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[oletrucks] POS Devilbis oiless air compressors (long)

To: oletrucks@autox.team.net
Subject: [oletrucks] POS Devilbis oiless air compressors (long)
From: CLLLSLS@aol.com
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1999 00:40:21 EST
I built my shop in '94. Went air compressor shopping same time. Had to have 
that "shop size" air compressor. Had no clue what to look for in an air 
compressor. Couldn't believe it when I found a 5-horse Devilbis Pro-Air II 
unit at costco for $329. Bought it thinking "oiless" was some awesome new 
technology that would revolutionize air tools. Hey, it has Teflon in it. Must 
be good, right? Wrong!!!!!!! Just like a cheap no-stick fryin' pan.

A friend bought the same unit at the same time. Knew something wasn't right 
when his threw a rod out the side about 18 months later. But, theres a good 
side! the rebuild kit is only $40. He buys the rebuild kit. Puts it in. The 
funny thing is that he doesn't hardly use the compressor. 6 months later the 
same thing happens. He comes over with a bag full of twisted compressor 
parts. Another $40 for a rebuild kit. Makes absolutely sure he does 
everything right this time. Every 4-6 months His compressor breaks down. Just 
like clockwork. My buddy keeps the rebuild kits on hand all the time. The 
guys at the Devilbis repair shop love these compressors! 

Well, I always teased him about it. Told him mine will probably run forever. 
The last time his compressor broke down, about a month ago, I really started 
to wonder what was going on. I couldn't figure out why my compressor has done 
so good. The really ironic thing is that my compressor runs non-stop on 
weeknights and even harder on the weekends. If I'm not sandblasting, I'm 
painting or using a DA or my newest toy, a CP dual piston pnuematic board 
sander (insert Tim Allen manly grunt/laugh here)! Well, 2 weeks ago the 
god-awful noise the compressor makes when pumping started changing pitch. I 
new my compressor's time had come, but I wanted to see just how far this 
thing would go (so did my friend with this compressor). I really wanted to 
see metal chunks flying and sparks and stuff. I really hate this bastard 
compressor. I wanted to see it suffer. Well, it wouldn't give me drama. 
Yesterday it got to the point where it took twenty minutes just to pump up to 
90 pounds. When I bought the compressor the pump could maintain 90 pounds 
with an open line. 

I broke down and shut the breaker off. Pulled the cover off the compressor 
marveling at just how cheap they could build something. Really getting pissed 
off that I payed $329 for a big orange tank, 20 beer cans worth of aluminum, 
100 yards of copper wire, 4 ball bearings, some miscellaneous plastic and 
some pipe fittings, not to mention the 1/10 of a gram of Teflon. Looking at 
the repair manual, I noticed that the crankshaft counterweights didn't appear 
to be in the correct position, upon closer examination, they were loose, 
turning freely. I went to loosen the nut on the end of the crankshaft. It 
came off without a wrench. It's supposed to be torqued to 90 FT/LBS! It was 
then I realized that if I had just left that thing run for another 1/2 hour 
or so, I might have had metal chunks and sparks. To bad! As it turned out, I 
needed a whole new crankshaft and counterweights and pistons and rods and 
liners. $150, I'm closing in on my buddy! Never buy oiless!!!!!! Unless 
you're deaf and you get a huge discount on devilbis parts!!! 

Dustin
50 & 53 GMC 1/2 tons
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959

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