It happens every year. The end. The end of the season. The ground hardens up and freezes over, snow falls and we can only reminisce about all the glorious days we worked outside in June and July. Being a seasonal business I'm often asked, "What do you do during the winter?" Some contractors put their paver tools away for the season and turn into snow warriors. Currently we do not offer any snow plowing/salting services. With the outrageous insurance premiums and excessive wear and tear on the equipment, it's currently not a service we are offering. Maybe in the future? Perhaps.. perhaps. For now, this leaves lots of time for winter projects. The current project I have on my plate is putting my compressor through a makeover.
This compressor is a 20 gallon Devilbiss, sometimes these are referred to as a 'single hot dog' style. Unfortunately this model is no longer manufactured. I was a little worried that obtaining parts might be problematic. Fortunately this design of compressor is fairly common. Many vendors made this style. The vendors would just swap out the tank or perhaps the pump. Fortunately Campbell Hausfeld (CH) still makes this compressor and the current version is pretty true to the models that they have been making for a long time, probably around the 60's, maybe earlier, I'm not totally sure, this style has been kicking around for a long time. I also have a friend that has the exactly same compressor but it is a CH. He even has the original manuals with parts list and parts numbers. This should make finding replacement parts a lot easier.
I have had a problem with this compressor for some time. The 'off' switch does not work. The machine runs fine and turns off at the required pressure but it will not turn off at the switch. I usually just pull the power cord to turn the machine off. Not really the end of the world but since I'm in the middle of the compressor restoration I should investigate what it would take to fix it. CH makes a different pressure switch. The old one is discontinued. I hit the phones and called my local suppliers to acquire this part. Unfortunately none of the suppliers that I had called had this in stock. The part would have to be ordered and was fairly expensive. I hit the phones again and was fortunate enough to call Pat at AJV tools. He told me he could get me the part if I really wanted to wait for it or, he said that he had some pressure switches that just came in and if I was willing to buy a few parts here and there I could have my compressor up and running by the end of the day. I said sure and picked it up.
DevilBiss (now DV Systems) Compressor Resto Project
- New Paint. Tremclad, of course. Regal Red, Gloss Black
- New handle.
- New front handle. This should almost be standard for lifting and moving the compressor.
- New Pressure Switch, Gauges and Fittings.
- Ready for work!