Compressor Build Issues [Archive] - Pirate4x4.Com Bulletin Board

bigdaddylee82

07-09-2008, 12:14 PM

***Update***

Post 31 has got the latest info on my compressor build.

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I have been building a new compressor; some of you may have seen some of my other posts. My oilless Craftsman quit, so I started looking around for options. Sears/Craftsman wanted way too much for replacement parts, so I decided to build my own. I read several builds on here and other places and started ordering parts. Well I got things together and built myself a new compressor, but my motor cuts off at 90 psi. The compressor head I bought came used with some missing pieces from a whole seller on eBay. From looking at the specs I’ve determined that the compressor is this one http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93785 and the motor I got is this one http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/2K796 I realize that the horsepower rating of the motor doesn’t match that of the pump, but I couldn’t pass up the smoking deal on the motor, and I figured it would be good enough, surprise I was wrong. My pump came with a broken pulley so I bought a new one from Grainger. The pulley I used is a cast aluminum piece. I know that many compressors use a large heavy pulley to act as a flywheel. So is that what I should do? Will my motor and an adequate flywheel let me reach the 120 psi mark, probably not, huh?

Here’s what I got

1725 RPM 1hp motor cast aluminum 3.5" drive pulley cast aluminum spoked 6" pump pulley turning pump at 1005.675 RPM (max safe operating RPM is 1200).

Here’s what I’m considering

I thought about changing my ratios to turn the pump a bit slower and I found a 10 lb flywheel pulley http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/4B254 but doubt it will be enough to get me to the 120 psi goal with the motor I have.

I think I know the correct answer is a bigger motor. I have been looking around at some options, and found this motor http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=36039 but the website doesn’t give a lot of details about it. I need a motor that will run on 110 volts. I don’t know if this one will. Anyone know anything about this particular motor? I don’t know a lot about electric motors and have been trying to figure out how this one can be 5-10 hp. Is its horsepower determined by input voltage? Does it make more horsepower from it running perhaps on 220 than 110 or 440 than 220? If it won’t run on 110 this motor won’t work for me because I’m limited to a 110 motor. I’m grasping at straws here. Point me in the right direction oh great, wise, PBB. Thanks in advance.

- Lee

cabletech

07-09-2008, 01:57 PM

You can generally gauge how much "horsepower" a motor supplies by how many amps it pulls. At 230 volts, a general rule of thumb is about 4-5 amps per horsepower. At 120 volts, it's 8-10 amps per horsepower (double the amps).

Marathon Electric (maker of that HF motor) has some sheets online you can look through, see http://www.marathonelectric.com/motors/SB300.jsp and look at "Definite Purpose Motors". They have Air Compressor motors in there, but none that exactly match that HF motor... (I'd imagine it's probably a special for Harbor Freight - I think their approach is to say "we want a ___ that costs $XX, now go design and build us one"). But by looking at the datasheets, in the ~30 lb range for compressor motors, they fall in the 1-2 horsepower category. So something is "up". You'll really need to check the nameplate rating on that motor before you commit to it. My old Campbell-Hausfeld air compressor had a "5 hp" motor on it, but on the plate, it was 15 amps at 120 volts... So it was really about 1.5 horsepower (and C-H got sued over this mislabeling). I digress...

Is your motor hitting the pressure limit switch (90 psi setting), or is the motor halting because it lacks the torque to turn the compressor?

FullsizeYota

07-09-2008, 02:20 PM

unless that pump is a dual stage, which i doubt it is, you'll need a check valve on the tank.. or somewhere from the outlet of the pump, to the tank.

When check valves go out, they usually pump really slow and stop pumping from about 50-80 psi..

Wicked_S10

07-09-2008, 02:46 PM

I agree with needing a check valve, if it is not present. Even then, the motor will likely not be enough. I tried to run a 3Hp Ge motor on a 5Hp pump. It would pump up to the limit just fine the first time, after that it would stall on restart trying to pump with so much head on the pump. You can get an unloader and maybe work around it, but my guess is you motor is going to still be way to small. If you change pulley ratios you will sacrifice CFM to get the power you need out of the little motor. If you sacrifce CFM, you sacrifice speed, and the longer it has to run to pump up to full charge, the more wear, especially on the already tapped out motor.

Long story short, buy a bigger motor. You can buy decent GE motors from tractor supply company for very reasonable prices, and they have a somewhat local store virtually everywhere.

Later,
Jason

bigdaddylee82

07-09-2008, 03:58 PM

The motor isn't cutting off because of the pressure switch, it is "stalling." The motor will completly stop then turn for a few seconds and stop again over and over once the gauge is at about 87 to 89 psi. I do have a check valve and an unloader valve. I'm using a Load Genie in line between the tank and the pump. I think what is happening is the motor stalls around 90 psi so then the unloader valve opens and relieves pressure off the pump and then the motor turns again utill it hits about 90 psi again and runs outta power to turn the pump over the unloader opens and this cycle continues until I cut the power. I know I was able to get about 90 psi in the tank so that seems to be all the motor has the balls to do. Thats my theory anyway.

Load Genie
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd206/bigdaddylee82/Random/loadgenie.jpg

- Lee

Wicked_S10

07-09-2008, 06:18 PM

If you keep trying to run it that way, you are going to burn up the start windings in the motor. It is probably the centrifugal switch kicking the start winding back in to get the motor turning, cycle repeats until you turn it off, or it catches fire.

Later,
Jason

bigdaddylee82

07-09-2008, 09:18 PM

Here's what I'm working with in case you're a visual person.

Here's the motor specs. My hands won't stay still enough without the flash, this was the best of about 20 pics.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd206/bigdaddylee82/Random/IMG_4191.jpg

Compressor pics
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd206/bigdaddylee82/Random/IMG_4169.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd206/bigdaddylee82/Random/IMG_4170.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd206/bigdaddylee82/Random/IMG_4172.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd206/bigdaddylee82/Random/IMG_4178.jpg

- Lee

nissancrawler

07-09-2008, 11:06 PM

cabletech

07-10-2008, 05:50 AM

I think your real limiting factor is going to be the 110V. If you don't have 220V, you won't get much more motor than you already have right now. You might be able to find a 2hp motor that pulls 20 amps, but you're very close to having circuit breaker issues at that point. Your current motor pulls 15 amps as it sits... and that's pretty much the (normal) limit for normal 110V electrical plugs. A 20A @ 110V motor / 2 horse gives you no real room for startup inrush current though, so you may even end up having to go with a magnetic breaker in that situation ($$).

And you should really ditch that PVC and put a copper T and metal ball valve for a drain drop there. PVC plus 100 psi plus any sort of impact (for example, you pull your hose and it tweaks that long PVC drop) equals a catastrophic event.

bigdaddylee82

07-10-2008, 11:27 AM

Well, I'm going to catch flak for it, but if you build a compressor with junk parts...

Those cheap ass motors are measured at PEAK hp. That means, if you clamp the shaft so it won't move, it will develop x amount of hp off the capacitors. In other words, it's meaningless, and in real life, about 1/3 of the hp they claim.

My 5hp compressor motor pulls 23 amps. That's a real 5 hp. It also weighs 90 lbs.

My craftsman compressor is a *giggle*6hp (same as your original) that in reality, puts out 2hp, and that's being quite generous. I'm not sure the whole thing weighs 90 lbs.

Honestly, if it was me, I would start over with a quality motor and a quality pump.

weco-group sells good baldor motors for a nice price on ebay, eaton makes a good pump

I appreciate the input and understand what you are saying. The original goal for this little project was to fix my compressor for around the $170 that Sears wanted for replacement parts and end up with a compressor superior to the one I originally had. I realize that I'll have to spend a bit more than that now to get the kind of motor I need to turn this pump. I get what you're saying about the "cheap" Harbor Freight pump (it was a bit of a spur of the moment purchase from eBay) but will still surpass my needs and blow my old compressor out of the water, if I get a proper motor. The motor I purchased isn't something I would consider "cheap," I didn't pay much for it but it's a fine motor, just not powerful enough for my goals. I don't think I'm quite to the starting over point quite yet.

I think your real limiting factor is going to be the 110V. If you don't have 220V, you won't get much more motor than you already have right now. You might be able to find a 2hp motor that pulls 20 amps, but you're very close to having circuit breaker issues at that point. Your current motor pulls 15 amps as it sits... and that's pretty much the (normal) limit for normal 110V electrical plugs. A 20A @ 110V motor / 2 horse gives you no real room for startup inrush current though, so you may even end up having to go with a magnetic breaker in that situation ($$).

And you should really ditch that PVC and put a copper T and metal ball valve for a drain drop there. PVC plus 100 psi plus any sort of impact (for example, you pull your hose and it tweaks that long PVC drop) equals a catastrophic event.

I have found some motors through Grainger that are possibilities, but they seem to be made of gold for the price they want. I've seen some options listed on Tractor Supply's website but they don't list details, so I'll have to go check them out in person. I've had a few friends mention HF motors, but I'll try to look elsewhere, though they seem to have the best prices. I've checked with Northern Tool but they don't have anything that fits my needs. I haven't dug through McMaster quite yet. I'm open to suggestions for motor dealers if anybody knows of somewhere I haven't mentioned. I also have a friend in poultry industry that may be able to come up with something.

As to the PVC, I appreciate the input and will keep it in mind. However the only time the PVC is pressurized is during actual pump operation. The Load Genie is between the tank and the PVC water trap. So when the pump stops turning the pressure bleeds off to 0 psi.

- Lee

nissancrawler

07-10-2008, 04:35 PM

Nowhere

07-10-2008, 05:01 PM

You need a smaller motor pulley and or a larger compressor pulley. Why can you not get the original pulley? Freight damage?

Here's a tuneable solution

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/3X496

Buy an adjustable motor pulley. That'll allow you to find the sweet spot (speed and pressure). Or, use math to calculate what you need.

What PSI do you need? A 60 psi pressure switch setting might be perfect :D

jackal411

07-10-2008, 08:52 PM

As mentioned above, you need a smaller motor pulley. I would go half the dia of the pulley you have now.

pendy

07-10-2008, 08:55 PM

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

I like it-hope you get it working better. Wish I had a motor hanging around to donate to your cause.

Does anyone have a motor kicking about to help him out?

nissancrawler

07-10-2008, 09:31 PM

He has a 1hp motor on a 3hp pump, a smaller pulley isn't the solution. That thing only puts out 7.7 cfm to start with. Underdriving it that badly is going to be about as effective as a bicycle pump.

Also, look at that pump speed: max speed 1200 RPM, that's quite fast.

I realize the calculations say it should be turning 1005 rpm with your setup, but I HIGHLY doubt it makes it being that underpowered. A smaller pulley is only going to make it worse.

That 2.4" pulley will be putting out 690 rpm on the pump at it's largest size. That would put it at 4.4 cfm by the calculator, although probably closer to 4 cfm in the real world.

bigdaddylee82

07-10-2008, 09:50 PM

You're really almost screwed. The motor you have is pulling 15 amps already. If you're going to get the right size motor, you're going to have to get one hell of a breaker, and some heavy gauge wire.

Seriously, ditch the pvc, it's not worth the chance.

Maybe not totally screwed; I've found some 2hp 110v motors sub 20 amps and a couple 3 hp 110v motors in the 20 to 24 amp range but they aren't cheap. Your objection to Poly Vinyl Chloride is duly noted.

You need a smaller motor pulley and or a larger compressor pulley. Why can you not get the original pulley? Freight damage?

Here's a tuneable solution

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/3X496

Buy an adjustable motor pulley. That'll allow you to find the sweet spot (speed and pressure). Or, use math to calculate what you need.

What PSI do you need? A 60 psi pressure switch setting might be perfect :D

I did the math for optimal safe operation pump rpm and the most cfm from the pump, thus the set up I have. I knew the pulley was missing when I purchased it. It was used and cheap on eBay. I would like to be able to reach 120 psi. I won't need more than 90 very often, but I do get the occasional stubborn bolt that requires me to up the pressure on the impact wrench. :flipoff2: That 60 psi switch would let this motor work great though, if all I had to do was air up inner tubes :shaking:

As mentioned above, you need a smaller motor pulley. I would go half the dia of the pulley you have now.

I think the best solution is still larger motor. I can't cut the drive pulley in half but if I drop it half an inch the pump will be turning at 862.5 rpm just a little too slow. If I drop the drive pulley another inch (the next available size) the pump would be turning at 574.452 which is almost half the pumps operating range and way too slow. Changing the pump pulley is somewhat optional but it will be a bitch and a half to remove it so I don't even want to try and increasing its size would cause the same issues as dropping the size of the drive pulley.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

I like it-hope you get it working better. Wish I had a motor hanging around to donate to your cause.

Does anyone have a motor kicking about to help him out?

Thanks, for the props. :grinpimp:

- Lee

nissancrawler

07-10-2008, 10:18 PM

Maybe not totally screwed; I've found some 2hp 110v motors sub 20 amps and a couple 3 hp 110v motors in the 20 to 24 amp range but they aren't cheap. Your objection to Poly Vinyl Chloride is duly noted.

I did the math for optimal safe operation pump rpm and the most cfm from the pump, thus the set up I have. I knew the pulley was missing when I purchased it. It was used and cheap on eBay. I would like to be able to reach 120 psi. I won't need more than 90 very often, but I do get the occasional stubborn bolt that requires me to up the pressure on the impact wrench. :flipoff2: That 60 psi switch would let this motor work great though, if all I had to do was air up inner tubes :shaking:

I think the best solution is still larger motor. I can't cut the drive pulley in half but if I drop it half an inch the pump will be turning at 862.5 rpm just a little too slow. If I drop the drive pulley another inch (the next available size) the pump would be turning at 574.452 which is almost half the pumps operating range and way too slow. Changing the pump pulley is somewhat optional but it will be a bitch and a half to remove it so I don't even want to try and increasing its size would cause the same issues as dropping the size of the drive pulley.

Thanks, for the props. :grinpimp:

- Lee

Look at amperage, not hp. hp doesn't mean shit.

My 5 hp motor draws 23 amps on 240v, that means 46 on 120 volt, that's about 9.2 amps/hp for a rough guideline. A 20 amp motor isn't 3hp.

You're looking at 25-30 amps for a true 3hp motor.

6869704x4

07-11-2008, 11:00 AM

Ace has pulleys as small as 1 1/2" for less than $10 IIRC. Put one on the motor and run it. At least you'll have some air untill you figure what you want to do. Who knows? It might work good enough for your needs. It should be really be quiet too:D

bigdaddylee82

07-11-2008, 05:37 PM

Look at amperage, not hp. hp doesn't mean shit.

My 5 hp motor draws 23 amps on 240v, that means 46 on 120 volt, that's about 9.2 amps/hp for a rough guideline. A 20 amp motor isn't 3hp.

You're looking at 25-30 amps for a true 3hp motor.

So some of the motors I've looked at have been 2 Hp 115/230 V 15/7.5 Amp and 3450 rpm. I know it's only 2 hp but by what your saying since it draws the same amps as the 1 hp motor I already have it won't be any more powerful? the 2 hp motor is obviously faster, truning 3450 vs. 1725 rpm so, I'd have to get a smaller motor pulley to keep the pump from turning too fast. Your thoughts? Talk among yourselves:D

- Lee

Nowhere

07-11-2008, 06:02 PM

Buy a 10 dollar pulley or a 100 dollar motor. /

bigdaddylee82

07-11-2008, 06:29 PM

Buy a 10 dollar pulley or a 100 dollar motor. /

To change the pulley size enough to keep the motor I have work would make the pump pretty much usless for running air tools. The pump would be turning too slow. If you know where there's a motor that will solve my problems for only $100 dollars tell me because that a whole hell of a lot cheaper than anything I've seen so far.

- Lee

roverjohn

07-14-2008, 01:19 PM

roverjohn

07-14-2008, 02:00 PM

Or, just go buy this and you'll have all the parts you need.
http://fayar.craigslist.org/tls/752415598.html

You'll have a properly matched motor and compressor. Actually you'll have a working compressor that you could make look pretty for another $20. Unless you are doing this strictly as a learning experience you'd be much better off asking questions first and then buying stuff instead of buying a bunch of stuff you wont use and asking questions.

bigdaddylee82

07-14-2008, 10:08 PM

I've got something up my sleeve. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks to those who have responded, with your help and some head scratching I think I've got everything figured out.

Roverjohn, you don't have to skirt around it. Go ahead and tell me I know, I'm a dumbass, well have been about this anyway. This has been a learning experience, and thanks for the Craig's list link, but I already got a :smokin: pawn shop deal this afternoon that should solve all my problems.

Stay tuned

- Lee

bigdaddylee82

07-14-2008, 10:19 PM

"I did the math for optimal safe operation pump rpm and the most cfm from the pump, thus the set up I have. "

The math you should have done was to take the motor's continuous output and figure out how fast the compressor should turn to use up most of it when pumping at 120psi. The motor is the driver not the pump in this set up because it is so undersized. Do you really think this scheme is going to give you a functional compressor for less than the $379 it would cost to buy the biggest 110vac belt drive compressor HD sells?

I thought about what you are trying to say here some more and this is what I did. I had my doubts with the motor, but for what I got it for it was worth trying. I know the motor is the driver how would it not be? I calculated the final pump rpm based on motor rpm and pulley size as well as the pump pulley size to get my final pump rpm and still keep the pump in the 1000 to 1200 rpm range. I may be a dumbass still, but I'm leaning toward rejecting my previous assertion of dumbassery. :flipoff2:

- Lee

roverjohn

07-15-2008, 10:09 AM

I thought about what you are trying to say here some more and this is what I did. I had my doubts with the motor, but for what I got it for it was worth trying. I know the motor is the driver how would it not be? I calculated the final pump rpm based on motor rpm and pulley size as well as the pump pulley size to get my final pump rpm and still keep the pump in the 1000 to 1200 rpm range. I may be a dumbass still, but I'm leaning toward rejecting my previous assertion of dumbassery. :flipoff2:

- Lee

Not so fast. If that is the same compressor head listed at HF as a 3hp compressor it then needs 3hp to operate at 1200rpm. You keep insisting that you want to run the thing at that speed even though your motor is far less than 3hp. The easy guess would have been to reduce pump speed by a factor of three seeing as how you've reduced motor power by the same amount. So, someone's who's good at making the first guess the correct one would have geared the pump to spin at 400rpm. I know this would cause the tank to fill very slowly because you've told us so but it would at least be able to fill it eventually without stalling. So really it wasn't worth trying as the result you got was very predictable. No great loss though and it sounds like it was fun and you now have things almost worked out.

bigdaddylee82

08-05-2008, 11:30 AM

I’ve been busy with other things, but I finally made some progress on my compressor nightmare. Since the last episode I have a new (to me) more powerful compressor duty motor that turns twice as fast as the previous one, 1/2" belt instead of 3/8", an idler, and new pulleys. I’m using a 2” drive pulley turning 3450 rpm with a much heavier 8” cast iron pump pulley. This puts my final pump RPM at around 860. This is slower than what I originally planned, but I had to work with the space I had and the limitations of the new motor. I had a lot of issues with the cast pulley; it cracked while installing it originally:mad3:. I tried a lot of ways to fix it until I finally got some Nickel rod from a friend and had another friend of mine weld it properly. It's good to have friends:D. Brazing and multiple applications of JB weld were a waste.

So this is what I’ve got now.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd206/bigdaddylee82/Random/DSC03788.jpg

I can consistently reach 150 psi with this set up, but that begins to be a strain on the motor so I intend to cut it off at around 125 psi or so.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd206/bigdaddylee82/Random/DSC03798.jpg

This is the original Craftsman pressure switch on the compressor.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd206/bigdaddylee82/Random/DSC03791.jpg

Now this is the part that I need some help with. I assume that the Torx screw in the middle (circled in red) is the adjustment for what pressure it switches on and off at. If that’s the case and I want to reduce the shut off pressure which way do I need to turn it? Clockwise, or counterclockwise? Thanks in advance oh great PBB.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd206/bigdaddylee82/Random/DSC03794arrow.jpg

- Lee

6869704x4

08-05-2008, 12:28 PM

If that pressure switch is like mine thats going to lower the pressure that the motor kicks on at as well.
Don't know if that torx screw is the adjustment. Whichever one changes the spring tension. On mine increasing spring tension raises pressure and decreasing tension lowers it.

bigdaddylee82

08-07-2008, 07:46 PM

I got the compressor switch figured out. Counterclockwise lowers the cut off pressure and clockwise raises the cut off pressure. You've got to turn that screw quite a bit to make any difference. I finally have mine set where I'm satisfied; so far anyway, my compressor motor turns on at 105 psi and cuts off at 130 psi. I have yet to use it for anything other than a blow gun so time will tell. I'll keep you updated.

I have been pretty surprised at how well the water separator is working. I haven't actually measured it but I have collected around half a cup of water during my testing. The compressor has cycled on and off maybe 20 to 30 times, it has been pretty humid here so that probably has something to do with it too. I haven't checked the tank for moisture yet, I'm curious to see how much is making it into the tank. Hopefully the trap is catching all or at least most of it.

So far I'm pretty pleased with my contraption. Though if I had it to do again I would just hit up Craigslist and the pawn shops for a new to me compressor. This was a great learning experience but I wound up being with out a compressor for a lot longer than I planned, and spent more money than I should have. Oh, well live and learn. I'd like to thank all of you guys for your input/advice. I'd like to especially thank nissancrawler and Wicked_S10 here on the board for sharing their own compressor build experiences; I gathered a lot of my ideas from them.

If you haven't seen these yet you should check them out. Good info here

Nissancrawler's compressor thread
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=604995&highlight=air+compressor+build

Wicked_S10's compressor thread
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=596034&highlight=air+compressor+build

Thanks again everyone.

- Lee

rusmannx

10-21-2008, 08:44 PM

220V x 17A = 3740W
3740W x .00134 = 5.0116HP

bigdaddylee82

05-06-2009, 05:57 PM

I've had a few PMs about this over the past few months so I figured I should update this.

I guess I should just go ahead and say, if I were to do this again I would go ahead and buy a new compressor as apposed to the route I took. Hind sight right? I like to tinker with stuff and got good deals on everything, but by the time it was said and done I really didn't save that much money, and I was with out a compressor on several occasions. Live and learn.

I've worked most of the bugs out at this point and the compressor is working well, I wish it had a larger tank, the Load Genie is mediocre at best (doesn't always close completely with out a couple of taps with a screwdriver/wrench), and I've got some blow by through the crank case of the pump.

Here's what I did:

Pretty much the same set up as pictured earlier, with a few mods. I went to a 1-1/2" drive pulley and a much heavier 10" pump pulley/flywheel. I salvaged the motor and pulleys off of an old Speedaire compressor that had been setting at one of the local pawn shops for over a year. I was mostly interested in the 2hp 110v motor when I bought it, but I wound up using the pulleys too.

The HF pump works well, however adapting the 10" cast flywheel pulley to the HF pump was a pain in the ass. The HF pump has a tapered shaft (metric) but something like 7/8" on the little end and 1" main shaft. The larger pulley I put on had a straight keyed 3/4" shaft. So I had to disassemble the pump and chock the crank up in the lathe to turn it down to fit.

The bearings holding the shaft in the block are press fit, hard to get to, and were ruined by the time they were removed. This resulted in a trip to Grainger and an extra ~$20 I hadn't planed on spending.

I got the shaft turned and cut a key way for the new pulley. Reassembled the pump, and searched through my pile of belts to find one that would work. I found one I could get tight enough with out an idler/tensioner. All of my belt slip issues went away after I switched from the V-belts to the ribbed flat belt. I think the fact that the flywheel weighs around 9lbs also helps keep the pump turning once it’s under heavy load (getting close to cut off pressure). I went to all of this trouble because I bought my pump used off of fleabay without a pulley, and I didn’t want to wait the 5 to 8 weeks on a replacement pulley and left had thread 10mm bolt from HF.

After aligning and tightening everything I fired it up, and it works pretty good, I wouldn't say great. I think my blow-by is from the piston rings moving, or I may have swapped the pistons/turned one around. The blow-by has decreased with use, but it's still there.

I also switched to a Synthetic Blend 30w by Motorcraft, it seems to run quieter than it did with the oil that came in it.

On to the pictures.

Motor Specs:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=476&pictureid=4097

The Contraption:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=476&pictureid=4095

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=476&pictureid=4094

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=476&pictureid=4096

I'll be happy to answer any other questions.

- Lee

kerndogg

05-07-2009, 08:03 AM

ChiScouter

05-07-2009, 08:29 AM

You said you are using a syn blend motorcraft oil, I hope it isn't motor oil. You don't want to use a detergent motor oil in a compresser

bigdaddylee82

05-07-2009, 11:18 AM

That is funny that your motor says it is 2 hp. One of mine has all of the same specs on the tag with no HP rating. My boss is an electrical genius and he told me that based off the specs it was 1 hp. I have another motor with the same specs and it has stamped 1 HP on it. My last homemade compressor used one of these motors with a york compressor pump. It worked ok but my mounting for the york was kinda half ass and I was always throwing belts and crap. It seems to me that there are a lot of good air compressors out there that run on 110v. Why is it so hard to find the components to build one yourself? nice build, now I just need to figure out what I am going to do for mine. I do know not having a a good air source is a pain in the ass! Thanks for all the good info!

It wasn't really hard, I just did it cheap, and made some of it harder on myself. If I had got a pump with a pulley/flywheel on it from the start a lot of my head-aches wouldn't have existed. Still though, for not a lot more money than what I have in this contraption I could have bought a good used unit, or an acceptable new unit.

110v is hard to accomplish because my "2hp" motor at 110v is pulling 15amps, and driving a pump rated for a 3hp motor. I and my breaker box know it's pulling more than that on start-up.

Also instead of the Load Genie, I should have gotten separate one-way and relief valves.

You said you are using a syn blend motorcraft oil, I hope it isn't motor oil. You don't want to use a detergent motor oil in a compresser

I never thought about it, but I looked up the manual for the pump online and it does recommend non-detergent. Do tell, why it would matter? I never claimed to know what I was doing when I started this, and I still don't. I just know what I did:D.

- Lee