My previous post about owning your own scuba compressor was written for a reason. A little over a month ago, I fired up the compressor to start filling tanks for an Advanced Nitrox & Decompression Procedures class that I was teaching. As it started, it sounded funny. After a couple minutes, the compressor stopped running, but the motor was still on. After I turned it off and removed the compressor shroud, I saw the first stage piston and rod were almost completely out of the bore. The bolt that held the rod to the main bearing had come loose (at 3600 RPM I might add) and pulled the whole assembly out. [Read more...]