Hello All, Oil drain plug on C'man compressor will not budge. Almost stripped it but not quite. What to do?

Question

Old model 919.174320, 2HP,20 gal capacity. Trying to bring it back to life. Don't want to have to pay for maintenance before I've tried it on my own. I'm a widow trying to use late husband's tools!!

Answer 1

OK AA if you don't have liquid wrench, use BP Blaster, WD 40 etc. follow instructions. You can try putting the wrench on the plug and tapping the wrench with a mallot or hammer to break the plug loose.  A non metal hammer is much safer. Make sure you hold the wrench so it don't fly off.  Don't mash your fingers, wear gloves and safety glasses and anything else you need. You might have to be persistent but it will come out.

Answer 2

Try putting some liquid wrench on it,let it sit on there for 15 minutes or so.When you do try to loosen it again make sure you have a wrench that fits snuggly on the bolt.Try to tighten it first sometimes this will work,then loosen it.righty tighty,lefty loosy

Answer 3

Isn't the oil plug on this compressor a square headed lug? If yes, you should be able to shamelessly grab that thing with large, "channel-lock" waterpump pliers, or even a pipe wrench.

But, before you get tough with it, do give the liquid wrench a try. If you're comfortable with this, you may also try applying some heat. Don't go crazy with an Oxy-Acetylene torch, but a heat gun or a Bernzatmatic torch (see link, but I'll bet your husband had one of these too. You can get one at any hardware store) will get results. Just be careful, you might want to do this outdoors just to be safe.

Also, don't forget to drain the tank periodically, once you get it working as condensation inside the tank can cause it to rust out. The tank drain valve is a pain and because it gets wet, they tend to rust and stick too. Put some oil on that and turn it periodically.

That's a nice compressor, you should get a lot of use from it.