Air tanks

[j.m.jackson]

What i'm thankful for is that this is gray, not brown (rust).

[chessie4905]

The oil mixed with water keep it from rusting as much as you might think. Would rust more with a good compressor that didn't pass any oil.

[j.m.jackson]

Ok, so here is what I found this evening. The drains on the ejector (it has 2) were clogged and kinked.

I disconnected abnd blew out the line from the bottom of the wet tank to the ejector wet input, reconnected the line on both ends, and then pulled the output lines and started the engine to fill the wet tank. I then activated the valve locally, after pulling off the control line ,with a rubber tipped nozzle on my air hose. When i block the output with my finger and a paper towel, water/oily air from the input blows out the vent hole in the valve body, meaning that the replaceable o-ring in the valve needs to be replaced, as documented in the service procedure. But it doesn't do this if the output lines aren't blocked.

So, in the end, a PO disconnected the automatic purge valve because the drains were blocked with dirt dobers and kinked. A symptom of this was what sounded like an air leak from the valve when it was trying to complete it's cycle, but couldn't, because the output lines were blocked.

I'll make the tool for the dry tank drain tomorrow if i can't unscrew it, and get a new fitting for the compressor governor line to the ejector valve to replace the one that was damaged/cross threaded with the bolt to plug it.

[j.m.jackson]

Made the tool to drain the dry tank. Painted it yellow so it'll be harder to lose.

About half a quart of black oil came out of that one. Better than the 2.5+ gallons that I got out of the wet.






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[Oonrahnjay]

Made the tool to drain the dry tank. Painted it yellow so it'll be harder to lose.

About half a quart of black oil came out of that one. Better than the 2.5+ gallons that I got out of the wet.

      Aww, that much oil is NOT a good sign.  Of course, it looks like mostly oil but there's probably a good bit of water mixed with it.  Still, it looks to me like you're getting a lot of oil from your compressor.  Get that system clean and then drain your tanks every day and see how much oil is in the discharge.

[j.m.jackson]

I can't assess the current compressor health because of the previous drain situation. I don't know how long the moisture ejector was disconnected. Now that I have functioning drains on all 4 tanks, I can do the proper procedure and drain them after running for the day.

I think I got about 3.5 gallons of oil/water out of the wet tank. I just looked and my open top drain pan is a 5 gallon pan. I thought it was a 3 gallon.

The PO didn't have the tool to drain the dry tank, or he didn't mention that he had it. So, there's a chance it hasn't been drained since 2000.

[buswarrior]

Don't panic yet.

You have no way of knowing the order of things.

There may have been a compressor change in the past, after the oil.

Under "normal" conditions, it would take a VERY long time to accumulate that much goop.

I like your idea, run it, and watch the tank drainage closely to evaluate.

If you put male air fittings on the right style of quarter turn drain valves, it allows using a garden sprayer and the female fitting to introduce the liquid of your choice to help clean that goop out.

Trouble is, no matter what the compressor pumps in there, it will come out oily for awhile.

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[brmax]

It sounds like a great idea to clean a bit more on that tank when you can.
Just monitoring it seems the ideal thing to do Imo.  If it can help Napa use to carry a blended
(not so hot) can of brake & electric cleaner.  I sure used it a lot primarily because it was safer on rubber and paint etc..

Floyd

[eagle19952]

theproblem is this...that much oilhas to have gone beyond the tanks.
oil and diaphragms equal mush.

brakes hate it,
relay valves gum up and freeze tight as a drum in the cold
were i u i would find something to flush it out...