Probably, like many of you, I don't drain my compressor tank nearly enough. There's a very good reason for not doing my diligence, it's hard to get to and a pain in the drain.
This morning I got down on my hands and knees to do the deed, and the valve broke off at the threads.
Brass valve, but steel plunger - rust never sleeps:
Okay, sucks to be me, (but the easy-out worked perfectly, woo-hoo!) so I've gotta fix this once and for all. A trip to the hardware store netted us some shiny and mostly non-ferrous replacement parts:
And a few minutes with some hand tools and teflon tape and my ball valve is ready for action!
So now, I have no excuses not to do this on a regular basis. The tube is long enough to reach outside, so I've eliminated that sorry mess, and I'm also experimenting with bottles to see if I can figure out a way to make a catch tank so I don't even have to move the hose! Easy-peasy! Just the way I like it!
I should have done this a long time ago! (Cheapskate bonus - this stuff should be reusable if I need to replace the compressor!)