In later 2024 I was perusing the Marketplace and stumbled across an ad that caught my eye: "Industrial air compressors, $200 each"
Scrolling through a couple, the distinctive green Champion caught my eye. I knew they are highly regarded so I beat feet to go check it out after work. I figured if only the pump was good and the tank and motor were junk it was still worth the asking price. (The R15b pump alone is over $2000). And even if the pump needed a little work, you can get every part needed for a full rebuild with little effort. I bought the compressor and made a call to buddy who has the trailer and some well-trained helpers.
At home, I had a chance to survey what I had:
R15b pump, free spinning, very clean oil, appears in perfect working order.
3 Ph Baldor 4 pole motor, unknown condition
Belts worn
Lots of grime and evidence of leakage
Automatic tank drain
Oil level warning system
So I dive in and start disassembly and cleaning.
About a gallon of mineral spirits later, we have this:
So begins the process of testing for function.
Most important is probably the motor since they are by far the most likely failure on a compressor.
Motor shop connects it to 3ph power and it jumps to life instantly! Gobs of torque and almost no play in the bearings at all. They said the motor is in great condition, just give it a hit of grease in each zerk and put it to work.
Pump inspection appears to be OK, but there's not much I can do to truly inspect it. If I took it apart, I'd be foolish to put the old parts back in, so I'm calling the pump good based on how good it feels barring over and how clean the oil is. The only "Restoration" the pump needs was some fresh premium HPL recip-life oil and a bit of cleaning.
The final piece was assessing the tank. With an automatic drain installed, you'd think a tank would be in good shape, but the auto drain setup in these is sort of wonky and not reliable (it's often removed).
I plumbed the big compressor to my recently completed shop air piping and used my small 120V compressor to pressurize it. The check valve was leaking, but after replacing that the big tank is tight like a tiger. The tank is solid.
(image removed - MOD)
So after part time attention over two years, the Champion now has:
Good Tank
Good Motor
Good pump
Auto Tank Drain removed
No more oil monitor puking oil
Brand new BX65 belts
Which means it's time to conquer the final hurdle: running it on 3ph power at home.
Scrolling through a couple, the distinctive green Champion caught my eye. I knew they are highly regarded so I beat feet to go check it out after work. I figured if only the pump was good and the tank and motor were junk it was still worth the asking price. (The R15b pump alone is over $2000). And even if the pump needed a little work, you can get every part needed for a full rebuild with little effort. I bought the compressor and made a call to buddy who has the trailer and some well-trained helpers.
At home, I had a chance to survey what I had:
R15b pump, free spinning, very clean oil, appears in perfect working order.
3 Ph Baldor 4 pole motor, unknown condition
Belts worn
Lots of grime and evidence of leakage
Automatic tank drain
Oil level warning system
So I dive in and start disassembly and cleaning.
About a gallon of mineral spirits later, we have this:
So begins the process of testing for function.
Most important is probably the motor since they are by far the most likely failure on a compressor.
Motor shop connects it to 3ph power and it jumps to life instantly! Gobs of torque and almost no play in the bearings at all. They said the motor is in great condition, just give it a hit of grease in each zerk and put it to work.
Pump inspection appears to be OK, but there's not much I can do to truly inspect it. If I took it apart, I'd be foolish to put the old parts back in, so I'm calling the pump good based on how good it feels barring over and how clean the oil is. The only "Restoration" the pump needs was some fresh premium HPL recip-life oil and a bit of cleaning.
The final piece was assessing the tank. With an automatic drain installed, you'd think a tank would be in good shape, but the auto drain setup in these is sort of wonky and not reliable (it's often removed).
I plumbed the big compressor to my recently completed shop air piping and used my small 120V compressor to pressurize it. The check valve was leaking, but after replacing that the big tank is tight like a tiger. The tank is solid.
(image removed - MOD)
So after part time attention over two years, the Champion now has:
Good Tank
Good Motor
Good pump
Auto Tank Drain removed
No more oil monitor puking oil
Brand new BX65 belts
Which means it's time to conquer the final hurdle: running it on 3ph power at home.
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