Do I really need "better" cooling with my Yong Heng compressor?

Thanks Bill, love the video. So apparently there is more than just keeping the YH cool. There are other issues with the YH that can grenade the unit. Heat is only one factor.

Allen

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Absolutely correct Allen!

Heat reduction in critical wear areas, at least comfortably below the material limits is a quick way to tickle some life out of these things. Then we start to face things like fatigue failure, as is the case of the Low Pressure piston failing, where the connection to the High Pressure piston is. I suspect an even more common failure is the screw that holds the High Pressure piston in place vibrates loose and allows that connection to hammer on that cast aluminum Low Pressure piston top. That is one condition a missed drop of thread locker at the factory would cause for sure. Granted it could be checked before the unit is entered into service, but that's a pretty major tear down to inspect on a brand new unit. These units suffer from what makes them cheap, materials of questionable origin, designs pushed right to the edge to remove material cost, statistically speaking, the motor is actually a relatively low probability failure point, as I've not heard of very many instances. These things are often a lesson in chain strength, it will fail at the weakest one, you fix it, and it fails at the NEXT weakest one. Lol. At least it gives us the opportunity to stand around and point at it and engage in dialog, sometimes useful dialog...

In an upcoming issue I plan to dive deep into piston failure, look at some measurements I've made on replacement parts, and create a Frankenstein Abomination of a clone motor and a "real" Yong Heng head assembly, Hot rodding at its best! Or worst... Depends on your perspective.

What is your pick for a part, or failure we could look at on the show? After all you guys make the best content, I'm just the vessel.

I think it is interesting that the general consensus seems to be to run a compressor cold and to keep it cold. Are the clearances in these units that tight? 



Allen

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Allen, its all about controlling the heat. Run to long and get to hot, this is what happen. Orings cooked.

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Looks like mine did after a couple of hours of use. It did not heat up but the 2nd stage piston threads did not receive their locktight at the factory and so it unscrewed a bit and banged itself to death on the head. Cheap parts and an easy fix though.

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So I would LOVE to do a bit of forensic failure analysis on this if you still have both pieces (The broken tab and the HP piston). I can cover the shipping, no need for hurry up shipping, I could send you a self addressed stamped box if you like. I can send it back when I'm done if you want it for your "wall of shame" I know I have one, so did Burt Munro...

Thanks Bill, love the video. So apparently there is more than just keeping the YH cool. There are other issues with the YH that can grenade the unit. Heat is only one factor.

Allen

Click to expand...

Absolutely correct Allen!

Heat reduction in critical wear areas, at least comfortably below the material limits is a quick way to tickle some life out of these things. Then we start to face things like fatigue failure, as is the case of the Low Pressure piston failing, where the connection to the High Pressure piston is. I suspect an even more common failure is the screw that holds the High Pressure piston in place vibrates loose and allows that connection to hammer on that cast aluminum Low Pressure piston top. That is one condition a missed drop of thread locker at the factory would cause for sure. Granted it could be checked before the unit is entered into service, but that's a pretty major tear down to inspect on a brand new unit. These units suffer from what makes them cheap, materials of questionable origin, designs pushed right to the edge to remove material cost, statistically speaking, the motor is actually a relatively low probability failure point, as I've not heard of very many instances. These things are often a lesson in chain strength, it will fail at the weakest one, you fix it, and it fails at the NEXT weakest one. Lol. At least it gives us the opportunity to stand around and point at it and engage in dialog, sometimes useful dialog...

In an upcoming issue I plan to dive deep into piston failure, look at some measurements I've made on replacement parts, and create a Frankenstein Abomination of a clone motor and a "real" Yong Heng head assembly, Hot rodding at its best! Or worst... Depends on your perspective.

What is your pick for a part, or failure we could look at on the show? After all you guys make the best content, I'm just the vessel.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Maybe we can get some VENOLIA Pistons made, even a aftermarket rod, but of course then we would have to get a 'hank the crank' crankshaft, a specialty billet head for better cooling. Now that would be a monster based on a cheap compressor. I wonder if we could drive it with a gas engine by that point? Give it a hit of NOS??? lol



It would be neat to see some US based mods on it though.



Allen

Thanks Bill, love the video. So apparently there is more than just keeping the YH cool. There are other issues with the YH that can grenade the unit. Heat is only one factor.

Allen

Click to expand...

Absolutely correct Allen!

Heat reduction in critical wear areas, at least comfortably below the material limits is a quick way to tickle some life out of these things. Then we start to face things like fatigue failure, as is the case of the Low Pressure piston failing, where the connection to the High Pressure piston is. I suspect an even more common failure is the screw that holds the High Pressure piston in place vibrates loose and allows that connection to hammer on that cast aluminum Low Pressure piston top. That is one condition a missed drop of thread locker at the factory would cause for sure. Granted it could be checked before the unit is entered into service, but that's a pretty major tear down to inspect on a brand new unit. These units suffer from what makes them cheap, materials of questionable origin, designs pushed right to the edge to remove material cost, statistically speaking, the motor is actually a relatively low probability failure point, as I've not heard of very many instances. These things are often a lesson in chain strength, it will fail at the weakest one, you fix it, and it fails at the NEXT weakest one. Lol. At least it gives us the opportunity to stand around and point at it and engage in dialog, sometimes useful dialog...

In an upcoming issue I plan to dive deep into piston failure, look at some measurements I've made on replacement parts, and create a Frankenstein Abomination of a clone motor and a "real" Yong Heng head assembly, Hot rodding at its best! Or worst... Depends on your perspective.

What is your pick for a part, or failure we could look at on the show? After all you guys make the best content, I'm just the vessel.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Maybe we can get some VENOLIA Pistons made, even a aftermarket rod, but of course then we would have to get a 'hank the crank' crankshaft, a specialty billet head for better cooling. Now that would be a monster based on a cheap compressor. I wonder if we could drive it with a gas engine by that point? Give it a hit of NOS??? lol



It would be neat to see some US based mods on it though.



Allen

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I actually got some quotes on a US made (local to me) 7024 T6 Low Pressure piston, in low volumes the cost was more than $50 less than $100. The High Pressure piston would be simple to run on a CNC lathe (much cheaper, fewer operations and setups). The trick would be the seals. I've never worn out a set of seals on the HP piston before it grenaded, has anyone had any luck changing them? Rings on the lower are a bit less challenging, and I have heard of folks changing them out. 

Both pistons have been beefed up since the early failures. I believe that the main problem was not overheating but detonation from oil vapor mixing with the intake air hammering both pistons until fatigue caused one or the other to fail. Overfilling the oil by even a small margin or running on an unlevel surface was probably the main culprit. If your unit is less than two years old it is likely to have the stronger pistons installed. They can be bought as spares if you have an older unit. I have a spare update piston-rod assembly but I will wait until something fails before I install it.

Both pistons have been beefed up since the early failures. I believe that the main problem was not overheating but detonation from oil vapor mixing with the intake air hammering both pistons until fatigue caused one or the other to fail. Overfilling the oil by even a small margin or running on an unlevel surface was probably the main culprit. If your unit is less than two years old it is likely to have the stronger pistons installed. They can be bought as spares if you have an older unit. I have a spare update piston-rod assembly but I will wait until something fails before I install it.

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Interesting thought to be sure. I have data that suggests that the newer LP pistons have been made thicker, but still seeing a fair amount of HP piston failures. Would be great to see some real hard data on failure rates by part. 

My Yong Heng is almost 4 years old and I use it to fill my three, 30 minute SCBA tanks. I typically top them off from 3000 psi to 4200 psi. I use a 5 gal. bucket of tap water with the entire contents of my refrig/freezer ice maker in the bucket. The return water flows over the ice which is floating on top. My temps never exceed 45C during the 10 - 15 minutes that it takes to top off a tank. I typically top off all three tanks in succession. I tried ice packs but they did not lower the temps as much as the ice cubes. I have had zero problems with the YH but do have a complete set of spare parts just in case. I also use a high quality synthetic oil made for use in high pressure compressors. It would be nice if we could find find some cooling fins for the external tubes as they do get very hot. I'll probably add a fan at some point to help cool down those tubes. Hope this info helps.

My Yong Heng is almost 4 years old and I use it to fill my three, 30 minute SCBA tanks. I typically top them off from 3000 psi to 4200 psi. I use a 5 gal. bucket of tap water with the entire contents of my refrig/freezer ice maker in the bucket. The return water flows over the ice which is floating on top. My temps never exceed 45C during the 10 - 15 minutes that it takes to top off a tank. I typically top off all three tanks in succession. I tried ice packs but they did not lower the temps as much as the ice cubes. I have had zero problems with the YH but do have a complete set of spare parts just in case. I also use a high quality synthetic oil made for use in high pressure compressors. It would be nice if we could find find some cooling fins for the external tubes as they do get very hot. I'll probably add a fan at some point to help cool down those tubes. Hope this info helps.

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ElGuapo,

Would you say you use a PLETHORA of Ice cubes?... Thanks for the reply! I'm getting ready for another episode where I look at thermal imaging of the old "Wong Way", my Yong Heng in my ongoing video series. Many have expressed an interest in cooling those tubes, I thought it wise to start with some data and see what we can do about it.

Having those spares ahead of time will likely keep that machine from ever failing. Lol.