Why does my compressor's copper line get hot?

My air compressor has a copper line on it and after it had been running for a long period of time the copper line was very hot - melted my rubber air hose.

What is the reason the line gets so hot?

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Bill answers....

Howdy Mr. Griffeth:

Interesting question.

I'm guessing, since you don't say so, that the copper line is running between the compressor head and into the compressor receiver?

And the rubber hose that melted was your feed hose to your tools, and somehow it was laying on the copper tube?

If my guess is correct, the copper tube is feeding compressed air from the compressor head into the tank.

There are three sources of heat that affect that tube...(four if you use the compressor when the temperature outside is really, really hot!).

The process of compressing air in the head generates heat in the compressed air itself. Each time the compressor piston cycles it's cramming free air molecules together, forcing them to rub up against each other.

We all know that friction creates heat. Just rub your hands together quickly for 20 or 30 seconds and feel the heat buildup on the palms of your hands.

Hard to believe I know, but cramming those molecules together makes the compressed air really hot, and that heat transfers to the tube as the air is forced down, past the check valve, into the receiver.

The next source of heat is the electric motor. The electric motor will got almost too hot to touch after it's been running a while, and that heat transfers through all metal components on the compressor, including the copper tube.

Last source is the heat from the friction within the moving parts of the compressor head itself. It gets very hot and you will burn yourself if you touch the compressor head after it's been running a while.

It sounds like you might be, so take to be sure you don't exceed your compressor's Duty Cycle.

Hope this helps....

Cheers,

Bill