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Diecast compressor fottings

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tanner0441:
Hi

My air compressor started kicking in every 35 minutes or so, ran for the usual 30 seconds then stopped. It used to do this about once a day unless it was in use but I noticed it was getting more frequent. I checked all the airline fittings and all tight, so I started with a spanner on the tank fittings. Oh dear, one after the other they started to crumble and what I thought were brass fittings turned out to be brass plated diecast that had over the years work hardened and become brittle.

Fortunatly the threads in the two cylinder heads were metric and I had some fittings, I had enough that with a bit of drilling out to take 10mm copper pipe a few plumbing fittings, all copper or brass, and it was back up and running.
 
What posessed a manufacturer to use diecast fittings that are going to be subjected to vibration and constant heating and cooling and plate them to look like brass. The rest of the compressor is fine cast iron cylinders, wet crankcase, 3 HP motor etc.
Or do they want it to fail after about 5 years hoping you will buy another one.

Brian

SparWeb:
The brass plating suggests counterfeit parts.  Typical import part that gets past a pre-shipment inspection by looking like brass but actually isn't.  The importer doesn't find out until it's in the North American distribution chain.  If the compressor manufacturer is a reputable name (Campbell-Hausfeld?) then they probably know about this problem already.  If they're very reputable, maybe there's a product recall notice on their website.

SparWeb:
Not long ago I bought some brass fittings at Home Depot and before I installed them, I noticed they had some rough surfaces.  No problem now that I have a lathe and a quick turn cleaned them up promptly.  It didn't occur to me at the time, but I was also inadvertently testing that they actually were brass, not some fake like you found.

tanner0441:
Hi

It has worked without fail for over 5 years, it still delivers as near as I can tell 14CFM overtaking both a blow off gun or spray gun in fact the only items that make it work are a sand blast machine and big DA sander.

Since my repair I have left it without using it and it has now been over 24 hours and still holding pressure.


Brian

dnix71:
I get things from a scrap dealer/bulk trash day collector to fix. I got 2 identical Husky brand hot dog roofing compressors to work on that needed drive belts. Sid broke the piston assembly trying to replace the belt on the first one. The connecing rod/piston assembly is pot metal and flimsy. The belts for the later model (after 2012) are wider than the earlier model and cost almost as much as the whole compressor. 4 ribs wide before 2012, 5 ribs after 2012. We call those kind of parts Chinesium, but they are the fault of Husky because you get what you pay for. The Chinese simply made what they were paid to make.

The other compressor I got paid to fix needed a run capacitor. It was not oil-filled and it was mounted directly on the motor instead of somewhere else on the machine with less vibration. So Campbell-Hausfield was responsible for that one.

Some manufacturers are just scum. They don't care about doing a job well.

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