Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Anyone know anything about old air compressors?

This compressor came up for sale near me, I was thinking about buying it for blasting and painting. It's about 60 gallons and looks like an old beast. Does anyone know anything about these old machines and anything I should be aware of/look out for?
http://baltimore.craigslist.org/tls/961764034.html

Thanks

I don't know what size it is but it looks a little small for painting and I know it is too small for sandblasting.

I have some info on probably 300 different air compressors, not much on DeVilbis. Actuall I don't think they made it, I believe they just put their name on it. I could probably find when it was made, but that won't do you much good.
I agree with Mike, ok for spray painting as long as you are not trying to paint a whole car, no good for sandblasting.
With the price of air compressors today I wouldn't mess with an old one that I have no ideas of the hours it has on it. Check out Sears for a Craftsman, you can always get parts for them.

Jack Sim
Author, Gas Pump Identification book and Air Meter Identification book, both ready to order at: www.petrolianacollectibles.com

[This message has been edited by Jack Sim (edited 12-19-2008).]

Don't scrimp on an air compressor if you will be using it much! It looks like you want one for some serious work so go down to your local NAPA store or local farm supply store and buy one with an 80 gal tank and at least 18cfm continuous rating. You can usually buy one under $800 and even cheaper if you don't mind the cheaper compressor part.
In any case, you'll regret a small cheap compressor for serious work. If the work is REALLY serious, go straight to a heavy duty Snap-On but be prepared to spend the BIG bucks!(several thousand)

Well guys, just my two cents worth,,, the 5hp. compressors that they sell today are NOT the 5 hp. of yesterday.. I would rather have a DeVilbiss OR a Brunner OR a Gilbarco REAL 2 or 5hp. and a 60-80 gal. tank than anything new. These are the old compressors that they used in service stations back in the 50-60-70's and they go on forever.. I used to service them back in those days for the oil companies. I had a shop back in the same years and I painted and sandblasted gas pumps with a 2hp. DeVilbiss,, it worked just fine, maybe it wouldn't sandblast steady all day, but I doubt Chrisbowers is going to do that anyway. JMO



[This message has been edited by Wes Hague (edited 12-20-2008).]

If the thing runs ok how can you go wrong for $100?

Old compressors are awesome but you run the risk of them being completely wore out when you buy them. When it comes to air compressors, how much CFM does it actually put out is the key. Here is a site with some helpful CFM formulas. http://www.aircompeq.com/formulas.html
Check the oil in the compressor itself. If it is low or real dirty they probably did not take care of it. Bad
If it is somewhat clean and up to the full level. They probably took care of it. Good
Are there any oil leaks around the compressor? Does it run? While it is running are there any knocking noises from the compressor or is it somewhat smooth sounding? I ended up buying an old Devilbiss single stage compressor just for the motor. "The Duke" needed a motor transplant. It is smooth and I love the sound of it when it was running. Still need a 3 hp motor for it and I do not want to spend $300 to have the motor rewound. That is how quick the bill runs up if anything is wrong with a compressor. New or used.
Open the drain valve on the tank. Little water vapor OK. Lots of water Bad. A rusted out tank would be Bad.
Is the compressor single or dual stage? It would take a HUGE single stage compressor to keep up with blasting. And it still takes a big dual stage to do the job right.
If it runs and puts out a good amount of air for $100 you could be in business for years to come. If it is wore out and needing rebuilt or a electric motor rewound, or new tank you could be into it for $800 bucks and still not have it running. Just my $1.02
Mike

I am not a professional anything but from my own personal experience the old saying still goes"bigger is better". Don't try sand blasting with a single stage compressor unless you have a lot of time, also same for DA sander. Rest of air tools you can get by with smaller one, if you have lots of time.

Chris,
Did you check it out?
Mike

Hi Mike,

I talked to the guy and he couldn't really tell me what the history of it was or its maintenance. Being probably 60+ years old I was a little wary of that. I have a single stage belt driven 27 gal compressor which gets me by for now, but I'd like something bigger for sandblasting. I'm not in a huge rush though so I'm going to keep my eyes out for something maybe a little better.

There's a certain charm and nostalgia about something that comes with age,...something like and old comperssor. If you know how to rebuild a cylinder and so forth its not brain surgery. If you have a friend or are a machinist yourself, then it becomes even easier.

No, there's nothing like an old piece of tooling equipment,...compressor, drill, etc. 95% of tools today won't stand up 60 years from now,...most don't last past 10-15 tops!
I'd rather pay to have somthing of crafstmaship rebuilt and know what I have then hit the local NAPA or Sears and shoose my poison there.
Since I was unable to find a fixable old compressor myself, I was forced to buy a Craftsman. I missed an old compressor from the 30's by a few days locally.

Best wishes on your search!

Now were talkin HotIrons !!!!!

I found a huge beast near New Oxford PA for about $250, big big compressor. It's a "US Brand" compressor? It looks pretty beat though, I'm looking for an old one that looks a little more loved.

chrisbowers-Re: the compressor near New Oxford, is the compressor itself labeled "US Brand" or is there a tag on the motor reading "US"? I've worked on compressors and am not familiar with "US Brand" but am familiar with electric motors on compressors having a tag for "US" brand. The "US" branded motors were a division of Delco-Remy div. G.M.C. years ago. Another useful hint, if you know the HP of a compressor motor you can use a 3.8 multiplier factor to approximate CFM. I also agree the newer compressors of today are just not the "men" compressors were before about 1970 IMO. David