By Joe Gresh
I’m stealing the two-fer idea from Berk mostly because I haven’t had an original thought in 10 years. This Bowsers thing happened last week when I was changing the tire on the ZRX1100 for an upcoming trip to Utah.
The tire, a Bridgestone, was a bear to get on the rim, very stiff and it took lots of lube and struggle to get the thing fitted. One casualty of the battle was the little dot that is supposed to be near the valve stem ended up 180 degrees opposite. I don’t know how that happened, I started with it in the correct position.
The tire was so difficult I left the dot position where is was, figuring to cancel out any imbalance with wheel weights later.
Normally I don’t have much trouble airing up a tubeless motorcycle tire and use a little 12-volt pump for the task. The Bridgestone had other ideas. The damn beads would not seat. I needed more air pressure and more air volume.
Back in my youth I wanted to be an auto mechanic and I worked at a few shops mopping floors. In the 1970’s there were no cordless tools. Since all shops had a big compressor I needed an air impact, hammer, ratchet, drill to complete my cosplay mechanic’s kit.
Once you have a bunch of air tools you’ll need a compressor to operate the tools at home so I bought a Sears compressor, I was around 15 years old at the time and since I fancied my self a custom painter in addition to being a mechanic the compressor was used most every day.
Fast forward 50 years and the Bridgestone tire: I flipped the switch on the Craftsman compressor and a loud buzzing sound was all I got. My first guess was a bad capacitor. I ordered one from Amazon as there was nowhere close to buy electrical bit. Still, I had no air. I needed a compressor right now.
As luck would have it Harbor Freight (I get no commission, although I should) had a 20-gallon unit on sale for $200. I drove down the hill and picked up a copy.
The new compressor looks well made. It’s a vertical unit so the thing takes up slightly less floor space. A big difference between the direct-drive, single cylinder Harbor Freight and the belt-driven, two cylinder Craftsman is the noise: the HF is loud as hell.
With the new compressor’s 125 psi blast it was easy as pie to get the beads seated on the Bridgestone. The tire was well made and it only took 1/2 ounce to balance. Closing that cheaper of my life I moved on to the old compressor.
The new Amazon capacitor arrived and I swapped it into the Sears compressor. The result was the same: a loud buzzing sound. Having eliminated one variable I decided the motor start/run switch wasn’t working and the compressor was trying to start on the run circuit.
Taking the motor apart was easy and the contacts for start/run were arced and corroded. I felt this was the problem and cleaned the contacts as best I could.
While I had the motor apart I greased the unsealed ball bearings for the first time in 50 years. I’ll be long dead before they need grease again. The pulley was well rusted onto the shaft, it took some heat, penetrating oil and lots of back and forthing to get it pulled off so that I could grease the output side bearing.
I reassembled the mess, crossed my fingers and plugged in the compressor. The smooth whir coming from the compressor belied its age. The Craftsman was back in business at 50 years old.
So now I have two compressors. The 220-volt Craftsman and the 110-volt Harbor Freight. Even though it’s lower voltage the HF starts with less amp surge which helps out the 6000-watt inverter but it’s loud. The HF also makes 45 pounds more pressure.
The 1-horse motor on the Craftsman packs a wallop on startup, even at the higher voltage, but you can carry on a conversation standing next to the thing. It struggles to get to 80 psi and that is probably due to needing new rings or reed valves.
I guess the big difference is I’m pretty sure the Harbor Freight won’t be working in 2075 but you never know. I wouldn’t bet against that old Craftsman still pumping air for another 50 years.
You know you want it. Go ahead.
I don’t understand why air compressors are so loud. It’s an electric motor driving the thing….I guess I gotta Google it….
The belt driven ones seem quieter
I wish I could take apart things and put them back together…it must be nice!
A Freudian typo – Closing that chapter of my life
I too wanted to be a mechanic – took auto mechanics in high school for two years, early 70’s.
Fortunately I was a klutz and did not have the eyes or hands, took me two hours to do a
30 minute job. But was the man to have along in the bush when things went weird.
My skills are similar to your old compressor, prefer my broken cars to be at least in the 1970’s.
Pet peeve # 248 is loud compressors. May that Craftsman get the most use.
Agree with David. Those vibratory compressors I can’t stand. And I am more than half deaf . I had one given to me years back and I got rid of it quick. All I have now is a small Home Depot , I forget the name off the top of my head. But it’s a known brand even if it’s small. It works ok for what it is.
I have been meaning to upgrade but never got around to it. If and when I do it won’t be that HF thing you bought.
The key I believe is if the motor takes oil it’s the much quieter compressor type.
The HF is an oil type. Just noisy as hell.
You got your money’s worth out of that old craftsman. They built some good stuff back in the day. I have a newer mid 80s unit I got from the Sears Outlet store for $99. Thing just keeps working.