air compressor tank

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Thanks for the compliment, Jerm. It's appreciated.

Conpressed air is pretty safe to work with because tanks and such will leak easily but you really have to work at it to make them explode.

I pretty much agree with Dodgeman but I still like to wash with something with a lot of TSP or a substitute like Dirtex if you are going to paint something that has been in oily/greasy conditions. His Cascade probably has some, as does Tide soap. Mask flange areas and you can probably use a spray can to paint an enamel that will give you reasonable life.

One thing to consider is that the tank is relatively the cheapest part of an air compressor. It's the motor and pump that are the expensive part. You can buy a tank at a junque yard cheaply and throw a coat of paint on it for under $25. You can buy a large auxilliary tank for the same money. Again, because they don't tend to explode, and will not do much at 75 psi or so if you can figure out a way to make them explode, a pressure test at 150 should ease your mind.

Throwing a tank in a fire where is can generate steam inside IS dangerous, though, so keep fire away or you get away if your tank gets into a hot location. Chances are that even with that, the brass or plastic in a gage or something similar will melt and release the pressure first. An uncontrolled hose attached to a big tank has hurt people too.

I'd have a lot less friends and acquaintences if we got rid of everything that was kind of old and didn't work very well anymore.

Henry in MI