My cat blew up my compressor

Well played, Monday.

TLDR: Need recommendations for a new compressor with a time / temperature emergency shutdown, or at least a way of avoiding this in the future. Also, my cat is fine.

For those who live to read spilled tea... here's what happened:

I woke up on this wonderful Monday morning with the usual heroic dose of middle-aged back pain, begrudging the morning school routine of shoveling kids out the door. I went downstairs to start the day, and was greeted by the smell of smoke, burning oil, and the unmistakable hum of my yong heng compressor.

My rotund tom cat - whom I keep in the garage at night - had stepped on the power button on his way to the food bowl, no telling at what time. It was obviously him, nothing else lives in the garage, and I had moved my compressor to a spot close to his bowl.

The garage was full of a hazy white smoke, smelled very strongly of burning oil, and my terrified cat was hiding in a drawer, poking his head up and crying out in feline terror.

Obviously the water cooling system wasnt on, though I never use it because I just fill my guns directly and that never takes more than 20 seconds. It also has an auto-shutoff, but because it wasnt hooked up to anything it never quit.

Common sense tells me not to trust the compressor from here on out, not unless someone here has experience with yong hengs being indestructible? I dont believe thats their reputation. Perhaps they are easy to rebuild, or perhaps it should be replaced.

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Ideally I'd like a compressor that has its own integrated cooling system, and one that's smart enough to shut down on high temps or long runs. I'm starting my search, but I also want to ask real humans what their thoughts are?

Thoughts and recommendations?
 
Well, the first thing I would do is insert a self safety between compressor and outlet.

The GX CS3 and CS4 have a vertical face with the "go" button, so the cat stepping on the switch is a limy risk.

The CS4 has internal water tank and radiator that allows for 5 hours duty cycle. Anytime the unit is powered on, the water system is circulating. The "go" button will only turn on the pump action.

The CS3 is all air cooled, no water, but same power on/pump on setup.
 
Please post a picture of the guilty party!
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Very glad he's O.K.! Compressors are replaceable.

We just lost our male cat about 3 weeks ago - I believe to coyotes. Just a week before his 5th b-day. Real bummer. My head knew he was gone that next morning, but my heart keeps looking for him to show up on the back patio, like he had for the last 4.5 years we had him.

We had adopted him with his female sibling, who was also the runt of the litter. He definitely did his big brother job and brought her out of her shell as they were growing up. She has changed since we lost her brother, but both she and our Boxer do seem to enjoy the extra attention they are getting now that our pet stable is down from 3 to 2.

RIP Coconut!
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The question is, why would you leave an 4500 psi compressor plugged in when not in use? To solve this case, simple unplug your compressor when you are done. Isnt hard. Lol. The Yong heng is easy to repair. Since the cooling wasn't on, the o ring must have over heated. Easy to replace and cheap. If you want a new compressor with temp and auto shut off try looking at the hill compressor. Or just simple do what we all do, unplug when you are done. Simple and will save you money.
 
there's a GX compressor I'm interested in,it runs off 2 rechargeable batteries and has automatic shutdown at preset pressure, I've been thinking it might be great for filling guns in the field or range..
my current compressor is a Omega trail charger, I got it from Airguns of Arizona.. self contained liquid cooling just like your car.. auto shutdown, runs on 12 volt and has a converter with it.. so I only have used it on 110 AC so far.i have a power strip with a light plugged in to show when the power is on.. plus there's a breaker on the front you turn on to power it up and then push to start.. so very little chance of it turning on unless you have little kids that push buttons 🤣🤣
life? I don't know.. used it for 8 years so far and it just works..
I've filled 30 minutes scba bottle but I only run 20-30 minutes at a time.. my understanding is heat is not a compressor friend so I don't run it long enough for it to blow warm air..
I'd definitely recommend the Omega trail charger..
I'd love to hear someone else chime in on the GX duel battery one.
Mark
 
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Very glad he's O.K.! Compressors are replaceable.

We just lost our male cat about 3 weeks ago - I believe to coyotes. Just a week before his 5th b-day. Real bummer. My head knew he was gone that next morning, but my heart keeps looking for him to show up on the back patio, like he had for the last 4.5 years we had him.

We had adopted him with his female sibling, who was also the runt of the litter. He definitely did his big brother job and brought her out of her shell as they were growing up. She has changed since we lost her brother, but both she and our Boxer do seem to enjoy the extra attention they are getting now that our pet stable is down from 3 to 2.

RIP Coconut!
View attachment 500654
We thought we had lost a well loved outdoor cat 2 years ago to coyotes. Come to find out a neighbor had taken her in. (After we had her spayed.) They did not take in her kittens, though. Both of them showed up back at our house when the family moved away with their mother. Here is hoping you find evidence your loved cat is still out there!
 
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The question is, why would you leave an 4500 psi compressor plugged in when not in use? To solve this case, simple unplug your compressor when you are done. Isnt hard. Lol. The Yong heng is easy to repair. Since the cooling wasn't on, the o ring must have over heated. Easy to replace and cheap. If you want a new compressor with temp and auto shut off try looking at the hill compressor. Or just simple do what we all do, unplug when you are done. Simple and will save you money.
I blew out my L1 lumbar disk the day after Valentines earlier this year (but not for the reasons one might infer from that date). I had back surgery to fix it, but recovery has been very long, and I still hurt every day.

So when my Yong Heng's auto shutoff stopped working (gauge / sensor / whatever went bad) I had to move it someplace where I could see the gauge on the top.

But as one might imagine, my ability to organize and arrange is very limited, so, lots of compromises get made.

Ive had the compressor for years, my cat is scared of it, so it just never entered my mind that he might step on it. 🤷🏼‍♂️
 
I had my son click my compressor on a couple times out of curiosity. Being autistic, he is drawn to it and likes the noise and vibration. Luckily I was in the room and noticed he found himself a new "toy" to stim at, so I installed a kill switch in the wires that's ran to the floor joist above it. He won't be able to reach it for years to come, and he hasn't noticed that it's there.... yet.
 
Hehe Blaim it on the cat....

I also killed my Yong Heng once due to middle aged stupidity.

I Set up the compressor ready to top up a 9 ltr. tank from 220 to 310 bar -

I am lazy so i use water from the tap as water cooling.
After cooling i let the water run out in the dish wash with the hose hanging close to the water tap valve.

When everything was ready I started compressor.
I was in the next room cleaning my desk and I thought i also needed to wipe the table with water and soap.
So i went back to the dishwash i found that the compressor was running (Clever me hmmm).

I took soap and a table cloth and soaked it under my cooling water hose and walked back to the other room to clean my table.
After a few minutes I heard that the compressor changed noise !!!

I walked back to discover that the "cat" did close the water tap :-(

Anyway I immediate order a New Young heng - This time with Pressure switch so it stops automatically.

After a few days i took the old compressor apart, and discovered that the only thing broking was the high pressure piston seals - They looked well overheated.

So i checked - and it turned out that it comes with 3 additionally sets of piston seals.
I changed the seals and changed the oil too and............... it worked perfectly again.

I just retired the old compressor as a spare, so it stands by, if the stupid "Cat" visits me again.

Daaaaaam Cat