I own a real pos Ingersol Rand compressor, SS5 I've owned it for 5 years since it was new. After one year the company replaced the whole pump assy. because it would not develop pressure above 110 psi. ( blown head gasket ) Now it has another blown head gasket on the replaced pump. I find this unit has more 1 star reviews than 5 star reviews on Amazon. The question I have is I want to replace the head gasket with a hand made brass or copper. Is it feasible? The spacing between the cylinders is only about an 1/8" and that's where it fails. The original gasket is made out of a graphite type of material. This unit is in my basement so it is in a constant temperature. I have not used it for any serious type of work as of yet. If it runs a couple of times a week it's doing something. I feel I've gotten screwed on purchased. Anyway I digress. Will the homemade gasket work?
air compressor
- Thread starter dirtymudder
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Give it a shot. What do you have to lose? In just a while you'll then be an expert and can tell us how it's done.
Seriously, just find some material about the same thickness, copper, brass or soft aluminum and have at it. Make sure the mating surfaces are absolutely shiny clean. Don't use any sealer and be a good craftsman, get the fit right.
Seriously, just find some material about the same thickness, copper, brass or soft aluminum and have at it. Make sure the mating surfaces are absolutely shiny clean. Don't use any sealer and be a good craftsman, get the fit right.
I say try and fix it. No digging under the hood, just sit at your bench and get to work..
Originally Posted By: bioburner
If I made a head gasket for a Everude 20 outboard with layers of aluminum foil and paint you should be able to make a gasket for a air compressor.
Good luck
Got any pictures? and how did you come up with this solution?
If I made a head gasket for a Everude 20 outboard with layers of aluminum foil and paint you should be able to make a gasket for a air compressor.
Good luck
Got any pictures? and how did you come up with this solution?
Originally Posted By: bioburner
If I made a head gasket for a Everude 20 outboard with layers of aluminum foil and paint you should be able to make a gasket for a air compressor.
Good luck
Impressive! Most impressive!
If I made a head gasket for a Everude 20 outboard with layers of aluminum foil and paint you should be able to make a gasket for a air compressor.
Good luck
Impressive! Most impressive!
One thing I see is the hardness of the brass. I've been looking but don't know what I should use for the gasket One of the sites I found had a Rockwell hardness of 55-65. I don't know if that is soft, hard or what?
Pretty much as I said. layered up foil and used the aluminum paint between layers. Cut out the gasket using the old one as template. Torqued in and ran for hour and torqued again. Was just north of Puerto Vallarta Mexico and was not due home for another month and half. Late 70's. Campground had some very interesting smart people.
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Clean the area up and use a quality rtv like the right stuff.
I would keep pushing it to see if they have an updated head gasket.
However most 5hp compressors would be two cylinder or two stage. This must have one huge cylinder.
However most 5hp compressors would be two cylinder or two stage. This must have one huge cylinder.
Just replace the pump with a Kellogg two stage L800002, done deal.
Originally Posted By: dirtymudder
One thing I see is the hardness of the brass. I've been looking but don't know what I should use for the gasket One of the sites I found had a Rockwell hardness of 55-65. I don't know if that is soft, hard or what?
You don't want brass. You want copper. We used solid copper head gaskets with "O rings" for 7 sec turbocharged 4 cyl Funny Bikes running 28-32 lbs of boost on 105 Octane racing gas.
To make the copper gasket soft enough to seal properly it must be annealed. To do that...heat the gasket with a torch until it just begins to turn red. Then drop in a 5 gal bucket of water. The gasket will come out dead soft. Then clean the surface in a blast cabinet using walnut shells preferably...but glass beads will work if you clean it well afterwards. Then clean with acetone and apply a THIN coat on both sides of a white RTV called ThreeBond....sold at many Japaneses motorcycle shops.
Copper gaskets are very effective and can be reused multiple times.... as long as you go through the annealing process before reinstalling.
One thing I see is the hardness of the brass. I've been looking but don't know what I should use for the gasket One of the sites I found had a Rockwell hardness of 55-65. I don't know if that is soft, hard or what?
You don't want brass. You want copper. We used solid copper head gaskets with "O rings" for 7 sec turbocharged 4 cyl Funny Bikes running 28-32 lbs of boost on 105 Octane racing gas.
To make the copper gasket soft enough to seal properly it must be annealed. To do that...heat the gasket with a torch until it just begins to turn red. Then drop in a 5 gal bucket of water. The gasket will come out dead soft. Then clean the surface in a blast cabinet using walnut shells preferably...but glass beads will work if you clean it well afterwards. Then clean with acetone and apply a THIN coat on both sides of a white RTV called ThreeBond....sold at many Japaneses motorcycle shops.
Copper gaskets are very effective and can be reused multiple times.... as long as you go through the annealing process before reinstalling.
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