Got the new compressor

[rswyan]

Historically I have left my compressors on so I don't have to wait for air when I need it. With the recommendation to drain the tank you have to lose the whole tank of air, so I figured this meant to leave the drain open and the power switch off until the next use (and have to wait for air next time).

My bad ..... was just some random thoughts/strategy on long-term care and feeding of air compressors ... but it all depends on how you use it.

I should have said: "If you use it irregularly, then drain after each day that it is used .... and leave the drain open ...."

As Bird mentions, there is no reason to dump an entire tank of air to drain condensation.

In my case, compressors might get left on on while I'm at home, off work ... if I'm doing work that potentially involves air .....

I drive over the road for a living .... so when I'm working I may be gone for a week .... or a couple of months .....

Same deal when I'm home .... I could be here a couple of days .... or a month or more .....

Makes no sense for me to leave them on when I'm not here .....

If I do that, then it seems like I wouldn't need the air shut off valve.

True enough.

But what about draining the tank then then turning it back on and closing the air shut off valve?

Easiest thing to do is buy an automatic drain valve - these are usually set up run off the compressor's unloader valve, which dumps every time the compressor cycles and shuts off ... just a quick, automatic "p-f-f-f-f-t" for a second or so, releasing any accumulated moisture in the tank ....

My 5 HP Single Stage Coleman Powermate has an el cheapo one ($10) on it that Harbor Freight used to sell .....

When I "drained" the tank I expected to release the air using that air release valve with the ring on it, then draining the water.

But the release valve leaves about 50 pounds of air in the tank, and so when I then opened the drain valve on the bottom it was just air (I'm sure there had to be some water in there - just couldn't see it).

Again, as Bird says, forget the relief valve, use the drain on the bottom of the tank .... the more air pressure in the tank when you do it, the better AFAIC ....

 

[Alan L.]

Ok, I used the compressor today, but first I drained the oil and made a terrific mess. I need to order an extension for the drain..... I put the IR synthetic oil back and at the end of the day it was still clean, but the compressor didn't run that long, I can't get over how long you can use it before it needs to cycle on!

Duh, I guess a short little opening of the bottom drain while under pressure should get rid of any water in there. I will do that from now on, leave it pressurized and the shut off valve turned off.

If I mount the hose reel 20' feet from the compressor can I connect it to the compressor with a regular 3/8" air hose or should I run copper line to it? Right now all I have is cutoff valve, regulator and npt fitting. I guess when I am sure I want the compressor in that location permanently I should run a pipe to a mounted piece of plywood and put the regulator and such there?

The building is metal of course. but only has c-pearlings every 5 feet of height or so. The one five feet off the floor in this location has conduit mounted on it. I will need to screw a piece of plywood to it but there is only a couple of inches to screw it to so it might not be too stable. The steel is fairly thin too, but I guess I could weld a plate to it. Would be more stable if I could connect two of the pearlings, which I can't do.

I tried out the new impact wrench and it worked great. Almost never figured out how to get a socket on it - then figured it took alot of pressure. I have not idea how I am going to get it off. I hate to be stupid, but it would nice if the thing came with some kind of manual and not 50 pages of CYA text in 20 foreign languages......

 

[whistlepig]

Alan, I turn off my compressor for one simple reason. I keep it pressurized all the time and a hose with a blow gun hooked up, so I wouldn't want it to come on and run continuously if the hose should burst. I flip the switch on when I start to use it, but mine holds its pressure just fine from day to day. I put an elbow, short pipe, and ball valve in the bottom of my compressor, so I can open that valve to drain condensation, which I do every time I run the compressor, but I just quickly open and close that valve, drain very little air, just water.

And the air release valve with the ring on it is just the emergency pop-off valve to prevent excess pressure in the event the pressure switch failed to shut off the motor when it reached its maximum pressure. You don't use it to drain the air, although nothing wrong with testing it. I think I've checked mine either 2 or 3 times in the last 5 and a half years.:laughing:

Not meaning to be critical but curious. Why would you keep the compressor pressurized all the time?

 

[rswyan]

Alan,

Ok, I used the compressor today, but first I drained the oil and made terrific mess. I need to order an extension for the drain .....

Yeah ... I see a similar mess looming my horizon ....

Given that these companies go to the trouble of specifying periodic maintenance, you'd think that they would expend the slight amount of resources to make it easily do-able, without making a huge mess.

I put the IR synthetic back and at the end of the day it was still clean, but the compressor didn't run that long, I can't get over how long you can use it before it needs to cycle on!

Nice, ain it ?

Earlier today I pulled the 46" mower deck off the ZTR, and the 6' MMM off the tractor, and blew all the crud off of them ..... and then blew the driveway off with the blowgun .....

Duh, I guess a short little opening of the bottom drain while under pressure should get rid of any water in there.

You got it ...

I will do that from now on, leave it pressurized and the shut off valve turned off.

:thumbsup:

If I mount the hose reel 20' feet can I connect it to the compressor with a regular 3/8" air hose or should I run copper line to it?

You can use regular 3/8 air hose and I suppose from a isolation/avoiding stress-from-vibration perspective, at least a short length of hose ought to be used to isolate the compressor from any sort of hard line .... although I think we plumbed directly to blackpipe at the shop back in the day ...

Copper has the advantage of cooling the air (which will further condense out moisture), has good working pressures, doesn't rust, and is fairly easy to work with (if you are familiar with sweating copper tube) .... downside is that it's pricey these days.

It is what I will likely use eventually to plumb air lines throughout the barn, to various work areas.

If you want to see/read a good short primer on how to plumb compressed properly, Sharpe has a good web page on it here:

Air Piping Layout

One's own setup doesn't have to be quite that elaborate, or have every piece of equipment they list (keep in mind it's meant for someone doing auto-refinishing) ..... unless maybe you're planning on painting professionally ... but it covers the basics of good air handling - use what seems appropriate (like a "drop" here or there, with a drain on it), skip the rest ....

Right now all I have is cutoff valve, regulator and npt fitting. I guess when I am sure I want the compressor in that location permanently I should run a pipe to a mounted piece of plywood and put the regular and such there?

Makes sense to me ..... :thumbsup:

The building is metal of course. but only has c-pearlings every 5 feet of height or so. The one five feet off the floor in this location has conduit mounted on it. I will need to screw a piece of plywood to it but there is only a couple of inches to screw it to so it might not be too stable. The steel is fairly thin too, but I guess I could well a plate to it.

Or use a backer board/plate behind it (if possible)

I'd definitely look for a secure, stable mounting point for your reel - I'd imagine that the the amount of retraction force the hose reel has is fairly significant (I know mine are)

I have two 25' HF air hose reels up in the little shed/shop - since the ceiling there is low (8'), I lag-bolted a couple of 2 x 6's to the ceiling joists and used that as the mounting point.

I tried out the new impact wrench and it worked great. Almost never figured out how to get a socket on it - then figured it took alot of pressure. I have not idea how I am going to get it off.

Sometimes they'll just pop off ... but being new, it might take awhile and some use before the impact is more willing to give it up ..... I often use a smaller straight blade screwdriver or a little prybar.

I hate to be stupid, but it would nice if the thing came with some kind of manual and not 50 pages of CYA text in 20 foreign languages......

LOL ..... I hear ya .... :laughing:

 

[rswyan]

Here's another one:

Designing a Proper Air Line System for your Shop

Same document attached as a PDF:

 

[Alan L.]

Thanks, thats good information. I can see having only a couple drops, like one right by the compressor and one on the other side of the shop. Typically I'm the only one that will use it, but would be nice to be able to air up a tire out front without pulling out 50 feet of hose.

 

[Bird]

Not meaning to be critical but curious. Why would you keep the compressor pressurized all the time?

I guess it's because I use a compressor more frequently than most and wouldn't want to wait on it to build up pressure in the tank every time.:laughing: Right now it's just 12' out the back door across the breezeway/patio into the shop and the compressor is just inside the shop, with 50' of hose hooked up and a little short air blow gun.

When I shave, I use an electric razor, then step out there and blow the whiskers out of the razor; never have to take it apart or use the little brush that came with it. When my wife gives me a haircut there on the patio, I clean the hair clippers the same way. Then I blow the hair off the patio instead of sweeping. Every time I mow and/or use the string trimmer, the hedge shears, chain saw, reciprocating saw, jig saw, sander, etc. I blow all the dust, leaves, grass clippings, sawdust, etc. off before putting it away. For things like the mower and string trimmer, I change to the 2' air blow gun. For blowing the grass clippings off the driveway and sidewalk and patio, I change to the 4' air blow gun. I have an 8' x 12' garden tool storage building, so I occasionally use the 4' gun to blow the dust & debris out of there. For cleaning the leaves out of the rain gutters, I have a telecoping tool made to hook a garden hose to it and be able to walk along on the ground and wash out the rain gutters. But I put fittings on it to use the air hose instead of water hose. Of course, I have quick couplers on everything; impact wrench, ratchet, die grinder, paint gun, engine cleaner (siphon spray), a couple of different kinds of tools for airing up tires, as well as the blow guns and gutter cleaner, and I'm not sure what all else. Oh, I also open the case on this desktop computer occasionally and bring the air hose in the house and blow the dust out of the computer.:laughing: That's the only one my wife objects to, but it's easier than unplugging everything to take the computer out there.:laughing: And of course, I keep one 50' hose hooked up all the time, but I have two more 50' hoses for when I need air farther from the compressor.

In other words, there's very few days go by that I don't use a little compressed air for something.

 

[Bird]

I got the best IR 1/2" impact wrench that Lowe's sells - $179 I think. Its listed at 600 fp. I opened it up and the lack of useful documentation is ridiculous. Virtually no information such as, how much oil to squirt in there before use, what kind of oil etc? I squirted a little 3 in one oil in there and spun it a couple of times - very quiet. There are 4 different powers, but the documentation does not mention the relative power of each setting.

Alan, I don't know what documentation you got, but I thought they all came with an owner's manual and parts list. Apparently you have model 2132G. Now I've had no personal experience with that particular model, but I see that the Parts List & Exploded View shows all the parts to be model 2131 parts except the labelling. And I've worked on several of those; very good impacts. If you don't already have it, you might want to print out this Maintenance Information for the 2131 which is identical to your 2132G. And if you'd like to see what they say about the power management system, it's on the second page of this form. Apparently they just use the different model number because of what store it'll be sold in.

 

[grsthegreat]

Not meaning to be critical but curious. Why would you keep the compressor pressurized all the time?

why not. it wont hurt it. as long as you keep the moisture out. it takes quite some time to fill a 60-80 gal air tank. why empty it.

 

[Alan L.]

Alan, I don't know what documentation you got, but I thought they all came with an owner's manual and parts list. Apparently you have model 2132G. Now I've had no personal experience with that particular model, but I see that the Parts List & Exploded View shows all the parts to be model 2131 parts except the labelling. And I've worked on several of those; very good impacts. If you don't already have it, you might want to print out this Maintenance Information for the 2131 which is identical to your 2132G. And if you'd like to see what they say about the power management system, it's on the second page of this form. Apparently they just use the different model number because of what store it'll be sold in.

Yep, that is the one I got. Thanks for the link - strange that the manual didn't come with the tool. I see that the settings are for tightening only, and I'd probably pretty much use the highest setting. It refers to an external grease fitting which I haven't located yet.