By: Joseph Schneider,
Duluth,Mn.USA
I have a Hitachi 2 HP 4 Gallon Oil-Lubricated Air Compressor Model # EC12.
The motor sounds strong, but I’m getting hardly any air in my tanks. I check the oil and and looked at the gasket and it seems to look ok. Air is coming out of the top of motor. Don’t know if that is normal.
_________________
Hello Joseph. No, air isn’t supposed to come out of the top of the motor. This symptom makes me think that you have a valve failure, and what may be happening (since air follows the path of least resistance) is that the air that’s being ingested by the compressor piston is being blown right back out the same inlet port since it’s easier for the air to flow that way, than down past a check valve into the tank.
Why won’t your compressor build air pressure? There are a lot of reasons found on the troubleshooting page of this site which may also be a cause, though I suspect it’s the reed valve that is causing your compressor problems.
_______________
Hi bill
by: Joseph
Is the reed valve the cylinder shape by the gauges that you can pull to release the air?
_______________
No, that’s the PRV, Joseph. The reed valves are located inside the intake hole (usually there is an intake filter screwed into the intake port) and they control the air in, and stop the air out, so that the air can be forced into the tank.
Hello Bill, I recently purchased an Hitachi 4 gallon ec99s off of Amazon. Not a refurbished unit but a unit that was a return in its original box. The company I purchased it from states that all of them have been tested and work great. I received the unit very timely and it appeared as if it was never used. I plugged it in and the motor ran well but it never built pressure. I contacted the company and they apologized and sent a replacement immediately not requiring the original in return. I plugged the second unit in and it… Read more »