one of the local guys recently bought a home depot 60 gallon air compressor.
he set it up in his garage and wired it up and used it a couple of times last month.
he went to use it this morning and the electric motor started but the compressor would not spin! he asked me to stop by and look it over, well the first thing I did was check the oil dip stick, in the compressor, and NOTHING read on the dipstick!
COMPRESSORS LIKE ENGINES AND TRANSMISSIONS REQUIRE A LUBRICATING FLUID BATH INTERNALLY
I ask him if he had put any oil in it when he had installed it, and he had stated he poured in a single quart as PER the guy in home depots instructions.
(do you ever feel like banging some guys head on the wall....that obviously needs it!)
yes there may, or may not have been internal bearing damage, done due to not checking the oil level EVERY time the compressor gets used, but so far no indications, so only time will tell on that aspect!
well I checked the compressor dip stick and found it was covered with oily film but its certainly not reading an oil level.
SO,I grabbed a quart of 10w 30 valvoline synthetic automotive oil and a quart of marvel mystery oil and poured a mix of about 50%/50% of both oils alternating about an ounce each at a time, into the compressor, and it took about a quart of oil total until it even read on the compressor dipstick.
I tried to start the compressor but it was locked up, I removed the plastic safety guard and un-plugged the compressor, from the 230 volt outlet, I grabbed a 24" breaker bar and inserted the bar in the compressor flywheel,
HERES A REPLACEMENT COMPRESSOR OF SIMILAR DESIGN, TOO GIVE YOU SOME IDEA OF WHATS UNDER THE PLASTIC SAFETY COVER
and gently applied rotational pressure , both back and forth, clock wise then anti-clock wise, with out appling much torque, to try to gently work internal parts free, from binding, after about 5 minutes it freed up , once I could spin it by hand a full 360 degrees I installed a new fan belt (the original was burn )and removed the breaker bar then tried to start it with the electric motor , it started up and ran and compressed air, so I let it run for 15 minutes, then let it set while we talked cars for 30 minutes to let it cool off and then restarted it with no issues so it appears to be fixed at least for now.
I TOLD THE OWNER , he needed to drain the tank water BEFORE AND AFTER EACH USE and check the oil level before every use at least every other time!
http://www.homedepot.com/b/Tools-Ha...ir+compressor?Ntx=mode+matchpartialmax&NCNI-5
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-60-Gal-Stationary-Electric-Air-Compressor-C602H/205389936
related info
http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/compressor-info.24/
BTW I have TWO of those compressors in my shop, hooked up in tandem that I've used for about 14 years now with zero problems, as I got frustrated with a single compressor not keeping up when I port cylinder heads ETC.
he set it up in his garage and wired it up and used it a couple of times last month.
he went to use it this morning and the electric motor started but the compressor would not spin! he asked me to stop by and look it over, well the first thing I did was check the oil dip stick, in the compressor, and NOTHING read on the dipstick!
COMPRESSORS LIKE ENGINES AND TRANSMISSIONS REQUIRE A LUBRICATING FLUID BATH INTERNALLY
I ask him if he had put any oil in it when he had installed it, and he had stated he poured in a single quart as PER the guy in home depots instructions.
(do you ever feel like banging some guys head on the wall....that obviously needs it!)
yes there may, or may not have been internal bearing damage, done due to not checking the oil level EVERY time the compressor gets used, but so far no indications, so only time will tell on that aspect!
well I checked the compressor dip stick and found it was covered with oily film but its certainly not reading an oil level.
SO,I grabbed a quart of 10w 30 valvoline synthetic automotive oil and a quart of marvel mystery oil and poured a mix of about 50%/50% of both oils alternating about an ounce each at a time, into the compressor, and it took about a quart of oil total until it even read on the compressor dipstick.
I tried to start the compressor but it was locked up, I removed the plastic safety guard and un-plugged the compressor, from the 230 volt outlet, I grabbed a 24" breaker bar and inserted the bar in the compressor flywheel,
HERES A REPLACEMENT COMPRESSOR OF SIMILAR DESIGN, TOO GIVE YOU SOME IDEA OF WHATS UNDER THE PLASTIC SAFETY COVER
and gently applied rotational pressure , both back and forth, clock wise then anti-clock wise, with out appling much torque, to try to gently work internal parts free, from binding, after about 5 minutes it freed up , once I could spin it by hand a full 360 degrees I installed a new fan belt (the original was burn )and removed the breaker bar then tried to start it with the electric motor , it started up and ran and compressed air, so I let it run for 15 minutes, then let it set while we talked cars for 30 minutes to let it cool off and then restarted it with no issues so it appears to be fixed at least for now.
I TOLD THE OWNER , he needed to drain the tank water BEFORE AND AFTER EACH USE and check the oil level before every use at least every other time!
http://www.homedepot.com/b/Tools-Ha...ir+compressor?Ntx=mode+matchpartialmax&NCNI-5
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-60-Gal-Stationary-Electric-Air-Compressor-C602H/205389936
related info
http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/compressor-info.24/
BTW I have TWO of those compressors in my shop, hooked up in tandem that I've used for about 14 years now with zero problems, as I got frustrated with a single compressor not keeping up when I port cylinder heads ETC.
Last edited: