Air Compressor Exploded

[MarkSingleton]

Best improvement to my compressor was a ten-fifteen dollar kit 
from Harbor Freight.

Automatic Drain Valve. 

Every time the compressor starts up and tops off the tank, when it
shuts down, the drain valve removes any accumulated moisture 
from the bottom of the tank. You can hear the air/bubbles.  Got the
drain line poked into a large plastic jug.  When it gets about half full
or thereabouts, I notice it and pour it out.



In addition, I only pressurize the system when I am using it. The rest
of the time the breaker is switch off.

[Stwood_]

Best improvement to my compressor was a ten-fifteen dollar kit 
from Harbor Freight.

Automatic Drain Valve. 

Every time the compressor starts up and tops off the tank, when it
shuts down, the drain valve removes any accumulated moisture 
from the bottom of the tank. You can hear the air/bubbles.  Got the
drain line poked into a large plastic jug.  When it gets about half full
or thereabouts, I notice it and pour it out.



In addition, I only pressurize the system when I am using it. The rest
of the time the breaker is switch off.

Yes. I've had 120V drain systems on mine for 20 years. Drain hose goes out through the wall.

[MstrCarpenter]

Best improvement to my compressor was a ten-fifteen dollar kit 
from Harbor Freight.

Automatic Drain Valve. 

Every time the compressor starts up and tops off the tank, when it
shuts down, the drain valve removes any accumulated moisture 
from the bottom of the tank. You can hear the air/bubbles.  Got the
drain line poked into a large plastic jug.  When it gets about half full
or thereabouts, I notice it and pour it out.



In addition, I only pressurize the system when I am using it. The rest
of the time the breaker is switch off.

 I'll be ordering a few of them! https://www.harborfreight.com/automatic-...68244.html

[TDKPE]

I wonder if that’s an ASME tank.  I rather doubt it, as those small inexpensive units don’t normally use them (more $), but I’d be curious to know.

[Ray Newman]

“He has a follow up video and says he drained the tank regularly.”
--barryvabeach

Wonder how he defines “regularly”?  I unplug the compressor and drain then tank after each day’s use as a preventative maintenance measure. Hardware store parts to extend the drain valve make the task easy and quick.

[barryvabeach]

I just picked up the Harbor Freight version .  It now comes with a clear plastic tube, instead of the black one shown on the box, and there were no instructions in any of the ones at my store, though I found a youtube video that seemed to lay it out.

[stav]

The steel in the tank seemed kinda thin in the video.  Not sure what gauge steel is supposed to make up a tank, but I thought it would be thicker than that with as much pressure it is under.

[TDKPE]

The steel in the tank seemed kinda thin in the video.  Not sure what gauge steel is supposed to make up a tank, but I thought it would be thicker than that with as much pressure it is under.

FWIW, the larger the diameter, the thicker the steel for the same pressure and grade of steel (hoop stress).  Length doesn't matter.

[MauleSkinner]

So is there a reliable way to determine that a compressor tank is reasonably safe? (Specifically one manufactured as an air tank, not my grandpa’s homemade one below.)

Back when I was a kid on the farm, we had a compressor in the shop with a tank my grandpa made from a water heater tank. One morning about 5:00, my mom felt a rumble in the house. When my dad went out to the shop, one end had blown off the tank, destroyed a set of stairs, tore up a wall that it bounced off of, and went through the door of a semi tractor that was about 40 feet from the compressor.

[barryvabeach]

So is there a reliable way to determine that a compressor tank is reasonably safe? (Specifically one manufactured as an air tank, not my grandpa’s homemade one below.)

In his follow up video,  he suggests that you periodically empty the tank completely, then tap it with hammer to see if there are any soft spots.