Compressor (Crankcase) Explosion

[Rob M]

I do not think that with safe handling there is any greater risk of tank failure than being struck by lightning while I am out shooting my PCP at the range on a hot sunny day .... while wearing a tuxedo balancing on a beach ball.

Yeah, but if it ever DID happen, then the odds of it happening would approach 100%....     

Bob

lmfbo.. probability at its finest.

[supertech77]

parts came in,new cover,gasket,bolts,installed,put proper amount of compressor oil,put on breathing rod[aka oil vent]ran the cooler pump, turned on compressor ,all worked great,much quieter ,filled mrod to 3500,psi,from 2500,in less than a minute,all seems well,ordering a firehouse din to fill my 2 92 cu ft c/f tanks from 3k to 45k,there in a pelican fill station,set up to charge both at same time,from a big compressor,i will do them 1 at a time when the  female din gets here .but as for the vendor i purchased the compressor,i can't say enough how good a help he has been to me,did not charge me a cent, so i order a big water separation/filter,nice unit ,came with 2 extra rolled cotton inserts,separator comes with new line and fittings for quick disconnect,its a long filter,solid housing,kinda heavy,well will keep you all informed,wish me luck. 

[triggertreat]

You're braver than me.  Which gun are you filling to 3500 You must have a big hammer spring to crack the valve on a 3500 psi fill unless regulated. If regulated,  which reg are you using?

[avator]

You're braver than me.  Which gun are you filling to 3500 You must have a big hammer spring to crack the valve on a 3500 psi fill unless regulated. If regulated,  which reg are you using?

I was about to say the same thing. I think I would also make a few more short low pressure runs to break the compressor in before I went hog wild. Unless you did a complete tear down and are experienced in what to look for, we really don't know if any other damage/weaknesses the compressor may have suffered. I know when I first got my compressor, I didn't even want Betty Lou in the area for the first few runs.
Please be careful.
Something else for all to consider....
The last time I ran my compressor I filled a scuba tank to 3400, which will settle to the 3300 psi recommended pressure. I set the auto shutoff which worked flawlessly as always. I ran the water pump until the compressor cooled back down to room temp then unplugged the pump. The next day we had a power glitch. The lights went out and right back on just enough to reset the clocks in the house. All of a sudden we heard some strange noise. I ran to the area where the compressor is to find it running. It wasn't building pressure because the whip was not connected to anything but it was indeed, running. Total run time was less than 45 seconds before I figured out what it was and got to it.
Operator error.....
I failed to move the switch to the off position after the last run. I failed to unplug the unit after the last run. The power blink acted like I had turned the power switch on and off resetting the run cycle. If we were not home or outside the compressor would have ran until we got back with no cooling. I don't know how much heat it would have built without building pressure but I'm glad I didn't find out.
I intend to make a laminated conversion (bar to psi) chart to hang on the wall near the compressor. I will now add an operation check list as well as maintenance record.
As with all mechanical items that I've had experience with during my life, most failures are due to human failure. Whether it be not using the machine for/as it was intended or failure to maintain it, more often than not, the cause was human error.

[avator]

As some of you may or may not know.. I work in the automotive stamping industry. Whenever we have a failure in procedure, be it injury, quality or mechanically, we develop a counter measure This counter measure becomes part of the SOP. (standard of procedure) Periodic audits insure that we adhere to our procedures. Some procedures are put into play by OSHA, some by our customer (Hyundai) and some by our company by way of self induced counter measures. ALL become SOP and must be followed.

[garczar6]

parts came in,new cover,gasket,bolts,installed,put proper amount of compressor oil,put on breathing rod[aka oil vent]ran the cooler pump, turned on compressor ,all worked great,much quieter ,filled mrod to 3500,psi,from 2500,in less than a minute,all seems well,ordering a firehouse din to fill my 2 92 cu ft c/f tanks from 3k to 45k,there in a pelican fill station,set up to charge both at same time,from a big compressor,i will do them 1 at a time when the  female din gets here .but as for the vendor i purchased the compressor,i can't say enough how good a help he has been to me,did not charge me a cent, so i order a big water separation/filter,nice unit ,came with 2 extra rolled cotton inserts,separator comes with new line and fittings for quick disconnect,its a long filter,solid housing,kinda heavy,well will keep you all informed,wish me luck. 

3,500 psi Mrod???

[Taso1000]

parts came in,new cover,gasket,bolts,installed,put proper amount of compressor oil,put on breathing rod[aka oil vent]ran the cooler pump, turned on compressor ,all worked great,much quieter ,filled mrod to 3500,psi,from 2500,in less than a minute,all seems well,ordering a firehouse din to fill my 2 92 cu ft c/f tanks from 3k to 45k,there in a pelican fill station,set up to charge both at same time,from a big compressor,i will do them 1 at a time when the  female din gets here .but as for the vendor i purchased the compressor,i can't say enough how good a help he has been to me,did not charge me a cent, so i order a big water separation/filter,nice unit ,came with 2 extra rolled cotton inserts,separator comes with new line and fittings for quick disconnect,its a long filter,solid housing,kinda heavy,well will keep you all informed,wish me luck. 

3,500 psi Mrod???

Exactly what I thought when I read that Garczar6.   

Taso

[supertech77]

y

As some of you may or may not know.. I work in the automotive stamping industry. Whenever we have a failure in procedure, be it injury, quality or mechanically, we develop a counter measure This counter measure becomes part of the SOP. (standard of procedure) Periodic audits insure that we adhere to our procedures. Some procedures are put into play by OSHA, some by our customer (Hyundai) and some by our company by way of self induced counter measures. ALL become SOP and must be followed.
[/quote  i hear ya brother, i work for a hyundai dealer, as a platinum tech.all was well inspected prior to installing the parts,as for the 3500 psi on the m-rod,it has been heavily tuned with custom valve and hammer porting and ss bolt/screws,to handle it, have been filling it that way for 2 years now,all my pcp,s have been tuned to the max,professionally and when possible by me,i thank you for the concerns and suggestions,also,

[Taso1000]

y

As some of you may or may not know.. I work in the automotive stamping industry. Whenever we have a failure in procedure, be it injury, quality or mechanically, we develop a counter measure This counter measure becomes part of the SOP. (standard of procedure) Periodic audits insure that we adhere to our procedures. Some procedures are put into play by OSHA, some by our customer (Hyundai) and some by our company by way of self induced counter measures. ALL become SOP and must be followed.
[/quote  i hear ya brother, i work for a hyundai dealer, as a platinum tech.all was well inspected prior to installing the parts,as for the 3500 psi on the m-rod,it has been heavily tuned with custom valve and hammer porting and ss bolt/screws,to handle it, have been filling it that way for 2 years now,all my pcp,s have been tuned to the max,professionally and when possible by me,i thank you for the concerns and suggestions,also,

Why Supertech77?  Because the max fill pressure of a Marauder is 3000 psi.  You need to be aware of your audience.  Readers are at experience levels between newbies and experts on this forum. 

I know you can't fill a stock Marauder to 3500 psi safely.  But someone who doesn't know better will say "if he can do it so can I".  Had you prefaced your statement with,  "I have upgraded all the parts of my Marauder to 3500 psi specifications or above.  Please do not try this on a stock Marauder."  No one would have had an issue.

Please be aware of your audience.  That's all I wanted to say.

Taso

[avator]

y

As some of you may or may not know.. I work in the automotive stamping industry. Whenever we have a failure in procedure, be it injury, quality or mechanically, we develop a counter measure This counter measure becomes part of the SOP. (standard of procedure) Periodic audits insure that we adhere to our procedures. Some procedures are put into play by OSHA, some by our customer (Hyundai) and some by our company by way of self induced counter measures. ALL become SOP and must be followed.
[/quote  i hear ya brother, i work for a hyundai dealer, as a platinum tech.all was well inspected prior to installing the parts,as for the 3500 psi on the m-rod,it has been heavily tuned with custom valve and hammer porting and ss bolt/screws,to handle it, have been filling it that way for 2 years now,all my pcp,s have been tuned to the max,professionally and when possible by me,i thank you for the concerns and suggestions,also,

Why Supertech77?  Because the max fill pressure of a Marauder is 3000 psi.  You need to be aware of your audience.  Readers are at experience levels between newbies and experts on this forum. 

I know you can't fill a stock Marauder to 3500 psi safely.  But someone who doesn't know better will say "if he can do it so can I".  Had you prefaced your statement with,  "I have upgraded all the parts of my Marauder to 3500 psi specifications or above.  Please do not try this on a stock Marauder."  No one would have had an issue.

Please be aware of your audience.  That's all I wanted to say.

Taso

Well said....
I was guilty of this when I was new on to the Forum as well. We are welcome to do anything we choose at our own risk but we have to consider who is watching when we post. There is no age limit here, there is no IQ test to pass either. I quickly realized (with a little help from fellow members) that a little common sense when posting is required. Even more so, a little common sense when messing with HPA will spare us a disaster. Fortunately I didn't lose any fingers before I saw the light.

[supertech77]

y

As some of you may or may not know.. I work in the automotive stamping industry. Whenever we have a failure in procedure, be it injury, quality or mechanically, we develop a counter measure This counter measure becomes part of the SOP. (standard of procedure) Periodic audits insure that we adhere to our procedures. Some procedures are put into play by OSHA, some by our customer (Hyundai) and some by our company by way of self induced counter measures. ALL become SOP and must be followed.
[/quote  i hear ya brother, i work for a hyundai dealer, as a platinum tech.all was well inspected prior to installing the parts,as for the 3500 psi on the m-rod,it has been heavily tuned with custom valve and hammer porting and ss bolt/screws,to handle it, have been filling it that way for 2 years now,all my pcp,s have been tuned to the max,professionally and when possible by me,i thank you for the concerns and suggestions,also,

Why Supertech77?  Because the max fill pressure of a Marauder is 3000 psi.  You need to be aware of your audience.  Readers are at experience levels between newbies and experts on this forum. 

I know you can't fill a stock Marauder to 3500 psi safely.  But someone who doesn't know better will say "if he can do it so can I".  Had you prefaced your statement with,  "I have upgraded all the parts of my Marauder to 3500 psi specifications or above.  Please do not try this on a stock Marauder."  No one would have had an issue.

Please be aware of your audience.  That's all I wanted to say.

Taso

  my bad,your absolutely correct,i don't want to get anyone hurt,and stating that i fill my m-rod to 3500 psi and not explaining that it had been tuned to handle that pressure,was not safe. sorry to all,note,3500 psi IS NOT RECOMMENDED  ON ANY PCP air gun UNLESS FACTORY STATED to do so,doing so is DANGEROUS , 

[aluminumfetish]

https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=96148.0
https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2008/01/can-nitrogen-be-used-in-pcps/

http://airgunguild.com/airgun-tanks-compressors-and-filling/compressor-explosion/
I looked and looked but couldn't find an AirForce failure.

[hollowpoint1911]

https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=96148.0
https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2008/01/can-nitrogen-be-used-in-pcps/

http://airgunguild.com/airgun-tanks-compressors-and-filling/compressor-explosion/
I looked and looked but couldn't find an AirForce failure.

Sorry, but what's the point of all these links?

[aluminumfetish]

Well, there was a lot of talk about tanks and bottle failures, these are some of the immediate ones that pop up when you search this topic. Lots of talk of possible harmful AirForce fails,, couldn't find any. It's all in the post.
Why did you quote it ? No need to see if twice if it was confusing once.

[supertech77]

Well, there was a lot of talk about tanks and bottle failures, these are some of the immediate ones that pop up when you search this topic. Lots of talk of possible harmful AirForce fails,, couldn't find any. It's all in the post.
Why did you quote it ? No need to see if twice if it was confusing once.

i agree,

[triggertreat]

This video has been in the PCP Darkside sticky for almost a year now.  It was determined, IIRC, that the guy was only using one bolt in the valve to hold it in place.  I too don't see the relation to the busted compressor.

[aluminumfetish]

I am aware the video has been around, if you look, several of the comments in that HIPAC failure thread are mine. Reread the thread and the past few posts please regarding tube/tank failure. The risk of a tank or tube or compressor blowing your face off is what was being discussed. "AirForce pipe bombs" in particular. It's really all there, you just need to read it. These are all relevant to HPA risks and failures. I am done here.

[triggertreat]

Looks like this thread has run its course and has moved off of the original topic.  I'm done here too.

[supertech77]

um,ok let me try to get this,he was working on a fully charged pcp   without degassing it first;  ,regardless of the amount of screws,that's like  giving a monkey a live grenade with the pin in,just a matter of time till,well you get it,sorry for this guy's misfortune and injury,the relation to a low pressure explosion from the compressor that was totally my stupidity,has little to do with what the video is showing,what i get is this,humans make mistakes,if we are lucky,we live to make others,[and we will],we're human,hope lesson was learned and move on,and that others learn from it. 

[squirrel_hunter]

um,ok let me try to get this,he was working on a fully charged pcp   without degassing it first;  ,regardless of the amount of screws,that's like  giving a monkey a live grenade with the pin in,just a matter of time till,well you get it,sorry for this guy's misfortune and injury,the relation to a low pressure explosion from the compressor that was totally my stupidity,has little to do with what the video is showing,what i get is this,humans make mistakes,if we are lucky,we live to make others,[and we will],we're human,hope lesson was learned and move on,and that others learn from it. 

yep you correct supertech77,like the cheap Chinese compressor "explosions" the compressors suffered a failure of humans to properly maintain units/rifles.its not like a properly functioning with all its parts compressor/PCP rifle blew up and hurt someone.i think I ask this before,would you drive a car after a brake job knowing parts were left over from the job?i not talking about a race car as some smart mouth brought up about not needing brakes on a race car.i talking about the car you put your wife and kids into to go to the store.if you did drive it that way and someone got hurt would it be the cars fault or the person driving it knowing parts were left over?