Tiger 8/35 Compressor Woes

[SteveW]

Guys,

Just for information and I needed to share the hurt.

Years back I bought a cheap pneumatic chisel set from Aldi, sort of an impulse buy which has repeatedly turned out very useful. The last couple of days using it to dress the bricks of my garden wall prior to a rebuild. Heaved up by tree roots.

With the compressor safe in my workshop and operating out in the fresh air. All good until it all went quiet. Compressor was now silent and on opening the door clouds of odd smelling smoke billowed out. I thought the thing had seized and burnt out the motor but it was the wrong smell. Sure enough the little hidden trip had popped.

I stripped the cowl back to find the start/run capacitor was very hot and its contents had escaped from a large hole. The motor was still turning freely.

The good news is I've found a new start/run capacitor for around a tenner online. Whether the motor actually survived the torment is likely to cost me a tenner plus PnP to find out.

For those keen on statistics an hours-run meter showed just 30 hours. That was still going.

Another impulse buy in Adli got me a 3hp compressor for less than two thirds the price of the Tiger 8/35 from Machinemart and its been sat in my shed awaiting its day and a hours-run meter. Fingers crossed i can get it out without breaking anything else and it still goes so I can get on with my job.

Just another thought ... should this post be in Tools? I did think it would be more general interest.

[flyingfox]

Greetings, the tiger compressor with a new capacitor has some value, one of mine did exactly the same trick, whilst unrepaired it has little value. Risk a tenner, and you will have the answer.

Remember, knowledge is power!

Regards
Brian B

[SteveW]

I guess you've all been worrying for me and my Tiger compressor ...

I am now able to confirm that the tenner spent on a new start/run capacitor was well spent and the thing is running again. Well, at the moment.

At 30 hours in also thought it prudent to change the oil. As expected it was a bit dirty and again as expected not as much came out as was needed to fill to the dip stick. Maybe if you have a compressor check the oil sump level and if is been a while change the oil. Maybe consider an hours meter.

What I found very useful was an empty Thai Dragon Sweet Chilli Sauce bottle. It has a clever nozzle top which screws down to seal it off. I liked this sauce and will be buying more. The bottle, filled with compressor oil and so marked, was perfect for a controlled top up.

The 3hp WorkZone compressor did the job and was far better at keeping up with the air chisel's demands. I did have to use its direct-from-tank connection as the regulator would not supply the necessary volume but I'll need to investigate further. The sump oil level indicator did show dirty oil by the time I'd finished, something else to look at next time.

When I first used the Tiger compressor I found it necessary to change out the silly little air tap that came with for one with a bigger through hole. This transformed the thing. I also added a water trap which proved essential for grit blasting.

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[steamer5]

Hi Steve,
Can highly recommend the addition of an inter cooler to your air compressor. The cooler is installed between the compressor & the tank, put a water trap between the cooler outlet & the tank, depending on your compressor a cooler fan .
On mine I get a temp drop from 75C into the cooler, to 30 to 35C outlet & pretty much no water in the tank.

Thanks for the reminder to do an oil change !

Cheers Kerrin

[SteveW]

At risk of re-lighting this thread I add the following for information for others with similar compressor kit:

Having replaced the motor start/run capacitor (c. a tenner) I turned to a couple of other niggles.

First being the main pressure switch which, after some 30 hours of run time and not forgetting 20 odd years just sitting there was getting a bit leaky and a bit unreliable. Top Tip here is "Don't even think about taking the bloody thing apart". Yes its do-able and I've done it but it was a nightmare getting it back together. What I also found out doing this was the rubber diaphragm was getting perished so given the other issues it got replaced for less than a tenner via Amazon. The official spare part being over sixty quid plus PnP. If you do do this retain the earth/ground screws from the original because they're not included in the nine quid replacement. Also bare in mind one couldn't post the thing for what I paid for it. The replacement did have a much more robust pressure venting system triggered to dump the pressure in the pipe between pump and vessel and included a proper olive fitting. Just had to cut the original valve off the vent tube.

The only other casualty was the output pressure gauage. The massive vibration had caused the Bordon Tube driven gear quadrant to machine away the teeth on the gauge needle drive pinion. In my case the needle had always indicated a sensible pressure in use so I never knew it was stuffed. Just looking again on Amazon and twelve quid for an expensive gauge will solve it. Perhaps should add my daughter has Amazon Prime and is currently treating her old dad. Might consider a blob of light grease or similar on the new quadrant/pinion to dampen the chatter.

Not forgetting ... if you own one of these compressors or similar don't forget to check the sump oil and either top up or replace as necessary.

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