I just picked this up last week. Its a 1943 Westinghouse industrial air compressor. It came from a friend of my father in laws that had closed up shop. I was skeptical as to how well the old beast would run but was told it worked so figured I would fire it up and see what I had. The pump and tank are original but the motor and pressure switch have been updated to newer units. To my surprise this thing runs quiet and fills the tank from 0 to 125 (which is full pressure) faster than my 60 gal would recover when the pressure switch tripped. Bad news is my wife hates that its old and crusty and made me shoehorn this thing in my already small two car garage/shop. Im going to make a custom guard for the flywheel and figure out a better air filter for it as well. I am having it wired up tomorrow afternoon and I will stuff it back in the corner where it will live till I can move to a bigger spot.
cool man, I gots an oldie too. Made In Oakland CA, 1946 by Walter R. Cole & Co. And Its workin great.
Cool. Maybe build a little addition to the outside of the garage just to house the compressor? Out of sight, more room in the garage, and quieter.
^^^^^ Right on.......out of sight, out of mind! The older American made, industrial strength air comp. were built to last. You will love that old beast, but, sorry to say, your wife never will....
Ok so the pressure cut off switch fails. Do you watch your compressor every time it runs? Have you checked the pop off valve?
Build an enclosure around it, insulate it and plumb the intake to the outside of the garage, quiets it down a TON, I also wired mine into its own individual circuit/switch so I can turn it off at the end of the day. Plumb in a drain that makes it easy to drain the tank as well...
That is Awesome. I agree with the other guys, Build a small concrete pad outside and house it in there. you can even insulate it more to keep it quiet. Heck you can even make the building its in look like a nice piece of yard art or a small outhouse. My ex used to hate my tools and vehicles. Notice how I said EX? lol MY gf now is awesome and loves all my tools, hot rods and projects.
I agree!!! OSHA comes out and sonic tests our tanks every year. They rust from the inside out. It will probably be fine because they are THICK but still should be tested. Cool find.
That's what I was going to suggest. Build a nice little "garden tool shed" on the side or back of the garage to put the compressor in and maybe actually put garden tools in it. Out of site and a lot quieter along with having the room it's in as + when you go to sell the house and move to something with the big shop.
I'm ***uming it pumps vintage air? I think there was a thread a while back about guys that were filling their tires with vintage 40's air?? haha just kidding ya Looks great! I love it!
Mine is a early 40's quincy and it is super quite, and I run mine at 150. My 120 gallon tank is 3/8" thick. Keep the oil changed and it will last forever. More than I can say about the newer china ****
If you put it in it's own little shed be sure to make sure it has air flow around it, if you are working it they will get hot.
The air is DEFINITELY vintage! Nobody is making more air! As the Talking Heads say....."same as it ever was!" Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app
HAHA its supposed to look like a bomb but I don't have enough room to make some sheet metal fins. It needs some black dots that look like rivets maybe? The tank is not leaking and holds air just fine. I wish I could put it outside but my wife threw a fit when I told here I was putting it outside the garage so I figure ill let her win this one. Last time she said NO to me I came home with a Harley and she didn't talk to me for a week. HAHA
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