Aldi Air Compressor

Just one additional warning re these cheap air compressors. They tend to be driven by an induction motor so about 3400 RPM then directly coupled to the compressor which then compresses at 3400 times per minute or about 47 times per second. That makes a terrible noise. Older style compressors using a separate compressor like Clisby belt driven at a lower speed are far more neighbour friendly. (quiet) Second also the limitations of amount of compressed air that an be supplied. Still useful though. good luck olewill.
 
What concerns me is the life of the tank
When i had my business i had annual checks on all compressors
When i sold up i kept a small one plus a couple of drills & a spray gun for diy stuff
It is now 25 years old. When will it blow up & take me with it?
When it is running i keep it in a trailer shut in as a safety measure
I often wonder what happens to all these diy compressors over time
Are they accidents waiting to happen
120 PSI makes a big bang
 
Daydream believer said:
What concerns me is the life of the tank
When i had my business i had annual checks on all compressors
When i sold up i kept a small one plus a couple of drills & a spray gun for diy stuff
It is now 25 years old. When will it blow up & take me with it?
When it is running i keep it in a trailer shut in as a safety measure
I often wonder what happens to all these diy compressors over time
Are they accidents waiting to happen
120 PSI makes a big bang
Click to expand...

Actually they are not as dangerous as you might think. The reason is that if you compress air to 8 bar, and the tank ruptures, the escaping air only occupies 8 times the volume of the tank. The tanks on these things are pretty small. The worst that could happen is that the seam at the end of a tank fails and blows the end off, but that is pretty unlikely. Most likely is that the tank will quietly rust out from the inside, and that one day when you turn it on the air will just escape and it will fail to build up any real pressure.
 
That's my opinion. If it's a small hole it'll just be like a hose connector (or hose) failing. If it is a bigger split it'll just make a noise and there will be a sudden blast of air, but hardly an explosion. This is an 80 gallon tank (about 360 litres), so involved a much greater volume, and probably at a higher pressure than these little compressors.

air_tank_3.jpg


However. If you are not squeamish there is another side to this http://www.documentingreality.com/f...led-exploding-air-compressor-6b88aee8b02b.jpg


Oooooh! I have just changed my mind. http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=48232&highlight=mla2ofus

Just going out to do an overdue drain on my tank.
 
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The problem is that there must thousands of these out there
People just do not know what can happen
These cheepo compressors must be a death trap.
Are there any warnings with them when they are sold??
It shows that the idea that it might just blow a bit of air out of a hole is a missconception
 
Lakesailor said:
That's my opinion. If it's a small hole it'll just be like a hose connector (or hose) failing. If it is a bigger split it'll just make a noise and there will be a sudden blast of air, but hardly an explosion. This is an 80 gallon tank (about 360 litres), so involved a much greater volume, and probably at a higher pressure than these little compressors.

air_tank_3.jpg


However. If you are not squeamish there is another side to this http://www.documentingreality.com/f...led-exploding-air-compressor-6b88aee8b02b.jpg


Oooooh! I have just changed my mind. http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=48232&highlight=mla2ofus

Just going out to do an overdue drain on my tank.
Click to expand...

Look at the pictures of the tank that ruptured (2nd link). Would you pressurise a tank with that much rust visible on the outside?
 
VicS said:
Paintspraying, gritblasting, powering air driven tools .. safer than electric tools outdoors/ wet environment. Or away from power supplies ( Machine mart one is electric though)
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Am I missing something here??

How does it enable you to use tools away from a power supply???

Tony.
 
Norman_E said:
Look at the pictures of the tank that ruptured (2nd link). Would you pressurise a tank with that much rust visible on the outside?
Click to expand...

Surely the rust used to be on the inside
The outside does not look any worse than hundreds of compressors

I also note some threads seem to suggest it can only happen with a big tank
I beg to differ. It may be a smaller bang but still dangerous with bits of tank flying about
At what point does the size become safe
Would you want o be near say a camping gaz cylinder if it blew
I saw a used one thrown on a fire by mistake - it went 40 ft & hit a passer by in the side of the head

Bear in mind most compressors will reach 120 psi or more & could go higher if safety valve got stuck
 
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Jamesuk said:
+1
Click to expand...

Hi new guy here.

I've had one of these compressors for about 5 years now and to be honest its great for the little tasks but you do tend to have to pause and wait for the tank to refill. Don't get me wrong I have use this with the following attachments.....

Air Wrench - Works great as impact driver
Spray gun - Works ok but need to pause for tank to refill
Grinder - Complete rubbish and waste of money.
Spot Blaster kit - Great and currently using it to renovate my boat parts
Impact chisels - Good and used a lot while extending my garden and needed posts in concrete.
Nail Gun - Great but I did get a JCB nail gun instead of the one from Aldi
Air Saw - Like the grinder its ok for little thin metal but runs out of air/pressure very quickly.

I am now looking for a new larger compressor and will scrap this as I don't want anyone to have it and the tank decides to give in. I only fill it to 3bar and its in an isolated place when I use it and got nearly 30m of hose on it too.
 
Jabs said:
Am I missing something here??

How does it enable you to use tools away from a power supply???

Tony.
Click to expand...
I assumed that the reference to "easy start motor" meant it was engine driven.

But it later says 240 volt so rather :confused: You not expect an electric motor to require the quailification of "easy start" I wonder what sort of electric motor would be classed as "difficult" to start

A motor driven one would allow you to use air driven tools away from a power supply
 
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+2.
Sorry, but the volume of air moved ( and the tank volume) are key to getting a paint gun to do your beautiful topsides well, after all thst time prepping and sanding too!
 
VicS said:
I assumed that the reference to "easy start motor" meant it was engine driven.

But it later says 240 volt so rather :confused: You not expect an electric motor to require the quailification of "easy start" I wonder what sort of electric motor would be classed as "difficult" to start

A motor driven one would allow you to use air driven tools away from a power supply
Click to expand...

An air compressor provides a very harsh load when stationary.

The easy start unloads the compressor whilst the motor spins up and then loads the compressor back on line when it is spinning.
 
Blueboatman said:
+2.
Sorry, but the volume of air moved ( and the tank volume) are key to getting a paint gun to do your beautiful topsides well, after all thst time prepping and sanding too!
Click to expand...
You really must start using the "Reply With Quote" button as we can't tell who you are replying to.
 
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