I recently bought a Craftsman compressor; 32 gallon tank; non lubricated pump. Its not the greatest but does the job for my limited space. Due to limited space I keep it in my dining room.

Would it do any damage to keep the tank full after using it if I occasionally drain any water from the bottom?

I usually release all the air whem I'm done with it and then it takes forever to fill up. Plus being in my dining room its noisy as hell while the motor runs constantly to fill it. It also bothers my neighbor (during initial fill) as she's on the other side of the twin I rent. I find myself using my handtools as opposed to air tools because of the long fill and noise. I would use it much more often if I could keep it pressurized and not have as long an initial fill, BUT i don't want to cause any unnecessary damage. BTW it not really feasible to take the compressor outside and run an extension cord.

What do you think?

 

Generally will not hurt anything to leave it pressurized. In all likelyhood, it'll leak down in hours to days anyway. I never depressurize my compressor tank. I put in an auto drain valve in the bottom so that any time it does leak down the drain opens and lets any moisture escape.

 

I second Roger's comments. No problems leaving it pressurized. Like he said, don't be surprised if the pressure drops considerably if you don't use it for some period of time. This "leak down" is perfectly normal.

 

Thanks for the help. Normal leak down doesn't worry me. I just wasn't sure if it was going to hurt anything. If I have anything in the tank, the shorter fill time will make numerous folks a lot happier.

Thanks again