I Just Got a New Air Compressor

[Iplayfarmer]

I've had the pump running for a few seconds at a time and it's pretty quiet.

 

[BukitCase]

In that case, ignore all but the first sentence of my last post

That's one of the things I love about my DevAir - you can stand right next to it and carry on a conversation while it's running. Wouldn't wanna try that with my little oil-less "hot dog" portable - I'd probably end up deaf AND hoarse before long... Steve

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Quieting down my air supply has been one of my goals in getting this belt driven compressor. I had originally hoped to put it down in the basement of my new workshop, but this BIG horizontal tank doesn't fit down there. I'm looking at a long day at work, but hopefully I can get some time tonight to get the overload switch wired up and plug it in. After that I still need to do a little more plumbing.

I'm excited to blow out the sprinkler system this fall. I've always had to cycle the old compressor a number of times because it couldn't keep up. This one will definately be better. I accept that I may still need to cycle it a few times, but likely not nearly as much.

 

[BukitCase]

Yup, blowing down the outside water is one of MANY uses our compressor gets to do, along with (wife) cleaning out the vacuum cleaner and rug machine, etc -

It's gotten to the point where wife and I BOTH are only half joking when either of us comments that "if either of us AND the compressor dies at the same time, guess which one'll get replaced FIRST :laughing:

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Yup, blowing down the outside water is one of MANY uses our compressor gets to do, along with (wife) cleaning out the vacuum cleaner and rug machine, etc -

It's gotten to the point where wife and I BOTH are only half joking when either of us comments that "if either of us AND the compressor dies at the same time, guess which one'll get replaced FIRST :laughing:

My wife has asked that I run an air line into the house. She's seen the benefit and wants air in her salon to clean off her clippers, etc. I'm planning to put it in when I dig for power out to my new workshop.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

It's all wired and temporarily plumbed. All of my fancy switches, etc. worked great. I ran it through a few cycles to double check everything. (It takes a long time with a blow gun to drop the pressure on a 80 gallon tank.) I need some 1/4" npt fittings to connect my regulator. When I get those I'll redo some of the plumbing.

I do need to change the pressure switch settings. It's currently set to shut off at about 50 PSI. Who runs their compressor at 50 PSI??? I wonder if that's all the more that little 2 hp motor would comfortably do with the 6 inch pulley it had on it.

 

[BukitCase]

Can you tell if that's the original pressure switch? It sounds to me like maybe someone replaced it, and could only find a switch for a water pump. Those are typically preset for either 30-50, or 40-60 pounds range.

I've seen some water pump switches that will adjust high enough for compressor duty, others not. Hopefully yours is the good kind... Steve

Although you're right, that pump is rated for more than twice the power you started with and it's possible someone used a "cheater" phase converter, which would lower the available power even further to about 2/3 of nameplate.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

It looks like a water pump switch. The label on the switch has presets at 30 and 60. I didn't have time to fiddle with it last night, but I think I can adjust it some. It probably won't get up into the 145 psi range where I want to be, but I should be able to get above 50.

If I can get 90 psi out of this switch I'll keep it for a while. If I can't I'll get a new one pretty quick.

 

[BukitCase]

I'd be a bit cautious going too high - if it IS a water pump switch, the diaphragm may not be rated much over maybe 100 psi -

If the diaphragm ruptures, not only will it keep the compressor running, (the switch would think you had ZERO pressure)but if the resulting hole isn't bigger than the compressor's capability, pressure will build until the NEXT wimpiest thing blows.

Hopefully that would NOT be the TANK (can you say "shrapnel"??!?)

If the resulting hole IS bigger than the pump can keep up with, it'll just burn out your motor. Neither situation is good for morale

If you're not sure, one temporary solution (kind of a PITA) would be to ONLY turn on the compressor when you're gonna use air - at least that way, someone will be there if/when she blows... Steve

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I'd be a bit cautious going too high - if it IS a water pump switch, the diaphragm may not be rated much over maybe 100 psi -

If the diaphragm ruptures, not only will it keep the compressor running, (the switch would think you had ZERO pressure)but if the resulting hole isn't bigger than the compressor's capability, pressure will build until the NEXT wimpiest thing blows.

Hopefully that would NOT be the TANK (can you say "shrapnel"??!?)

I do have an overpressure pop-off valve right above the pressure gauge that should protect me from the shrapnel scenario. I'd really rather not burn up the pump or the motor, though. In my stash of fancy process control components I have a few timers. I have considered wiring a timer into the control side of the mag switch that will automatically turn everything off if the motor runs for an unusual amount of time. It would be overkill if I had to buy the parts, but I have them, and I don't have any other use planned for them.

If the resulting hole IS bigger than the pump can keep up with, it'll just burn out your motor. Neither situation is good for morale

If you're not sure, one temporary solution (kind of a PITA) would be to ONLY turn on the compressor when you're gonna use air - at least that way, someone will be there if/when she blows... Steve

The "Only turn it on when you're gonna use air" philosophy is a given anyway for the first few uses at least. Since I have cobbled this unit together from various sources and had to re-engineer some of the components I want a good track record of reliable starts and stops before I trust it to stay plugged in without me present.