by Larry Ball
(McKinney, Texas)
There is not air being discharged. The tank pressure is full but I am not getting any pressure through the regulator. I have a porter cable C2002WK
________________________________
Larry, I get questions about this many times. So many, in fact, that there are pages about just this issue on this site.
The symptoms you write about certainly suggest a regulator issue. Rather than retyping all the info here, please wander over to the regulator page and check them out, and then the troubleshooting page about no air out of hose.
They will point to all the things to check, including the regulator. Let us know what you found, will you?
Tank pressure gauge reads 0, but output pressure occurs and gauge there reads OK?
by Stephen
(maine)
I have a one year old P/C oil less pancake compressor.
My tank pressure gauge always reads ‘0’. My output gauge works OK. The knob to regulate the output pressure seems to be stripped.
When I attempt to open the valve to allow more output pressure, usually above 90 psi, the knob won’t turn unless I slowly and firmly push and turn at the same time. This allows me to get up to 100psi at the most.
My son was using the compressor and had it running for about 20-25 minutes before he realized that the drain valve was open, I don’t know if this caused my problems. Any idea as to what’s wrong?
____________________
Stephen, some (many?) regulators require the operator to either push up or pull down on the knob to allow it to connect to the adjustment nut inside. It’s sort of a security issue.
Dump all the air from the tank with the compressor off. Swap the regulator gauge with the tank gauge.
If now the regulator gauge is pooched and the tank gauge is OK, then you need a new gauge. They are a consumable.
The normal break in for an air compressor is to run it with the drain valve open for a period of time to ensure that the compressor runs long enough to accomplish that. Only time will tell if running yours as long as you did created any damage. No way to tell.
If the compressor only puts out, say, 100 PSI, turning the regulator knob to trial to dial up past that point is a waste of time. See the REGULATORS page for more info.
