What to do

[Fred Demmon]

I currently have a 60 gal 220v compressor. The pump and motor I inherited when my father passed away. The pump is probably 40 years old or more. I remember him replacing the motor back in the early 70's and paying over $500 back then. It is a 5hp motor and is almost twice the size of the 5hp motor on the new ones I see. I had to replace the horizontal tank about 15 years ago because it rusted through. I replaced it with a used 60 gal vertical tank.



I work at Lowes and got a great deal on a 80 gal 220v IR compressor.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_337408-28309...sor&facetInfo=

The thing is about 2 weeks old. The pump/compressor is bad. The motor is still good and the tank is obviously new.

I am debating on whether to sell the IR and make some money and move on
or
To remove my compressor and motor and mount it on the IR tank. It would give me an additional 20 gal of capacity and have a new tank again. then sell the IR motor and my old tank to someone who wants to add a good pump to it

If I sell the IR as is what would be a fair price?
If I keep the IR tank and sell the IR Motor and old tank what would be a fair priice?

Because of the age of my current unit I am unsure how long it will last
Because of space restrictions I cant keep both

So....Thoughts?

[Dennis Bernth]

You should be able to sell your old setup for just about enough to buy a new pump for the IR. It has the light duty 5hp motor (15 amps) but with the pump it's running that should be fine. If you plan to do any sand blasting, run a DA for more than a couple minutes, or shoot a whole truck in paint, that old compressor you have now will probably not keep up. The old ones were bulletproof mainly because they turned slow- they used a 1725 rpm huge motor, and a large flywheel. Even though the compressor head is probably the size of a Fiat 500 engine, it's only turning maybe 600 rpm so the CFM's aren't there for extended air tool use. The specs on the new one indicate it will run just about anything you'll reasonably be expected to use, and you're into it 'right'. I've got a 'scratch and dent' 7.5 hp two stage that puts out similar CFM's and it's head and shoulders better than the old 'small' 5hp two stage I had before the fire, I think you'll find the same if you make the switch.

If the IR is basically 'new' is there a reason that they won't warranty the compressor head? Is the IR compressor repairable, or is it a catastrophic failure (like a con rod through the block)?
A compressor is really just a engine that's running in reverse, you can get a manual and parts and rebuild the one you have unless there is physical damage to the compressor itself. And if IR is too salty for your blood check Northern Tool, they have replacement compressor heads (maybe even IR) for decent prices.

[Four Paws]

Fred,

I am on board with Dennis. What was the failure. Why did it happen after only 2 weeks? Why won't they warranty it? And, why won't Lowes help you out with a 'return'. I know if I was a guy off the street that bought this from Lowes, and IR turned me away, I would load it up and drive right back to the store and return it. Let us know what failed.

I have a 7.5hp 2-stage IR and it came with a great warranty - provided I used the synthetic lubricant, which I did. Something like 3+ years on the compressor head.

As far as your old unit, you could put it on Craigslist and sell it. 5hp 220V single phase motors are fairly costly, and wouldn't seem worth it to me, unless I had a very nice tank and excellent compressor head (which you may). Rings and a valve job on a $2000 quincy compressor head would be well worth it! The law of diminishing returns.

1st priority is figure out how to get your IR warrantied/returned and get a new one in your garage ASAP.

[Fred Demmon]

OK here is the gig

When Lowes took on IR compressors, to get IR down to the buying price they wanted, IR said we can only do that IF you understand we give NO warrenty....NONE.
Lowes said OK.....Any warrenty issues we will just handle in house.

I did not buy the IR new. A customer purchased it new for his business and returned it after 2 weeks saying it was making a terrible noise and had oil seaping out of the compressor. We gave him another one and he was happy.

I purchased it for $75. I have since done some research on the model # and found this model has no problem in a hobbyist shop, but over heats when used in a daily usage all day long shop.

Someone suggested I buy a brand new one, wait for 2-3 weeks and then take the one I bought for $75 back to another Lowes claming it went bad and get my money back. That way I would have a brand new compressor for $75.
I thought long and hard about it, but decided that Would not be the right thing and would probably end up with bad karma from it


Dennis
You may be right about the effiencey of the new compressors. I am just afraid that fixing the IR would not be a good long term solution. I think that IR knew that since they did not have to warrenty any of the units they sold to Lowes, so they sold Lowes the ones that they were worried would come back on them.

I have never had a problem with my old compressor keeping up with a DA, Impact, or a Spray(paint)gun
To buy a new pump from NT to fix the IR while I have a perfectly good compressor right now is not money that would be well spent

I wish I had room to keep them both just in case, But that is not the situation

[Dennis Bernth]

Originally Posted by Fred Demmon

OK here is the gig

When Lowes took on IR compressors, to get IR down to the buying price they wanted, IR said we can only do that IF you understand we give NO warrenty....NONE.
Lowes said OK.....Any warrenty issues we will just handle in house.

I did not buy the IR new. A customer purchased it new for his business and returned it after 2 weeks saying it was making a terrible noise and had oil seaping out of the compressor. We gave him another one and he was happy.

I purchased it for $75. I have since done some research on the model # and found this model has no problem in a hobbyist shop, but over heats when used in a daily usage all day long shop.

Someone suggested I buy a brand new one, wait for 2-3 weeks and then take the one I bought for $75 back to another Lowes claming it went bad and get my money back. That way I would have a brand new compressor for $75.
I thought long and hard about it, but decided that Would not be the right thing and would probably end up with bad karma from it


Dennis
You may be right about the effiencey of the new compressors. I am just afraid that fixing the IR would not be a good long term solution. I think that IR knew that since they did not have to warrenty any of the units they sold to Lowes, so they sold Lowes the ones that they were worried would come back on them.

I have never had a problem with my old compressor keeping up with a DA, Impact, or a Spray(paint)gun
To buy a new pump from NT to fix the IR while I have a perfectly good compressor right now is not money that would be well spent

I wish I had room to keep them both just in case, But that is not the situation

I doubt that IR would take a chance on turning out substandard stuff just for Lowes and ruin their name; they can just sell them cheaper if they didn't have to worry about warrantying them. I was going on the facts you gave in the first post, that your old compressor was probably 40 years old and you were starting to worry about it; don't blame you there. If you have to buy a new motor for that beast, you'll get a new appreciation for what 'expensive' means. The upside is the old motor is worth a good buck for the scrap copper

I think I'd dig into the IR and see what's up. IR has good parts support, and I'm going to guess the guy that bought it either didn't follow the break in procedures or in some other way caused the issue; didn't bother to read the 'you must fill this compressor with oil before using!' sticker or who knows, you might get by with replacing a con rod or two. If you don't want to take the time, Northern has what appears to be the same pump for $469 with free shipping; so you'd be into a new compressor for half price of buying one at Lowe's. I think you could recoup a good part of the $469 from selling your old compressor, probably $3-350 at least if not $400, which puts you into a new compressor for a couple hundred bucks tops. 'I' wouldn't think on that more than about three seconds, the point being if you sell the IR and even triple your money, you're ahead; but if that old compressor pukes the week after, or the motor on it dies, you won't fix it for what you got out of the IR, or for the two hundred bucks you'd have in the IR, and it'll be worth basically scrap value. Right now, since it's working and you can show it off, the old compressor is probably worth somewhere around $400, which means it's time to sell since you have a good deal to replace it with. Just my .02, but that kind of wheelin dealin has worked for me time and again....

[Dennis Bernth]

Or even cheaper yet.....http://www.ebay.com/itm/SCHULZ-SINGL...item4162ad8063

Little less CFM, but cheaper yet....http://www.ebay.com/itm/5HP-17-5-CFM...item41663ff019

I like the V style pumps myself, but if money wasn't much of an object I think I'd go with the IR pump and keep it all original, you know IR is quality, these might be, then again they might not. My guess is the box has writing on it that you or I can't read

[kb'sforme]

Have you looked into having old motor on old pump fixed?
As long as it didn't go up in smoke it can be rewound. Some times they just need bearings and brushes. If you research it parts are cheap. I can walk you through it. As for the windings there are several shops around that can do it. Priced by motor size. Not sure what that would run.

[Dennis Bernth]

Originally Posted by kb'sforme

Have you looked into having old motor on old pump fixed?
As long as it didn't go up in smoke it can be rewound. Some times they just need bearings and brushes. If you research it parts are cheap. I can walk you through it. As for the windings there are several shops around that can do it. Priced by motor size. Not sure what that would run.

I think the old motor on the old compressor is still working, it's just the age of the thing that he's worried about.

[Fred Demmon]

Originally Posted by kb'sforme

Have you looked into having old motor on old pump fixed?
As long as it didn't go up in smoke it can be rewound. Some times they just need bearings and brushes. If you research it parts are cheap. I can walk you through it. As for the windings there are several shops around that can do it. Priced by motor size. Not sure what that would run.

Ok
My original compressor is fine and works well and has no problems......But it is old....Then again so am I

The only reason I bought the IR was the price

I am thinking that I might just tear down the bad pump on the IR and see what failed

[Fred Demmon]

Well.......We got another IR compressor back with another bad pump, this one is a 60gal.
Makes me nervous to count on the one I was going to fix as my only compressor.

On another note.......I am going to buy the 60 gal for $50