Matt Decker
Registered
Recently acquired a Mako/Bauer compressor of evidently rare vintage. Bauer customer service didn't really positively identify the model, but Lawrence Factor took a shot at it. LF said it's probably a Capitano mod 5 with a military surplus filter tower.
The seller said he had just filled a tank to 3300psi the day before.... but you know how sellers can be. The whip was melted and it's a hydraulic hose, not a breathing gas hose. The fule line wasn't even connected to the gas tank.... so we begin the teardown/rebuild process.
I have scoured the various posts here and learned quite a bit. So thought I might pick your brains some more.
First off, looking to positively ID the unit.
Block stamp is KB14874, another mark by the second stage is 7/1451/5
Not sure why I can't seem to upload pics at the moment, but I know those will be very helpful. I will work on that in this thread. (Sorry)
Presuming the compressor is fine-ish with likely a valve replacement, I am greatly concerned about the pressure vessels and filtering system. Probably need to/should replace the water/oil separators and definitely the tower. For giggles, the filter was bastardized by breaking the top portion and inserting a washer/bolt to hold it to the tower plug. I don't think that's terribly kosher. The FT is thick steel with only a few spots of surface rust, but why take this chance....
So the second question is, what's an economical and modern way to upgrade the filtering system?
Transparency - I am sure I overpaid for this unit ($1000) from what appeared to be a dive shop on the east coast and listed it as a Mako K-14. My bad, but worst case, I can part it out and resell the parts. The 9hp engine is fairly new, too.