Never used too, last summer accidentally pulled the pin on my small pancake compressor shot rusty water everywhere, now I drain em all after use

Well you guys convinced me to throw my compressor away and buy a new one. Mine has rust and corrosion all over it.

It's just amazing the elder worker guys survived.

Without the internet either

Water and oil do not mix well.
If you oil your tool every time you use it ,,,,,drain the compressor and add a water separation unit...

Portable air tanks?

Drain mine once a year. Besides that it stays filled.

100 gallon tank, used daily at sawmill, drained daily and has water come out everyday.

I think they will rust out and leak before they go boom. That's what happened to one I had.

Most will start leaking before they explode. Russian roulette is not a game I want to play. Compressor tank is ensconced it its own cage. Most tanks never explode though, so going for a drive is probably more dangerous than working around a compressor.

Why drain them? (of air)

I do turn mine off nightly incase a line ruptures over night, but as far as water in them, you'd get more water by running the air out and then running the compressor to completely refill the tsnk.

Most people think of low pressure compressors. Leaving air in them is acceptable as long as water is regularly removed from the tank to prevent rust. High pressure compressors and tanks on the other hand, NO! Metal has a way of creeping under sustained high pressures, which is why scuba tanks need to be inspected and hydro tested regularly.

Same here with my shop compressor, turn it off when not using it but I've never let all the air out of it.

I drain mine don't want inside to get rusty.

We don't drain air, we open brass quarter turn valve on bottom of tank. When water is blown out shut valve. Then two drop lines at both ends of building have ball valves, cracked daily.

I make it a habit to drain mine once in a while and I always make sure to do it in the winter.

Ours are pressured 24/7 with air dryers

And here I figured if it held 120# for 12 months it was a good thing….

Sometimes the pressure switch will stick and and not shut off. All air compressors should be equipped with some type of pressure relief valve. It's important to know the maximum pressure of the tank and then check your air pressure after the the compressor cycles to make sure you are not exceeding that number. If it does exceed the listed psi, the pressure relief valve should be working to bleed the excess pressure off. If not, replace it.