Air Compressor Woes - Not building pressure past 100 PSI


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Old 04-12-18, 09:58 AM
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Air Compressor Woes - Not building pressure past 100 PSI

Hello all,

Ive got an ingersoll rand 60 gallon air compressor (the one here https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...waAi_FEALw_wcB)

Long story short is that it used to work great, but now it wont build pressure past 100 psi, and will continually run until it throws a rod from the heat.

Bought this little guy used for $125 as it was seized. I unseized with with some PB blaster and it worked great! It used to build pressure up to 135 and cut off. Rod started knocking over time and it seemed to be running a lot longer than it should, and then bam, there goes the rod. Bought a new pump from IR, and got it installed using their oil etc. Same symptoms, wont build pressure past about 105 psi and I have to manually cut it off so it wont end up like the first pump. I called iR and expained the situation, they replaced the pump and their tech looked at it since it was under warranty and left. Too bad i wasnt home at the time to get it to run, but it would not pressurize just like the other pump. it runs great up until about 100 psi, and it just seems like its backing up with no pressure accumulating.

Here are the things I have replaced:
1) pressure switch
2) pressure switch line
3) electrical cord 10 ga
4) line from pump to tank
5) tank check valve
6) air filter
7) overpressurization valve?

still has the same issue. I have also disassembled old pump to see if reed valves were bad, and they all sealed up great. No leaks in the the tank when its full of air.

This is just dumb. I'm stumped. I cant even fathom what the issue might be. I'm basically at point where i want to just sell it as is, but really think it can still be fixed.
 
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Old 04-12-18, 11:07 AM
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Have you made sure the belt isn't slipping? I had one that wouldn't make over a certain amount of pressure and it turned out to be a slipping belt ..... which I didn't discover until after I tore the pump down
 
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Old 04-12-18, 01:00 PM
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ill check that out. Ill try anything! The pump flywheel keeps on turning though.
 
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Old 04-12-18, 01:20 PM
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Mine was turning but once it built up enough pressure to create resistance it would start to slip. Not saying that is what your problem is but something to check and cross off the list.
 
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Old 04-15-18, 11:13 PM
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crossed off the list. Pressure built to 120, then stopped building. I am at the point now where i don't care, so i let it run and it ran for another minute or two with pressure at about 115-120, then cut off. I put a mixture of dish soap on all connections and the connection that vents the head when it cuts off had a minor leak at the flange, and the main outlet had a minor leak. Nothing that would prevent full pressurization up to 135 psi.

Im going to replace the (sorry i dont know the term) small line that bleeds the head when the air compressor cuts off, and redo the main outlet connection so everything is air-tight. I still dont think this is the problem.

I also have read some reviews for this exact air compressor (its the 3 hp model btw) and some other guy had the same issue. Air compressor just wont build pressure to the 135 like it is supposed to. Friggin annoying.

Now i am considering going outside of the 'safe' zone and am wondering if i can change the cut off pressure to be 100-105 psi, and cut in pressure to be 90 psi. It has enough CFM to power my air tools and plasma cutter, and i just dont wanna wreck the pump because of a design flaw.
 
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Old 04-15-18, 11:25 PM
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Every compressor I have ever owned shuts off at 120 lbs.
 
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Old 04-16-18, 01:33 AM
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I get 150 out of my two stage, my other single stage compressors all went to 100 ish. Most tools are then run at 80, I think you are expecting too much.
 
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Old 04-16-18, 03:22 AM
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Seems to me adjusting the regulator so it cuts off at 120 psi would be the quick easy fix. I'm not sure where my big air compressor cuts in/out but my little portable air compressor came from the factory cutting in at 85 and out at 115. That didn't suit my needs so I bumped it up to 90 and 120.. That was about 35 yrs ago and the only issue I've ever had was if it was on the back of the truck with a heavy frost the pop off valve would kick off until the compressor warmed up.
 
 

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