Do You Leave Your Air Compressor On?

[Chris Parks]

I never leave it on but I installed an electrical dump valve for the condensate that is run by a timer. If the dogs go ballistic during the night I know I have left the power on to the valve once again. It keeps them amused as it is timed to go off every couple of hours for 10 seconds.

[Curt Harms]

I agree with leaving the tank pressurized. I installed 2 ball valves, one at the tank outlet and one at the moisture drain on the end of an 8" nipple. The nipple moves the valve out from the center of the tank and makes the valve accessible. Also, if I forget to drain the moisture for a few days the nipple has to fill up before there's water sitting in the tank. I don't know about air compressor tanks but repeated pressurizing-depressurizing cycles fatigues aircraft pressure vessels.

[Jim Underwood]

I try not to leave mine on, or even plugged in anymore. I'm inclined to wire it up to the lights like some other folks...

I came back in the shop after a week of absence once, and I tried turning on the compressor, only to find it had tripped a breaker. I flipped the breaker only to have it trip again. At that point I realized that the piston and rod were in pieces on the ground...

I'm just glad all I needed was a new piston, cylinder, teflon ring and rod.

[Greg Roberts]

Based on what was mentioned here, I just had my electrician hook up a relay to my shop lights, and now my compressor will shut off when I turn out the lights to leave my shop. Great idea, and it works great.

My compressor is located in a shed behind my shop, access only from outside. I have both a 110v and a 220v outlet for compressors out there. My electrician installed a three-pole relay so both outlets are switched.

I asked him to make sure the contacts were rated for continuous duty, and to get the very best one he could.

I hear a humming sound when the relay is on. Should I be concerned at all about something overheating and causing a fire with the relay?

Greg

[Jeremy Brant]

I've become a lot more careful about shutting the balve valve on the outlet line. With that shut, I don't worry about whether or not I hit the switch. I had the gage glass on the IR filter/regulator cup blow out due to a bad o-ring while everyone was out of the house one day. Came back several hours later to the compressor running. The compressor is rated for continuous duty (Eaton), but on conventional oil it was very hot and there was a some oily smoke in the garage. I shut it down, and once it cooled down I immediately changed the oil as it was very dark. Compressor ran as normal, so figured I was ok at that point. Turns out I overtightened the screws on the gage glass putting it back together, and a couple months later it failed again during the night due to a gage glass screw stripping out. Woke up in the morning and heard the compressor running and air escaping. Changed the oil again, and eliminated the gage glass on the cup (plugged the screw holes with bolts and RTV). So far so good now, but I do make shutting the valve a higher priority at the end of the day.

[Tom Hamilton]

I installed a timer on my compressor so that it comes on at 8AM and shuts off at 7PM. I have a little bleed so in the morning when the power kicks in the compressor runs for a minute or two. During the day it may cycle once or twice.

I run the air through 3/8 rubber air lines about 30 feet to get it to the lathe.

Best regards, Tom, in Douglasville, with air always nearby.

[Zach England]

I leave mine on, as I found out at midnight last night.

[Glenn Ebel]

I was wondering how often you guys drain your compressors.

[Jim Becker]

I was wondering how often you guys drain your compressors.

I have an IR auto-drain installed on my compressor and it periodically purges and moisture automagically. I only turn off my compressor when I go on vacation or something like that.

BTW, this is a thread from 2010, but certainly is relevant.

[David Freed]

I leave mine on, but shut off the supply to the lines now.

I have a Campbell Hausfeld "Iron Force" compressor that I bought about 10 years ago. When it was about 2 years old, I let the crankcase get low on oil. It blew a hose in the night, ran until the rod seized on the crank, then burned the belt off. The next morning, I opened the door to a shop full of rubber smoke with the motor purring away with no load.

I took the compressor apart and found it was aluminum rods on a steel crank and no rod bearings. I heated the rods with a torch to un-seize them. I sprayed brake cleaner on/in them while hand turning the crank and then used ether to finish cleaning them.

I put some light oil on it and turned it for a few minutes, cleaned it with ether again, then put Lucas hub oil on it and turned it several minutes. I put it back together and filled it with Lucas hub oil. It's been running fine ever since.

I have 2 semi truck a/c condensers plumbed between the compressor and the tank. I got them free because they have pin holes in them and wouldn't hold an a/c charge. I haven't got any water out of the tank drain since I installed them a few years ago.

I really like the idea of hooking the compressor to the lights.