Whats old is new again - Air Compressor

[Dale Murray]

I have been fortunate to receive many of my grandfathers old tools and this compressor is one of them. I've had it about a year but did not start using it until a couple months back and in doing so learned it needed a bit of work.

Issue 1, loud and with a hint of his.
Issue 2, it would take forever to get up to 120psi. So long that I cannot actually recall it ever shutting itself off.
Issue 3, Sears has squat parts for this unit.

First question, is it worth fixing?
Research showed it is actually a Campbell-Hausfeld and would set me back $650 to buy its equivalent now. Yes, it is worth fixing.

After a great deal of searching I found appropriate parts. I ordered six reed valves and associated screws, two gaskets, and air intake filters.

I disassembled the head, after cleaning all the gunk off the pistons I was surprised to find the cylinders to be in good shape. Installing the valves was touch and go, a dremel was needed on a couple of the original screws during the removal process. Reassembling the head went pretty quickly.

Then my attention tuned to the original copper plumbing, clearly granddad had whacked this thing a few times. The pipe from the tank to the regulator was loose and wobbly though did not seem to leak air. The curved pipe from the heads to the tank had a serious kink in it - maybe that was one of the initial problems?

A few bucks at the hardware store the those were replaced too.

Time to test it.

It runs much quieter, more so than any modern household compressor I have used in recent years. Not unpleasant.
It reached 120 PSI very quickly. So fast, in fact, I thought something was wrong but investigation showed everything was right.
Now for the biggest surprise, I went to use the compressor a week after the repair and found it was still at pressure - I LOST ZERO AIR! The brand new compressor I had on loan recently did not do that yet my 50 year old baby does.

What it lacks in visual appeal it makes up for in functionality and it was grand dads too. That is a two-fold reward for me, keeping this old machine going and knowing it served him for a few decades and maybe will do the same for me too.

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[Rick Potter]

I got one a lot like that from my dad when he died. It is probably from the early 70's.

Those reeds remind me of a cheap Sears compressor we had when I was a kid. In the 50's I painted at least a dozen cars with it, and it lost pressure gradually. When we took it apart we made new reeds out of an old Prince Albert can, and it ran for several years more.

Rick P

[Mike Cutler]

Nice work Dale.

It oughta go another 50 years or so.

[Dale Murray]

To be honest, I was very reluctant to bother with the repair, its my dad who convinced me it was worth repairing. He also suggested the reed valves and gaskets are the place to start.

When I told my wife I was going to take a $50 gamble buying the parts to fix it she suggested I just get another one however she would not endorse spending $650 on its current equivalent.

Every time I use it get a little giddy knowing I almost tossed it in the trash but didn't. Makes me like it even more.

[Bill Adamsen]

How embarrassing, I have the same model ... bought it new when I was a teenager, and yes it still works, though the belt doesn't like to stay on after sitting for some time. You should figure out some sort of belt guard, especially if there are any small fingers in the area. Also, Sears did sell an intake filter which was considerably more effective than the stock unit. You might be able to fashion something using an auto air filter.

[Dale Murray]

I do have and did install the original plastic covers for the belt, head, and assembly. These photos were taken just after I finished putting it back together.

[Scott T Smith]

Nice save Dale!