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Air compressor tech: tank upgrade and other Qs...

14K views 25 replies 9 participants last post by  CJHeap 
#1 ·
I'm not a heavy air tool user, so over the last couple of years my Campbell Hauswfeld 110v 4.5hp 20gal roll around compressor generally suited my needs, except for 2 things:

1. 20gal tank was just too small for shop use, causing the compressor to have to cycle way too often, especially with the plasma cutter running.

2. With the compressor cycling so often, moisture became a real issue to to heat, and again the plasma cutting suffered greatly.

So, I was able to get a larger tank from a friend that was retired at his work when the compressor/motor blew.

I sold my 20 gal. tank to a local who needed a replacement, which worked as motivation to finally get this project going.

Amazingly enough, I was able to get it all hooked back up with misc. parts I had lying around the shop.

Obviously - this motor and compressor are WAY smaller than this tank was designed to hold. :laughing: So I had to droll and tap the plate to mount the compressor, and I had to weld on scrap angle steel to get the motor to mount to the adjustable tracks. All said - I was able to re-use the belt, and should be able to re-install the protective drive belt shroud to make sure nobody loses a finger.

Mounting the Harbor Freight air/water separator to the tank sounded like a good idea in my head - but vibration pretty much proved that's not gonna work. I think I'll go back to mounting it on the wall behind the compressor like it was before.

Anyway, few pictures:
 

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#2 ·
One thing I will also need to address is the copper line from the compressor to the tank. In a rush to fire this thing up and make sure it runs and holds pressure - I just tweaked and kinked the factor line off the other tank setup to work for this one.
 

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#3 ·
I also have a harbor freight automatic water drain I need to install as well - anyone used one of these before with good results?

And having never had a tank this big, are you guys mounting them to the shop floor with the feet, or what? I was thinking of mounting rubber isolators (bumpstops, basically) to the feet to let it sit on those and help control the vibrations.
 
#4 ·
Rubber feet will help some what but if its bolted down it will reduce it more. You will find that the compressor will need a longer time to build air pressure than before. You will also find that it runs longer when it kicks on. As far as heat you may find that the temps will be just as high or higher, as it runs longer before shutting down and cooling. Moisture will most likely still be an issue because of this. If the comp runs and then sits for a while the moisture will settle out in the tank more due to cooling, but it will take a good bit of time to cool the tank down.

I'd think about a cooler for the air. Try to cool the air before it gets to the tank if posible. Radiant coolers arn't hard to build and will help reduce the moisture. You will see many comps. that have just a piece of alum finned radiator tube connecting the pump to the tank, often in front of the flywheel to use it as a fan.

I'd change the oil in the comp regularly. It will see alot of long time running and a lot of heat. I'd hate to see you loose a ring over an oil change.

You will most likely need to get a bigger comp. to combat the heat/long run time issues eventually. That said I used to use a 60gal tank + my little pancake comp for occasional bigger framing and roofing jobs. You just took a 10min break when you heard the comp fire up. It would take that long to refill the big tank even though it wasn't empty.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the input. My plan was to upgrade parts as I come across them - eventually going to a bigger 22ov motor and larger compressor too.

Instead of cooling the air before it gets to the tank, I was thinking of cooling it with a "Franzinator" (tube style) water separator.

If not - how would you suggest cooling the air in the tight areas between the compressor exit and the input into the tank itself?
 
#6 ·
I'm not familiar with the trem "Franzinator" but assume its a chiller of some sort. The air doesn't have to go straight down into the tank. Take a lookat a 2 stage comp. the line between the 1st stage and the second is usually alum finned radiant pipe to help reduce heat. I couldn't find a good link to post. I'd come out of the pump and 90 up. then 90 over the pump and start going back and forth with 3/4" finned radiator pipe, then finally back into the tank. It dosent even have to be on the comp itself. In our old shop a hose connected the pump to the cooler that was mounted by the exhaust fan for the shop. This would reduce the heat and them the line went down the wall to a t. The side of the t had a hose that went to the main tank, the botom of the t went to a largeish piece of 2" pipe with a drain to collect the water.The bigest thing is to make sure any condensation can run down hill and get out and not get trapped in the line.

Dont get me wrong, you will still have some moisture in the air. The idea is to use the large surface area to volume of the radiator to help reduce the air temp before it gets into the tank where it has a small surf are for cooling and a large air mass that will stay warm. Air works as an insulator and still air is a great insulator. Water flowing over the alum fins would work even better, but that means a small pump like from a fish tank, a resiviour for water and so on.
We ran coil of HP air line thru a water tank to help cool it down on and off site SCUBA fill center we had. Air heated water, cool water ran in and displaced warm water. simple.

The tank and the pump were seperate in our location but it didn't really matter if they were or not. The nice thing was that the noisy comp pump and motor were not right next to you. The tank was actually mounted in the atic eventually so we gainned some extra space.
 
#7 ·
DRM,
Don't waste your $ on the HF auto drain. I had one and ended up taking it off and just manually draining the tank. It never seemed to work very well, just a little puff every time the compressor cycled, it didn't drain much water, and eventually stuck in the open position, so I took it off and just added a ball valve the makes it quick and easy to drain the tank.
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the advice guys, here's how it ended up. Even managed to get the factory belt shroud back on to keep kid fingers out, and proper air flow over the compressor head for better cooling.

I had already bought the HF auto drain - so I'll see about installing that later this weekend if I get around to it. Guess it can't hurt to try it :)

Also, some specs on the setup:

59.6 gallon tank
4.5 hp, 120v, 15a, 60hz
6.4cfm @ 40psi
5.6cfm @ 90psi


No, it's not a "great" setup - but for the less than $100 I have in it, I'm pretty happy with how the tank upgrade turned out.
 

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#9 ·
The rest of my current setup - compressor feeds a HF water separator unit, then over to a hose reel mounted on one of the shop posts.
 

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#10 ·
#16 ·
The HF drains seem to work fine for a coupla months, then they freeze open. Adjusting it will get it to sorta work for another coupla months, then, just as you realize it isn't working any longer, you also realize you're getting much more water in the tank. At about this point, one will begin to work on a better method of draining the tank.

My compressors is now on the second floor and as soon as the weather breaks :mad: it will get plumbed outside with a ball valve so it can be blown down each morning when I turn the lights on and each evening when I turn the lights out.

You will not be able to spin a compressor much bigger than the one you have with the motor you have. The motor is most likely barely sized to the compressor you currently have.
PT
 
#17 ·
Come to think of it, I think I have a nice little easy flip valve that is rated to 200psi that will work for the drain.
 
#22 ·
DRM, another thing to think about if you want.need more tankage: We can get 125-250 gallon propane tanks down here for $50 I think, used obviously and no longer good for propane, but will work good with 150 psi air compressor systems. Let me know if you want me to hook you up.

Al
 
#23 ·
Thanks Al. Right now - the jump from a 20 gal to this 60 gal was already a big step in the right direction. I have a feeling that any larger air storage will kill this setup from having to run constantly just to keep that much volume at the set pressure cutoff.
 
#24 ·
Here is my $50 compressor I picked up yesterday



SPECIFICATIONS: 7.5 HP, 2-stage, 33 amps/230 volts, 1-phase, maximum pressure is 175 psi.
Cylinders: (2) 4-5/8'' and 2-1/2'' bore x 3'' stroke,
80 gal vertical tank,
1035 pump rpm, 29.9 piston displacement,
24.0 cfm @ 125 psi,
22.9 cfm @ 175 psi.
600 lbs

The shop thought is was wasted because it would blow the breaker

Turns out, they were 1 qt low on oil and the thermal shutoff was kicking in. :grinpimp:

Anyway, It has the intercooled airlines from each head. It is basically a deep finned tube that dissipates heat.

I did find the following writeup for a real "Pirate" aircompressor mod though.



Note the Tranny Cooler and Automotive air cleaner. All it needs is a custom cage. :D

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...um=1&hl=en&rls=GGLG,GGLG:2006-14,GGLG:en&sa=N
 
#26 ·
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