Compressor's drain valve is leaking

[Dan Mages]

Just what I need... another expense.

I shut off the compressor last night and noticed that the drain valve on the bottom of my 25 gallon PC compressor is leaking. Obvously, this is a safety issue that needs to be addressed. Is this something I can fix at home, or do I need to find a repair shop for it?

thanks,

Dan

[Daniel Kennedy]

I suspect that you can do it yourself. Disconnect from power, release all air pressure, and see if you can remove the current drain. Your local hardware store probably has a replacement with the same type of thread. I know the Aubuchons I went to last week has petcocks in their air line fittings.

[Dan Friedrichs]

It's no big deal. Home Depot sells sells little replacement drain valves that will fit it (just unscrew the old one and screw the new one in). Or - those cheap little valves fail so often (and are hard to open and close), so many people just get some pipe fittings and a 1/4-turn ball valve and connect it to the tank. The hole in the tank is probably tapped 1/4" NPT.

[Chip Lindley]

As long as its the valve leaking, and NOT your tank, you are ok! A rusted tank IS a serious safety issue!

Perhaps your drain cock is much more conveniently located than mine, but if not, do a little plumbing to make yours more accessible. Screw a 1/4" npt elbow Into your tank and add a short length of 1/4" pipe to run the drain line horizontally beyond the end of your tank. Install a nice little brass ball valve instead of another *finger-getter* petcock! You'll be glad you did!!!

[Josiah Bartlett]

The other good thing about adding an elbow and a ball valve is that the water collects in the elbow instead of the bottom of the tank. This means the replaceable part is the one that rusts, not the tank.

[Dan Mages]

Its all fixed. There is a Porter Cable/Delta/Dewalt factory repair shop near me that had the part in stock for $1.80. It took 2 minutes to fix and is now completely air tight and I have a spair in case it fails again.

Thanks everyone.

Dan