Porter Cable c2002 type 2

[grtpumpkin]

Recently purchased a Porter Cable C2002 compressor. It's only 2 months old with minimal use.

I was using it earlier today. I adjusted the pressure to max as I have a stubborn bolt to remove.

When I was waiting for it to catch up with full pressure I noticed the compressor got noticably louder and it would no longer build any more pressure. So i drained all the air and started it again, It will only build pressure to 50 PSI and no higher. I shut it off and all is quiet. It's not leaking anywhere. After 2 hours of being off and not used it still has 50 psi in it.

Any Ideas what to look for?

I will call Porter Cable customer service as it is less than 2 months old. Hopefully they will help. I bought this figuring it was a good quality brand.

[UtahAV]

Hi grtpumpkin,

It sounds as if the problem is a worn out piston and cylinder. I think this was a case of not enough compressor for the work being done. The C2002 has a CFM output of 2.6 CFM @ 90psi. I assume from your post about the bolt that you where using an impact wrench. A typical impact wrench requires between 4 and 5 CFM to operate properly. I think that is why the bolt didn't want to budge. The C2002 compressor has a tank that holds 6 gallons of air. Using a tool that requires 5 CFM with a 6 gallon tank will cause the compressor to turn on after about 15 seconds of use and then run continuously until the tool is shut off.

All air compressors have what is called a Duty Cycle Rating. Sometimes the manufacture publishes the rating sometimes not. What the duty cycle rating tells us is the amount of time the compressor may be running during a given job. For example, if you have a compressor with a Duty Cycle Rating of 50% and your job is going to take you one hour, the compressor can not run for more that 30 minutes of that hour. This does not mean that you can allow the motor to run for 30 continuous minutes during that hour. The 30 minutes of running must be spread out evenly during the 60 minutes that the job takes to complete. A small, oil less compressor like yours probably has a Duty Cycle Rating of about 35% to 45%. A compressor that is lubricated by oil will usually have a higher Duty Cycle Rating, approximately 50 to 60%. Large industrial compressors, usually with 80 gallon or bigger tanks will quite often have continuous Duty Cycle Ratings. Knowing a bit about Duty Cycle Ratings can help you to select the proper size and quality compressor for the type of work you want to do. To operate an impact wrench I would consider a compressor with an oil lubricated pump and a tank that is about 25 gallons or larger.

To repair your compressor you will need a piston and cylinder kit. The kit is part #KK-4964 and is available from ereplacementparts.com

I hope this helps!

-UtahAV
-Mark