Air Compressors

Halston,
    If you are looking to spend a couple grand Air Compressors Direct has a 7.5 HP Curtis for about $2200. For comparison purposes I love my 93 vintage Speedaire it makes short work of any sanding, painting or cabinet sand blasting I have thrown at it.. a very luxurious compressor for a home shop. I previously used the largest 115V unit I could find and even at a little over 15amps you would never want to run a sander or even a decent right angle die grinder with it. I am sure there are great compressors between those two sizes as well. I am sure that the curtis unit would be spectacular and Air compressors direct does seem to have some great pricing. Of course I am cheap and picked mine up for about $300 on craigslist.

how about and added air drier i have seen refrigerated air driers but i think thats overkill for a home shop any thought on and in-line

wingwrench wrote: I bought the IR SS5L5 compressor about 4 years ago and it was trouble free until the motor exploded back in January. I checked online and found it was a common problem and the motor had been changed on later models. Called IR not really expecting them to do much, got right through to customer service and 3 days later I had a brand new motor sitting on my shop floor free of charge. For a one man shop this compressor does fine. Plenty of cfm for sandblasters, both cabinet and pressure tank, HVLP spray guns and air tools.

I have seen these at Tractor Supply. They seem like nice compressors, However i am only 23 and want to buy something that will last me a long time. I am wondering Pete if a 7.5hp or should i say 23.5 cfm 80 gallon compressor is enough in the Curtis brand and what is the cost on one i cannot find a price online. You would say thatCURTIS is top of the line ?

8122pbrainard wrote: 63 Skier wrote:    The largest 110 volt compressors will be OK, Not true. Notice he wan't to run things like a DA!! BTW, I'm glad to see Halston didn't mention blowing up tubes!!

I'd have to agree here. I'm looking for a compressor for my home garage to run sanders,etc. I've been told to take the highest cfm consuming tool you intent to run and double it since the duty cycle of a recip compressor is 50%. That puts a 6 cfm air file needing a 12 cfm @90 psi air compressor. I can not find that at 110 volts.

I was handed a 5hp 240v compressor last week for the cost of a new pressure switch. It will get me 9.3cfm @ 90 psi, not really enough but it may get me by until the right one comes along. Need to wire the garage now so we'll plan for the future plus put in a hookup for a larger welder too.

You need the cfm to run the air tools, but also a compressor that will hold 120 psi plus for the impact wrench without dropping. The largest 110 volt compressors will be OK, if you can go up to a 2 stage 220 volt you'll never run out.

My little Sears that I bought on CL has been great, though I haven't tried an impact wrench with it, my guess is it would be fine in short bursts but would drop if I had much steady use.

so i am looking for a in home use compressor. air up lawn mower tires, car tires, impact wrench, angle grinder, air ratchet, DA sander. and maybe even a paint gun. I DO NOT like running out of air I read petes view on the Ingersoll Rand brand i was looking at THIS but after reading petes view makes me want to run away what other brands are recommended i have 240 in my shop

Here is one everyone should stash into memory.

P = I x V

P=Power (watts)
I=Current (amps)
V=Voltage (Volts)

An electric company charges you for watts over time (kW-hr). Like Pete said, changing the wiring of your motor to 240V will decrease the amps it will draw, but will not affect the power.

63 Skier wrote: 8122pbrainard wrote: eric lavine wrote: Pete, I think i hooked my 3 phase lathe wrong, it was spinning bacards for forward, swapped 2 wires and I was good to go It's a 50-50 chance!! Most inside 3 phase wiring isn't phase rotation marked. I have a meter that I can ID the rotation when hooking up something that's rotation sensesative. Ever have one of those useless conversations at coffee break that just pass the time? We had one on your 50/50 comment. Our electrician said it can't be 50/50, he hooks up 3 leads but each lead isn't 50/50 since it depends on the others, he said he has a 2/3 chance of getting it right. I said no way, it's a true 50/50. I don't have a clue who is right! Over the years watching countless machines hooked up it seems 50/50 to me.

David,
It's a 50-50 chance since you only need to swap any two of the 3 phase legs. Hook up first time - wrong direction - swap any two legs - correct direction! That in my mind is a 50-50 chance. Ask your electrician if he's ever had to swap legs 3 times to get it correct! If he has, he must not be keeping track of his connections!

Joel,
What is the pressure switch setting? What pressure is the compressor building up to? Is there a pressure marking on the safety valve. CH will be asking you the two first questions.

eric lavine wrote: Pete, I think i hooked my 3 phase lathe wrong, it was spinning bacards for forward, swapped 2 wires and I was good to go

It's a 50-50 chance!! Most inside 3 phase wiring isn't phase rotation marked. I have a meter that I can ID the rotation when hooking up something that's rotation sensesative.

Pete, I think i hooked my 3 phase lathe wrong, it was spinning bacards for forward, swapped 2 wires and I was good to go

you probably want to hook it up to 240 initially, easier on the pocketbook when the electric bill comes, I dropped a 240 line right under my fuse box in the garage to run the compressor

63, that sounds about right. I was figuring any multi-leg input would work like a 3-phase motor, using the offset of each phase to it's advantage. It would make sense that the residential single phase legs would be in sync.

8122pbrainard wrote: M3Fan wrote: It can be wired for two-phase, which is probably what I'll do down the line. Joel, I think you have the rough idea but bad terminolgy. Altough "two phase" was used many years back in some rural areas, What you really mean is the unit can be wired 240 volt which uses both hot legs of the power coming into the house. It's still single phase.

But aren't the two legs in different phases of alternating oscillation?

I have a Airmate by Emglo 230V 3hp direct drive with oil. I think it has a 30 gal tank and has served me well for about 25 years. I believe the electrician used two spots on the fuesbox to get the 230. It has a twistlock three prong. I bought it from an Auto Body supply shop.