Tools, Sharpening and Power Machinery - Inherited Old Compressor, Need info

Hey guys, a neighbor gave me an air compressor before he moved and I have a few questions. This thing looks pretty old. It has a 1 1/3hp motor mounted on top and drives a large wheel with a rubber belt. The model number is hard to read but looks like, General Electric SKG49UG2CH. I couldnt't find anything about this model anywhere.

I have never owned a compressor so my questions are mainly about safety, being how old it looks.

1) Does anybody know where I might be able to fine more info on this style of air compressor? Maintenance, etc?

2) Should it shut itself off when it reaches a certain PSI? When should it shut off? I don't wanna blow it up.

3) I don't think the motor has been serviced in a long time, does an electric motor need to have oil added to it?


Sorry for all the newbie question, I've never had one of these. I read through all the stickies on this subject but didn't see anything that really answered my questions.


Thanks guys!

Johnny

Johnny,

It could very well be safe but there needs to be a working pressure switch to shut it off when it reaches 100 psi, a working pressure relief if the switch sticks and the pressure gets too high and there needs to be a reliable pressure guage to determine what pressure the air tank is at.
Also the tank should be in fairly good physical condition.
If there are small oil holes at each end of the motor you could put in a few drops and the compressor needs non-detergent motor oil for lubrication

If there was a way for you to find a host site to post a photo, a picture would be worth...................

Have you tried it out?

Ok, heres some pictures, they are not great quality, but here ya go.

It seems to work fine, I powered it up to about 40 PSI and it worked great, it seems to leak tho, the next day it went from 40 to 20 without using it. I mainly just need it for pumping up car tires, maybe use it as an impact wrench. For what I need it should be fine, I just want to be sure I know what I am doing.


Thanks for the help!

Johnny

Johnny,

I always prefer to err on the side of caution and in your case I would suggest you not use it.

A number of things stand out or don't stand out in the pictures.

I don't see a moisture drain on the tank. If there isn't one, the bottom will be full of sediment and water which will prematurely corrode the tank bottom.

I see a pressure switch but don't see a pressure relief valve to vent the tank if the switch sticks.

I don't see a ground wire going to the pressure switch which would make me question the safety of the wiring.

I don't see a belt guard which although you would have no intentions of going near it, a slip or some unsuspecting person like a child or even the dog's tail could be caught in it.

I don't recognize the tank so I would suspect it could be possible that it may not be rated for compressed air.

Galvanized water piping has been used for the discharge air and there is no vibration absorbing capability in the piping which could cause the pipe to crack if it was used for a long time.

So, I would suggest that for about $100.00 you could buy a cheap oilless compressor that if only used about an hour a month, would last you a long time.
If you thought you would like to try air tools, $350.00 would buy you something that would also last a fair while.

Man, are you sure that isn't one of those missing WMD's from Iraq?
Interesting piece and it looks like you have the makings of a compressor if you could round up a tank. If that one doesn't have an ASME tag on it I'd be wary.