Did I hurt anything? Leak test at 120 PSI

[95tsiawd6blt]

I was doing a boost leak test on my car today, and I accidentaly had the air compressor's pressure turned up to 120 psi by accident, I ran the test and found a couple leaks, but my question is, by putting that much pressure into it, would I have hurt anything?
Thanks,

dave

 

[Old Mitsu Tech]

Put it all together and run it. Blown seals should manifest as some kind of smoke or leak. External leak would manifest as low pressure somewhere. Perhaps Oldman can elaborate on this one.

Good Luck

 

[95tsiawd6blt]

i started it up and ran it, it seems fine, im not sure if it got all 120psi or not

 

[boostnhard]

Hey, im sure nothing happend because the gauge in the compressor read 120 means thats the amount of preassure in the tank, not whats going out of the hose, the gauge you should really look at is your boost meter not the one in the compressor.

 

[Locke]

the gauge in the compressor read 120 means thats the amount of preassure in the tank, not whats going out of the hose,

Most compressors have two gauges, one measuring tank pressure, and the other measuring regulated line pressure.

 

[bling5tatus]

I would try a bicycle pump if you're prone to "missing" things like this... it would be equivelent to putting 120psi of boost into your intake though, probably one of your intake pipes would blow off.... or throttle body seals, or tb gaskets, etc. I'd do it with a bike pump to be safe anyway, sometimes "power tools" can be dangerous if not used properly. Most likely you didn't put 120psi of regulated pressure into your intake though, it was probably the reading of the pressure inside the tank, as stated above.

 

[95tsiawd6blt]

yea it must have been just the pressure in the tank, i only heard minor leaks, and the air did not stay in the system very long. i think it really only put 10 psi or so through the motor etc

 

[Calan]

120 psi would definitely have been "noticable" in some way... if not down right painful

My couplers, pipes, etc. start creaking and moaning around 35-40 psi (if they hold that long). Can't imagine what the ballistics would be like at 120

 

[95tsiawd6blt]

hahaha yeah good to know i didnt hurt anything then

 

[oldman]

You didn't hurt anything most likely because you got huge leaks or your motor was at TDC. Do you plan on going back to the leak test? Set your compressor to 20psi this time, I bet you'll get 0 on your boost gauge.

 

[kmoore]

I would try a bicycle pump if you're prone to "missing" things like this... it would be equivelent to putting 120psi of boost into your intake though, probably one of your intake pipes would blow off.... or throttle body seals, or tb gaskets, etc. I'd do it with a bike pump to be safe anyway, sometimes "power tools" can be dangerous if not used properly. Most likely you didn't put 120psi of regulated pressure into your intake though, it was probably the reading of the pressure inside the tank, as stated above.

First off, to just clarify. Don't use a bike pump. It has been covered time and time again. It doesn't pressurize the system, to see if there are any leaks, quick enough to tell when using a bike pump. Just disregard ^^^ that post.

 

[wolf20043]

120 psi would definitely have been "noticable" in some way... if not down right painful

My couplers, pipes, etc. start creaking and moaning around 35-40 psi (if they hold that long). Can't imagine what the ballistics would be like at 120

^^^^ covers it. You have one to show how much pressure is in the tank, and one more to control houw much of that air is allowed at useage. When you buy air tools, they are set to a certain max PSI. When using the, you adjust the knob on the PSI usage gauge to the PSI recommended on that particular tool. When doing a boost leak test, you need to turn it down to roughly 20 PSI and see how long it holds, spray with soapy water, and look for bubbles where the air is escaping.
Mike

Results of the boost leak test???

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

YEa using a bike pump sucks. Air compressor or air tank, set for 20psi, then release.

 

[wolf20043]

Even without realeasing, if the compressor is set to 20 PSI it will not build past that point. But yes, let off the valve stem, and see how fast it looses pressure and it should tell you how bad the boost leak is. Follow all of the above, and you should be set to go.
Mike