewhat educational. If I can help someone due to my mistakes then I'll consider this a worthy adventure. I've already learned more than I thought and I'm just scratching the surface so in the big picture, it's a good thing.
 
I'm glad you have made progress on this project, though I'm not sure if leaving the compressor running unattended is a good idea.
 
it's out in the garage, doors are locked, no one can go in there. I don't know when else I could let it run for a long time, electricity is cheaper at night too ;)

I'll go check on it though. good tip again.
 
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