I just went through my compressor after owning it for two years. Since new it has a small head leak (suspected uneven or damaged gasket) and I want to fix it. I'm not familiar with compressors so I'm wondering if I can pull the head to fix the leak without wrecking anything. I have plenty of mechanical experience with cars, I'm just unsure about the PSI doodad that's attached to the head and whatever else that may lie underneath I'm not aware of. I haven't found an exploded view of my exact compressor so I'm asking here.

IS it similar to this one?

http://manuals.harborfreight.com/manuals/95000-95999/95630.pdf

The compressor I have is slightly different. One noticeable difference is that the regulator is on the tank. I can't say for sure if the placement of the regulator on the head (tc-20) changes anything versus the tc-20t which has an air tank. The regulator is moved to the tank opposed to the tankless version with it on the head. I could just pull the head bolts but I don't need parts flying at me or the risk of breaking something. Link to the one I own(they only have a pdf for the tankless version which doesn't have an exploded view):

http://www.tcpglobal.com/ABD-TC-20T.html#.V8muZ1thvIU

Link to a Badger compressor that looks to be a very similar assembly to the Master Airbrush:

https://sites.google.com/site/donsairbrushtips/badger-tc910-compressor-review

Because of the tank, the regulator moved, the only difference. Most diaphragm style compressors will assemble basically the same regardless of brand. The manual I linked to should be pretty close for the compressor itself.

Nothing should fly at you with this type of compressor, but always be safe, and loosen each bolt a little, repeating all of them, in several stages to be sure nothing is under compression.

Thanks, Matt. I Appreciate the help and tips. When I got home the tank is connected to the spot where the regulator is on the tankless compressors. Derp! I'll disassemble the head tonight and see what's what.

Hopefully it's an O-ring or something you can pickup at the hardware store!

Both the o-rings looked alright. I coated them with some gasket maker and sealed it back up. It seems to be working well. Pumps up to max psi a little quicker and it's been holding the same psi for about 2 days now. Before this it would have completely leaked out in about a day. Really happy I finally cracked it open. I took a few pics, if anyone is interested I can post them.

o-rings can be funny sometimes, or maybe a loose bolt??

I'd chalk it up to warped and unmachined castings not allowing a good crush of the o-ring and/or general shoddy quality/assembly. I tightened the head bolts in a proper sequence shortly after receiving the compressor and noticing the leak but that returned nothing. That was after having to retape all the threads so those didn't leak, with good teflon, not the stuff you can see through lol Alls I know is it has been another day with no drop in psi. Hopefully that's okay for the air line which has had ~57 pounds it for a few days now.