Archived section of the www.compressorman.co.uk Air Compressor 'Trade Talk' page;

A Quick Look Upstairs

Well the long awaited clear out in the attic is getting nearer and I decided to go up an see what we were going throw out.

A quick look found many lost treasures - well to me anyway - and I don't think much will get thrown out, it just needs sorting and organising. There are Hydrovane spares from about 40 years ago, some are new and although we will never need them in the course of everyday business I cant make myself get rid of them.

Metal parts for many quite modern machines are in very short supply and some are now extinct, yet we have several tons of them. I cant wait to start the sort out as I know there are parts up there that will not be available probably anywhere in the World. Nothing for anyone else to get excited about though, but I cant wait.

No Need To Go That Far

There's no need to go up to the attic to find exciting things, now we have started the big tidy up downstairs we are finding some amazing lost treasures in the main workshop.

I have always had my own special little places for parts that must not be lost and over the years they have taken over every possible position, to the extent that exciting bits are lurking everywhere.

A couple of years ago we needed a minimum pressure valve for a 3 series Hydrovane and there were non at the main warehouse and all the usual supplies had dried up. There is a supplier we use in times of emergency and they could supply all but the most important piece for about £200 - yesterday I found 3 of them in a corner, and so I await further discoveries with great expectation.

Why me?

Friday afternoon at 3pm and our best customer is in big trouble.

The no 1 compressor has just tripped out and wont restart - the backup no2 started ok so it wasn't the end of the world. But this customer is a very heavy user of air and the backup is an old lady, nice order but definitely elderly.

Of we go in all the Friday traffic to see what the problem - years in the trade tell me to cope with what I find and not to second guess. Check oil level first - and guess what it was very very low - this was a surprise as this is a well serviced machine - no oil leaks evident. The cause was a faulty valve which had bypassed the oil filter and cooler - the oil was hot and the inbuilt sensors stopped the machine - the lost oil was somewhere carried over into the receiver.

The job took over 5 hours and was completed at 10pm that night, but at least we all slept well in the knowledge that all was well, and the no 2 could rest up for another day - all in a days work.

Silly Prices

Why are some suppliers out of control with their price control. The prices that some of them charge are ridiculous in the extreme. I suppose they think that if you need them then you will have to pay and of course many people will.

Last week a customer of ours with a shotblast cabinet managed to damage the footswitch. This customer is a 24/7 operation and time is everything. They asked us to come take a look and get a new switch and fit it at a shift change over - no time to stop.

The manufacturers of the equipment had a switch - I would have valued it about £75 - it was £277. The customer said to go ahead, price was not important.

Anyway, back to base and into the attic, I knew we had a couple of used switches somewhere and I wanted to see if they were serviceable. As I went through the box there was a brand new one in a packet - I cant remember where it came from and why it wasn't used - anyway its on their machine now and we only charged £75. What a star I am - does anyone notice I ask myself.

Welcome to Daniel

I am pleased to announce that my son Daniel has now joined the company. He has just finished his exams and left school, he is not quite 16 as yet, but is legally able to start work with us on July 1st.

For the past two years or so I have had Daniel working with me at weekends and in the school holidays, working towards him joining us and that time has now come.

He will be attending college on day release and attending as many trade courses as possible - knowledge is everything in this trade.

I will keep you posted on his progress and look forward to that distant day in the future when he can do all the hard work for me.

A big clear out

On of the 1st jobs we will tackle in the workshops when Daniel joins us is a big tidy up and re organisation. Those of you who have visited will know how cramped we are and that I am not the tidiest man on the planet + we have vast amounts of used parts which I cant possibly dispose of just in case.

I don't envisage finding any rubbish or junk at all - only parts which I have lost that are someone's salvation one day. I have parts going back 40 years and they can be so useful. Only this week we found parts for 2 different customers which could not be sourced elsewhere.

Cheats and robbers everywhere

Ebay - a marvelous invention - well it is for me anyway, I get so much business from people wanting help and repairs to machines they have bought which turn out to be not so perfect - long may it continue.

Anyway, I sell service kits and the like on there and have met and helped a lot of nice people. Then I meet this gentleman - he orders a service kit for a Hydrovane 501 and I tell him how I want paying - Cash, postal order or card, no need to wait for cheques to clear etc. He said he would pay by card. So what does he do, sends me a cheque. Anyway nice chap me send the goods to him and the cheque back asking for payment as agreed. No payment received no reply to emails.

Another one with no blow

I suppose that I should have been suspicious from the start, a 100cfm Hydrovane and the air outlet was bushed down to end up with a 8mm nylon pipe.

Anyway it was a bit down on air so I was told, I removed all the outlet pipework and the flow from the minimum pressure valve was so low that I suspected the valve must be seized. So I took the valve cover off and was surprised to find that it had been assembled back to front and that it was then not working at all.

Looking at the state of the machine and the dirt in the top of the allen bolts this had been like this for a long time. I would guess it was making about 5cfm @ 100psi using a 25hp motor - that's a real expensive way to make air.

Anyway at the end of the service it was probably about 20 times more efficient than when I started. After over 30 years of Hydrovane servicing I have never seen anything like this one before.

I thought we were a bit low on air

Another good one this - Called in on a customer for a 6 month service on their Hydrovane 33 and an old piston compressor - they couldn't find the keys to the compressor room either in fact no one knew what they looked like. So that another 2 machines that no one loves - 6 months without an oil check or anything. So a few days latter they find the keys and I return to do the job.

When I opened the compressor house door, oh what a surprise, bits every where on the floor, the piston had lost both belts and was playing to itself and making no air. So 50% of their air had disappeared at some time or other.

Oh well that's life as they say.

What keys???

About 12 months ago I fitted a new 5kw screw for a high tech local company. We did the job through a third party electrical company who handled all the business side of things and paid us themselves - no problem so far.

The machine had a lube service at 1000hrs to make sure all was well and everything had settled down.

Then the electrical company fell out with the customer over something or other and then a change of management at the original company confused matters even more.

Anyway at 12 months I went along to introduce myself to the new management and to arrange about the annual service. No one knew any thing about anything, the keys to the compressor and compressor room were lost and it was all locked up. No one has been in for 6 months to switch it on or off and no one had checked the oil. I was asked to send in a quote which i did and 6 weeks and 2 phone calls latter still no arrangements have been made.

Basically the warranty is now in doubt and as it is running 24/7 it is well over hours, the whole packing department depends on the air, if and when it gives up they will be desperate for help and with the best will in the world the bill could be massive. We will wait and see and I will keep you posted. If you neglect your compressor it will have the last laugh - big time.

Not the bargain you thought - all that glistens and all that All of a sudden we are busy selling spares kits and advice to people who are buying compressors on ebay and needing help.

There are bargains to be had and there is no doubt of that, but you need to know what you are buying. If you have no experience of these machines and by them blind then then basically its a 50-50 situation - Its either ok or its not.

Now how much of a problem this is will depend on what you are buying - but a 20 year old screw compressor - 25hpand you cant see it going is not a good bet - the work and cost required if there is a big problem is colossal. I have known people pay say £400 for such a beast that turned out to be a heap and the cost of repairs meant it was scrap - and the man who put it on the auction probably knew all about it.

No come back - no nothing - always try and see it running before you bid - even if its cheap. A chap bought an old Hydrovane 66 on ebay recently for £700, didn't see it running and needed to spend £600 to get it sorted - that's 1300 for a still old and unknown 66 - we had one in stock all sorted for £995 - you just cant help some people. Without a doubt he would have been better with us but we aren't complaining because we got the repairs and sold ours elsewhere.

The old ones are the best

A small manufacturing company in Birmingham rang me to take a look at their Hydrovane 66 - it was very old and dirty, but ran quite well. A major service and a separator rebuild plus a good clean up and it runs like new - lots of years left in that one yet.

Where's your back up compressor?

In only 9 trading days this month I put out 4 emergency hire machines out to people I don't know.

Why do people take big chances and when they loose their air end up loosing money that they cant afford - It is obvious if you use air as an essential part of your process - THEN YOU MUST HAVE A BACK UP. I knew you'd be glad you met me

Going back to case study 1 at the bottom of the page, I have dropped in a couple of times on this customer to make sure all is well and then last week I got a call to say it had stopped and the red service light was on - luckily I was local and was on site in 15mins.

The overload had tripped and i reset it and used an amp meter to check loads on motor were ok and increased the setting very slightly. Probable cause was a small surge in load current - any way all is well now.

Of course there was no long wait, no call out, no nothing - that's why you pay for a good job and get a warranty.

How Much ??

Being a little bored early one Sunday morning I was surfing along just to see what my comrades and friends in the trade are up to when I came across a well known name claiming to have a bit of a clear out.

The prices they were asking were ridiculous in the extreme - £5000 not even £4995 for a mid 80s 178 Aircentre - They were just over £3K new - 20 years ago.

Seems they are some kind of investment or something.

AND 

A 1970s 68 ( Very Clean ) at £2995 - dream on that's what I say.
They will be in their stock for ever and ever at those prices. 

Who designed that

All service engineers know that designers never have to work on the machines they design, if they did they would do a better job than they do. I have just finished taking the motor out of a Hydrovane 68 Aircentre. On a conventional 68 the job takes about 30 minutes on an aircentre it takes 4 hours and longer to refit it. What a pain of a job.

I wish the man who designed where the motor should go could have been there to help me at 19.00hrs on a Friday night. Also for some unexplained reason almost every aircentre I have ever seen houses a miserable leaking pump and everywhere is sodden in old oil and goo - that's probably why they put them in a box to start with.

Plug it

On Friday morning we had a simple enough job - Standard service to a Hydrovane 43 + 33 at a customer who uses them well and has them serviced accordingly on a 6 monthly basis.

I drained the oil on the 33 and was replacing the sump plug when I realised that not a lot was happening - a stripped thread in the sump is a nightmare as it can involve a front end strip - however we have had some longer modified plugs made and in 99% of cases they go straight in and are as good as new.

I was more than relieved that this one went in ok as the last thing I wanted was a front end strip down on a Friday when my next job was 75 miles away.

The customer doesn't even know there was a potential problem and all is well - That's what they pay me for - to keep them out of trouble and that's what we do. Not only did I not hassle them with the problem, I didn't charge any extra either - Saint Antony, the patron saint of compressors - that's me.

Check your oil

It never ceases to amaze me that people don't check their oil level.
Every machine we look after has a sticker saying "Check Oil Weekly" and most of them don't check it at all. 

Now most of our machines don't use oil at all and the rest use very little, but if a problem arises and you don't spot it in time then things can get very difficult We have a handful of customers who really should and don't, so we do it for them and at least we all sleep quietly in our beds.

Ironically we have a customer who always checks it weekly on a Friday afternoon and is probably the lightest user we have and it never ever uses a drop ever, but still he checks it - clever man.

A very expensive oil drip

Real nice customers, a small family firm but right up to date equipment, producing top quality shop fittings. Their machines are all new and use air. One of their men noticed an oil drip coming from the bottom of their 5hp vane compressor and being proper people rang me straight away.

Upon inspection it looked like it was coming from the main seal between the compressor and motor - a simple enough job. So we removed the pump end only to find no leak from the seal - the leak was from the oil cooler and these can not be mended - cost £300. Although the seal was not leaking it was worn and had to be replaced £70, that's right £70.

When will manufacturers get it right and be realistic about spares prices - probably when its too late for them.

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I bet you won't have one of these

We had a call from an Historic Railway Society who have a 40+ year old diesel compressor with a damaged oil cooler. Their usual repairer of radiators said a repair was doubtful and would cost around £400 or a specially made unit would be £600++. Anyway we had one which was £200 and that's that. I remember working on those compressors back in the 60s-70s, I doubt if there are many spares about now - although there are a few up in our attic.

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The Attic

Whilst on the subject of the attic - We have spares going back to the 60s. I have always kept all our spares and don't believe in sending things to scrap just because the machine is no longer current. We have complete machines for breaking which almost no one else has left and they have helped save a lot of other machines from the scrap heap - we actively buy in scrap machines for spares.

Most dealers laugh at our philosophy but soon ring up when they need a part themselves, we supply them at a good price and many of them make a killing out of it.

About 3 years ago a major UK Compressor Manufacturer told one its southern distributors to clear out all spares for machines 15 years of age and older. The idea was that if spares were not available people would have to upgrade their compressors.

Around 10 builders skips of new spares were destined to be melted, but the scrap dealer called a local independent and offered him the lot - he paid him about £500 for the lot - real value £super mega - lucky man. Any way more of that another time.

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I told you so

The first interesting shout for help was from one of our customers who run a Medical Lab. Lots of micro air tools running all day - no air and it all stops It turns out that the compressor had suddenly started to use more oil than normal and no one rang us to say. It was a small Hydrovane 15 which usually gave no problems and so we were surprised to get a call in between services. It had stopped more than once with low oil and they finally decided to call.

By the nature of their operation if a Hydrovane is using oil it is either an oil leak, a blocked separator or its in need of a big rebuild. I knew it didn't need the latter as I service it twice a year myself, no oil leak and I changed the separator at the last service (5 months ago).

Upon inspection the separator was worn but still working, the seals in the front end had all gone hard and brittle which allowed oil to leak from the separator and down the line - hence the oil loss.

One of the things which had contributed to this problem was the heat that the compressor was subjected to where it was sited. In their wisdom the supplying dealer had put in under a bench in a small unventilated room along with a small furnace. Even in the depths of winter it is sweltering in there and it does not help things - mind you the customer said he has nowhere else to put it, so he doesn't help either.

As long as the compressor is running no one worries but if it stops its the end of the world.

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December has been and gone and it has been more than busy, with far too much to do and so little time. We finished our last job of the year at 4pm on New Years Eve and that was the end of the year.

The day before that we were still working in Nottingham when we got a call for help from a company in Wakefield and so off we went up the A1(M) to solve another problem - An extra 150 mile round trip at the end of a busy day, good fun or what.

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We always start December thinking that this year it will be nice and steady, but no, as always unexpected jobs turn up and time just disappears.

On Thursday of this week we had a call from a UK Company who needed a 50 hp compressor for its overseas branch in Central Africa. It was paid for the next day and collected ready to be air freighted before Christmas - That's what you call a rush job.

One of our bigger customers asked if we could move a couple of air lines for them. One was a 6000psi main - not everyone's cup of tea - and modify a normal line. That was a nice way to spend 2 days.

Then there was the big job for a major Classic Car Restorer in the Midlands - they needed a new pressure fed cabinet and compressor complete with everything. Not too difficult a job really except I had the flu for a week and that never helps. Anyway its in now and will revolutionise their workshop - another job done.

Of course this is apart from a diary full of service work that always needs doing.

Christmas Eve was spent on a petrol driven portable that wanted to be troublesome, but that's sorted now and we are about to enjoy a couple of days off and back to work on Saturday 27th - no long holidays for Compressorman.

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Well November has been fairly uneventful to date - no major events to report. 

Did save one customer from a big bill though -

The Leaking Pump

A good customer of ours with a wet blast cabinet, reported a water leak from the main spindle in the pump. Now this can be a very expensive repair at best, to a ridiculous situation at worse.

Compressorman attended site first thing next morning and decided to check if main pump nuts were loose - and they were - a gentle retighten to the correct torque and problem solved. No big bill, one happy customer.

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Desert Storm

Another good customer of Compressorman called asking if we could take a look at his Shotblast Cabinet which had developed a dust problem. The machine was kept in a partitioned off area because "it had a dust problem" - well it had decided to get worse and the room was covered in a white powder dust, which the extractor was belching out at an alarming rate. It turned out that the fan motor had recently failed and had been replaced by a local electrician. However, he had not resealed the motor flange plate and we assume it must have leaked and he decided to tighten down the flange bolts, more and more and more until the threads started to strip and so allow a leak to develop.

We helicoiled the damaged threads and sealed the flange plates and that was the end of that problem - Job done.

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Forward Planning

In January 2001 Compressorman installed a rebuilt Hydrovane 23 in the premises of a new customer.

The brief was to provide a nice cost effective air system - on a budget - and capable of coping with some proposed production expansion due within 2 years. 

The system was installed and all ran well - Mid 2003 whilst attending their site for planned maintenance, the proposed expansion plans were mentioned again.

The Expansion Plan

The Company manufacture a range of commercial and industrial lighting products. The were experiencing some difficulties with premature failure of the battery screw drivers they were currently using.

The companies project engineer was looking into the feasibility of using air operated screw drivers and was concerned about the amount of air available as most of the screw drivers he had found used between 8 -10cfm and they needed a total of 4 units - more air than they had.

We liased with our suppliers and found a nice professional unit which uses only 2cfm and at a good price.

Armed with this information we were given the ok to install an extension of the ring main into the assy area, complete with filtration and pressure regulation at each work station.

Our supplier has provided us with a new screw driver for trials and initial tests look very positive and we now await an order for four new units.

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Case Study 1

These customers are the proud owners of a Worthington 10hp screw. 
   
They had owned it from new in 1999 and had never switched it off - or had it serviced.

They had an absolute minimal air requirement, they had leaks which were greater than the demand - so they were doomed from the start.

From new it had been switched on for approx 35K hrs with about 6K load hours, but less than 0.5Khrs of required air.

Anyway the star contactor failed and allowed power on 2 phases only - probably at 17.05 on a Friday night.

The result was big overload, the overload failed and the motor and contactors went US.

Its lucky it wasn't a factory fire instead.

They found our name on the internet and called us for help.
What a mess, a new star delta starter, timer, new motor, repairs and make up for 4 years lack of servicing. The oil was 25% liquid - water.
A disaster is a disaster and there is no way out of it - it was not a cheap repair.

But we gave a full 12 month warranty, got the customer on a full service schedule, and got them to switch off when they go home.

IF this customer had been with us from new we would have supplied a Hydrovane and with our service plan there would have been no problems - that's confidence.

Case Study 2

A referral from our local electrician - that's another drink we owe him.

A wood working company making garden sheds, with an old Hydrovane 43 and a 7.5hp piston as back up - so far so good. We got a call to ask if we could take a look at the Hydrovane which had gone BANG. When Compressorman arrived there were bits of alloy fins all around the Hydrovane.

Someone has left some thing on top of the after cooler which had fell into the lantern and jammed and shattered the impeller housing - Big Big Problem.

This item has long since been unavailable from Hydrovane and the only hope was to find one secondhand - many thanks to several friends in the trade who offered one for £350-400 - but no thanks. A real friend in the trade found us one in Pembroke of all places and we passed it on at cost - that means what we paid for it - no add-ons.

When all finished and serviced it was a fair old bill but it was fair and everyone was happy. Again this is another new customer for us and they are on our regular service list.

Addendum;

What we didn't tell you was that 2 weeks before the disaster the machine was "Serviced" by a so called specialist company who charged £369 and did very little for it. Needless to say Compressorman is now the approved supplier at this company from now on.

Case Study 3

Yet another call from an electrician - this time in Birmingham.

He had a customer with an old Hydrovane 170 Aircentre - contactor problem, overload failure, sound familiar - electrics need service too. The motor was US and they needed it taking out for them - why does Compressorman get all the good jobs.

Miserable job, but 4 hours later the motor is ready for collection by electrician.

It is pointed out to him that all 8 drive pins are US and need replacing.
Electrician thanks us for our efforts said he can replace and rebuild himself - don't forget the drive pins we said.

Some time later the electrician called about something else and we asked how the aircentre was - ok but a bit noisy they said - did you fit new pins? What new pins, they said.

It could be a decade, a year, a month, a day or an hour - who knows, but when it goes it will be a big expensive bang - we are glad on our invoice to the electrician we put in bold letters YOU MUST REPLACE DRIVE PINS.

Some people just seem hard to help sometimes.

Guess What?  03/11/03

Call from said electrician - his customer had reported a tapping noise coming from the aircentre, he didn't attend and next day his customer said noise was now worse and more of a banging sound.

This electrician is a bit of a laid back fellow and left it another 24hrs before attending his customers site.

When he got there it had just died - bits everywhere - no compressed air - and a nasty looking customer.

Would we like the job - "I don't think so" was our best reply. Compressorman enjoys a challenge and will tackle most jobs, but does not get involved in hopeless causes. 

Anyway, some friends of ours in the trade have taken on the job, they are looking for a male and female coupling, new drive pins, bell housing and are concerned about damage to the compressor main shaft - sounds like big grief to us - the bill will be enormous and the end user probably thinks its the electricians fault and hasn't even paid the first invoice as yet. This extra work will create an even bigger invoice and no one will want to pay.

Points to note;

Always use a reputable compressor company for servicing and repairs.
Get a Preventative Maintenance Programme and things will never get to this stage.

Consider a hire contract and none of it is your problem or cost.

We can help you with all of the above.

Case Study 4

This was another good one.

An existing customer of Compressorman this time - they have 2 sites one well maintained by us on a service contract and the other for breakdown repairs only - no service.

The second site was having a big revamp and needed to be bought in line with the main site. The piston compressor was 5.5hp, old - very old and made in S. Africa. The chap on site said it squeaks and squeals a bit and gets hot - he was about right. The pressure valve had failed and at 200+++psi the belts squeaked and squealed quite a lot.

A new valve, its first service in memory, new belts and its seems fine now and of course a regular service plan.

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That was enough excitement for Compressorman in October and he was glad of the everyday servicing and repairs of his own customers.