There is really nothing that gives you an appreciation for life, than to almost loose yours.
My car had a soft tire that I needed to fill up. My normal routine when adding air to a tire, is plugging in my air compressor so it starts filling the tank, then proceed to check and fill the tire. When the tire is full, I usually walk back to the compressor unplug it and hang up the hose. On this day, I happen to check all the tires. As I was walking back towards the air compressor, I thought “geez, that thing is still running…Normally it would have shut off by now.”
Listening to my spidey sense, I decided to wait until the compressor shut off before walking up to it. And it’s a good thing I did, because it never shut off… It exploded.
To me, the air compressor made a popping sound…In actuality, my wife and kids heard a loud explosion from inside the house. (This also knocked a large picture off the wall.)
Since everything happened so fast, I didn’t actually “see” anything happen. When Michelle ran out into the garage, there was still insulation raining on everything. Luckily, I was there to tell her everything was fine. The compressor, found a final resting place on the hood of my Trailblazer. Before resting on my truck, it moved the garage wall about a foot, knocked off the truck mirror, and slide down the hood resting against the garage door. (Right about where I would have been standing)
I was still a little bit in shock, but I did take a few pictures. (not very good ones, but at least I took them)
So how did this thing explode? Good question. Obviously the auto-shutoff did not work AND the safety release did not work either. Examining the wreckage, there was no visible weak points, and the metal did not seem fatigued. The compressor, a 14 gallon model made by Sanborn Mfg is no longer supported by the company that took over for the now bankrupt original company. Gee, I wonder why they are out of business; I guess exploding air compressors are not good for business. I’m just glad I am here to write this post.
