The Forestry Forum

I'm just curious what lifespan you guys are getting out of your kiln compressors? I've had mine running pretty much non stop for the last 4 years and it just quit on me. Not sure if that's standard or if I did something to shorten its lifespan? 

There can be several reasons for a short compressor life, many last the life of the unit but most are in the 10-12 year range. The biggest culprit is usually bad power.

K-Guy,
How expensive is a new compressor?
I am contemplating buying a used Nyle 200M. It is about 12 years old and has not been used in a year or two.

What else can fail on them?

A new compressor is just over $1400 right now.

Speaking with 20+ years experience any working part can fail but nothing is a common problem. These units on average last 20-25 years with some repairs over that time frame. Generally the more you use, the less repairs you will have to make. They love to run.

I've got 20 years on my L200 compressor and it's still going strong.

Quote from: K-Guy on May 22, 2024, 12:49:56 PMThere can be several reasons for a short compressor life, many last the life of the unit but most are in the 10-12 year range. The biggest culprit is usually bad power.

I had an HVAC tech come out and the capacitor for the compressor tested pretty low so I'm guessing that was part of the issue. We've run this kiln pretty much non stop for the last 4 years. 

If the capacitor is weak or dead it causes the other legs of power to pull harder to compensate and after a while it burns out the compressor motor.