Piston Head Puller Tool
- I don't know if I ever posted these photos of my RIX 2nd stage piston head and how it comes apart. I found a couple of pictures that show the underside of the 2nd stage head and the puller tool that can be easily made up with a machine screw, nut and washers:
The Scheduled Maintenance from my RIX SA3 manual says to grease the rod ends and thrust bearings every 25 hours or every month whichever comes first. I've been doing it every 10 hours of run time. It also says to inspect for leaks, loose fitting, and to clean things up. There is no mention (that I've found, anyway) where I should replace the Head O-Rings, reed valves, or piston rings at a certain number of hours.
I know it becomes necessary. I've replaced Head O-rings a couple of times so far... When I first got the compressor, I opened up the heads and found the O-rings melted and/or extruded. But I replaced them with common hardware store O-rings. Then when I was re-ringing the pistons, I replaced the head O-rings with some better quality O-rings but still didn't put in the Viton 90 Dura that I should have. I shopped around and found the correct rings for the heads at the O-Ring Store (online)... So I have them ready for the next time if and when.
But for a schedule on piston ring and head O-ring changes, I'm thinking to watch my fill rate and when it starts to slow down, that will be my warning sign that it's time to do the changes.
BTW - I filled my Twin 38s from 200 psi to 2000 psi in 26 minutes last night. That's 3.2 "S"-cfm... Probably about 3.0 cfm FAD.