*AIR COMPRESSOR WARNING*

How is everyone doing? I hope everyone is well and safe! We do have an investigation video that’s a follow up to this. We go over where and why it failed. We also go over some tips to avoid this. If you have any questions please head over there to see if it answers any of your questions. If not feel free to leave a comment and I’ll do my best to get to all of them. This unit is a horizontal 26 gallon Husky air compressor made in the USA bought brand new at Home Depot about 15 years ago. It was drained on a regular basis. I also realize people see my repair on the bottom of the tank on the drain bung and that is the only repair done on the tank. Even though we welded the drain bung it did not fail where we repaired it! It failed on the factory seam as seen in the investigation video.That repair was done about 5 years ago. There was a few pin holes there. That was our chance to realize the tank was compromised and past it’s life expectancy. Never did I expect it to explode, felt it was more likely to leak its self to death. However after this experience welding the tank was a bad idea. We realize at this point it is extremely unwise to weld or repair a compressor tank of any kind! We posted this as warning on how dangerous and powerful these explosions can be! Thanks for your support and hope to see you all at the track this upcoming season!

A good friend of my new lost his nephew when an air compressor blew up in his dad's shop,it blew the head of the vessel off hit his nephew in the upper leg,and cut it badly,he almost bled to death on the way to the hospital,but later died in the hospital due to losing so much blood.I don't quit remember the entire story,but the first hospital the closest one sent him for some reason to another hospital.They didn't offer to put him in and ambulance,they didn't do anything but send him to another hospital,where he later died.

Mine did the same thing when I fix some rust hole in the bottom

I have always wondered if that was something I should worry about. Especially when I consider leaving my compressor charged up 24/7.

There should be a placard on the tank with a remove tank from service by xxxx year My upright 33 gallon, I'd had for 25 years. Fortunately it gave me a clue it had a pinhole leak and was losing 10-15 psi every 24 hours. When I found it, I immediately depressurized and took angle grinder out and cut the bottom bung out. It's now scrap metal. I saw (was somewhat close) to a 60 gal when it blew. Threw shrapnel through walls into 2 cars and one piece went out the side of the garage. It does sound like a BOMB going off* Just replaced mine with a new one. You don't screw around with compressed air. Frightful and quite scary

Never weld of fix pressure vessels. EVER.
Most tanks will leak out a small hole when they fail, MOST tanks "fixed" will explode.
By a new tank, don't risk THIS "fixing" them.

I can see that it had that problem before the bottom drain has been repaired with a welder im surprise id didnt blow earlier but that's could have been the warning sign to get a new one

look very closely at the welded pipe bushing on the bottom of tank makes you wonder what else was done to the tank.

Wow, in my 50ish years of working with pneumatic tools and compressors I've never seen anything like that. I'm going to contact a bricklayer friend have him build a "doghouse" for my compressor. We'll design it to direct the blast upward safely outside of the garage. Thanks for sharing the warning!

Maybe you could weld it back together?

I refuse to buy a used compressor
Its not the smartest thing you can do. You have no idea how long how old or what kind of shape the used one is in inside it, it can look perfect on the outside only been used once, and was in the cornner for 30 years with water in it because someone didn't empty the water. This compressor is a perfect example why a used compressor is a very bad idea.

I can see a lots of rust ,,drain it

Who was the numpty that plugged the pressure relief valve or failed to service it.

A friends neighbor had this happen, though his was a stand up style. The bottom blew out shooting the compressor right through the roof of the garage and into my friends yard.

Lol, thats not a freak accident, thats a lack of general maintenance 😅
Im still using my 30 year old 5 gallon compressor. Not a lick of rust on it.

Scary stuff. I see compressors on Craigslist once in a while where they advertise "tanks leaks needs minor repair" Every time I send them a message and tell them to throw the tank in the dump and it can kill them.

Don't forget people when not in use keep the drain valve open. Never store it with air pressure inside.

Why did the over pressure safety valve fail?

don't buy a cheap air compressor if you don't want this to happen again,buy ingersoll rand or Puma air compressor

It happened as a result of hoop stress

There are a few videos of compressor explosions on YT.
If you want to hear something insane I have heard of people patching rust holes in tanks and continuing to use them.
"I'm sure it is fine, it was just a pin hole."
It is never just a pin hole.

Erm, PRV? DPI of welds? Hydro PT? Wall thickness checks? Yep it’s no wonder it exploded.

I've gotta ask: Was this compressor "made in chyna"?? Uh huh. And then you tried to "repair" it yourself?!? I think I know why you nearly blew yourself up!

Pull a fitting yearly and look into the bottom of the tank with a light or preferably a bore scope. If you see corrosion or worse, scale rust, condemn the tank. In the video, you can see all the scale rust in the bottom of the tank. Especially do this if you live in a humid area where you drain a lot of water out before every use. Technically these are considered "Pressure Vessels" and should be inspected and certified every year by a state or 3rd party company.

I just ordered a California air compressor, I will not use one over 5 to 10 years old sold my 60 gallon Black max, out with the old in with the new.

New guy have a seat on the compressor!

This is why scuba tanks must pass a visual internal inspection once a year and a hydrostatic test every five years. Any tank filled with compressed air is subject to oxidation/rust degradation!

my 240v 21 gal compressor is in the house basement, garage is 12 feet away, rapidaire poly line is buried in the garden.

Thank you for sharing this.

Damn

The one part that prevents this from happening was NOT mentioned... A air compressor safety valve. It is obvious he didn't have one or didn't know what it was for and removed it.

Those things are dangerous is mishandled. I’m in law enforcement and had one incident where one a bit bigger than this exploded and killed a mechanic. Let’s just say there were small pieces of this poor guy everywhere in the room, some of them 2 inches or smaller. Never seen such force.

100# propane tanks make for great air compressor tanks. But don't go welding on them and junk.

Holy shit balls.. imagine a 250gal compressor... ima mount my shit outside now

He said in his Shop.. lmao garage you mean... lmao😂.. plus you should have a 60 gallon bro... 😂😂😂😂

20 year old hitachi tossed in the trash. Ty..

You can’t combine experience to make yourself sound more credible. Fred and rose west had over 100years collective experience.

Most rusty compressor tanks eventually leak through pinholes and that's all. Explosions are caused by manipulated or defective pressure cutout switches.
And the thin wall chinese crap compressors on the market are the true time bombs.
I would NEVER scrap an old quality compressor. While doing maintenance I always check the cutout switch and if the slightest concern appears I replace it. They are cheap. Even the quality switches.

Lol that is one tough motor compress engine to rupture the tank. Drain daily

In the label in my compressor says use only after 5 years and toss them out

Blows my mind how many people run compressed air and dont know they have to maintain it. Freak accident? The corrosion on the inside tells me otherwise

I love the part woka whole neighborhood up! They should have had their ass out of bed already.

you are a very lucky guy

Wow, thank the gods you're ok. That was a near miss.

Thank you for sharing and for your suggestion to move the compressor outside!

What’s the brand?

Woke took!

Super scary. How old was it? Were you draining the tank water regularly?

I will learn from and share your experience. Thank you for putting this out here for us.

glad you are ok, thanks for sharing, what an eye opener.

glad you're ok... but this is 100% operator error... judging by the big old booger welds from it already leaking out by the drain bung.... this was already a sign of corrosion and a compromised compressor tank..... for the future water separators and frequent draining will do your safety some good... the solution clearly isn't sticking it outside.... good luck check that safety blowoff too