New air compressor recommends sought

[TAKerry]

I would NEVER use pvc for air line piping, but I suppose that is a subject for another thread.

[Bloo]

Yeah, don't do that.

[AURktman]

1 hour ago, RansomEli said:

MochetVelo, 

 

I purchased an Eastwood scroll compressor about 5 months ago. The price is a bit extravagant but I decided to reward myself.

 

Have been very happy with the compressor. Upon delivery there were a few setup issues. The motor cover had been slightly damaged in transit. I repaired the problem with a body hammer & dolly. Also, the pop-off valve was stuck and did not allow me to keep air in the tank.  After cycling through a few days' cycles the valve unstuck and everything is now fine. 

 

The compressor is very quiet. Just what I was hoping for. You can carry on a conversation right next to the compressor while it is running, something I could not do with my old Harbor Freight unit. I can run the compressor at night without any worries about disturbing the neighbors. In fact, my wife says she cannot hear the compressor running when she is sitting in the living room adjacent to the garage.

 

Air tool prices are inversely proportional to their CFM rating. I checked around and bought a DA sander with about 6 cfm. Absolutely no problems for the Eastwood and I am filled with joy being able to finally use air tools for my body work. I paid about $55 for my sander. I could get one with 4 cfm for $200.

 

Haven't done any painting with the compressor but I'm sure there's plenty of cfm for what I want. 

 

Will need to do some small sandblasting in the next month. If I find any problems I'll edit this posting. Don't expect any.

 

All in all, I'm happy with my purchase. It's more than enough power for me, is smaller than my previous vertical compressor, and I don't have any qualms about starting it up, even after midnight.

 

One recommendation, however. If you are going to use the compressor for painting, use black iron piping and not plastic. The black iron cools down the air and lets you remove moisture easily.  My old setup used PVC piping and that caused problems. I've now converted to black iron and am a happy camper. 

 

Thank you for the review!  I have been leaning towards this one a bit because of the significantly reduced noise level but always floated back to the Quincy for the cost.   I see it has come down $100 from the original $1999 when it came out.  

[JACK M]

19 hours ago, Gary_Ash said:

2.  The water drain located at the center of the tank bottom is hard to reach, so remove it, put in an elbow and a length of steel pipe to bring the drain outside the edge of the tank, high enough to put a drain pan under it.

 

A friend of mine gave me a kit that triggers a valve every few minutes to blow out the water.

My compressor is 220V but I was able to tap 110 (kit runs on 110) at the switch so it will only activate when the pump is running.

It makes a sound like a big truck but sure has made life easier.

 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-Automatic-Electronic-Tank-Drain-072-0030H/305016301?mtc=SEM-BA-F_PB-G-Multi-Multi-Husky-NA-NA-DSA-NA-NA-Catch_All_BT3&cm_mmc=SEM-BA-F_PB-G-Multi-Multi-Husky-NA-NA-DSA-NA-NA-Catch_All_BT3-71700000023577655-58700002495773633-39700021474223105&ds_rl=1178140&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIl-HI0duU7wIViR-tBh3ogQjqEAAYAyAAEgL1a_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[NailheadBob]

I also purchased a scroll compressor at Eastwood at the store in Alsip, IL. I was at the store and a worker using a DA sander on a fender in the classroom/shop and the DA was louder than the compressor, they were going to be at a swap meet in Rockford, IL. Received a great price and I picked it up at the store after they returned. It is very quiet, BUT slight hissing noise for about 2 to 3  minutes after it cycles off, no harm, just annoying. I mainly use 3/8", 1/2",and 3/4" impacts, air chisels, small cut off tools and works great for me. I could never get crankshaft bolt off a Honda or Acura so I could replace the timing belt, I used to take the car to work to loosen bolt, now I just roll my quiet scroll compressor to the front of the car, and able to remove crankshaft bolt at home and complete replacing timing belt operation. I spent a little more than I had planned on, but I found a credit card with 0% interest for 15 months, all worked out great for me.

 

Bob

[Zimm63]

This is an interesting thread to me, as I am in the market to replace my 30 year old CH 5hp with 60 gallon tank.  Its noisy and I could use more air to run the pressure blaster.  

 

A couple things I have not seen mentioned.  One is current requirements.  When I built my new shop, I installed a 10GU circuit with the idea that 220 volts at 30 amps would be enough.  The old CH runs on 20.   Wondering if that was enough.  

 

The second is location.  If painting, most of us do not have a proper booth.  How much of a concern is painting in the same space as the compressor?  Don't the brushes in the motor spark as it runs?  Having gotten to my mid 60s, I am really not much interested in blowing myself up.   I have considered building a small shed on the back of the shop to house the compressor, but wonder about heat build up when its running for extended periods.  My original thought was to put it in a closet under a set of stairs, but decent horizontal machines are hard to come by at a reasonable cost.  

 

The Eastwood scroll unit is interesting, but it uses a 30 gallon tank and is not ASME certified from what I understand.  

[joe_padavano]

1 hour ago, Zimm63 said:

This is an interesting thread to me, as I am in the market to replace my 30 year old CH 5hp with 60 gallon tank.  Its noisy and I could use more air to run the pressure blaster.  

 

A couple things I have not seen mentioned.  One is current requirements.  When I built my new shop, I installed a 10GU circuit with the idea that 220 volts at 30 amps would be enough.  The old CH runs on 20.   Wondering if that was enough.  

 

The second is location.  If painting, most of us do not have a proper booth.  How much of a concern is painting in the same space as the compressor?  Don't the brushes in the motor spark as it runs?  Having gotten to my mid 60s, I am really not much interested in blowing myself up.   I have considered building a small shed on the back of the shop to house the compressor, but wonder about heat build up when its running for extended periods.  My original thought was to put it in a closet under a set of stairs, but decent horizontal machines are hard to come by at a reasonable cost.  

 

The Eastwood scroll unit is interesting, but it uses a 30 gallon tank and is not ASME certified from what I understand.  

 

You bring up a couple of interesting points. Yes, paint vapors are flammable. The contacts in the pressure switch also arc. And keep in mind that the particulates in aerosolized paint will clog the compressor air filter in no time.

 

The current depends on the motor. A true 5HP motor will typically draw 22-25 amps at 230V, so you want a 30A circuit. Most so-called "5HP" compressors barely pull 15A at 230V, which means they are really 2.5 HP compressors. A 7.5 HP motor typically needs a 50A, 230V circuit. And again, tank volume is far less important than SCFM. 30 gal is likely more than sufficient with a scroll compressor.

Edited March 4, 2021 by joe_padavano (see edit history)

[Frank DuVal]

On 3/2/2021 at 11:48 PM, Fossil said:

Try and place your compressor in the driest place possible.

 

But the cost of pipe from Virginia to Arizona will bankrupt me!😲

 

Are you saying one part of your yard is drier in humidity than another?🤔

[Flivverking]

17 hours ago, Zimm63 said:

 Don't the brushes in the motor spark as it runs?  Having gotten to my mid 60s, I am really not much interested in blowing myself up. 

In the late 70s and early 80s ,a friend an I painted cars in a 20x20 cement block garage with a Iron Franklin style wood stove going in the corner for heat..and a small window exhaust fan on the other side of the garage.

There were times the space got foggy like smogg with constant spraying ,then the fire roared quite a bit extra and the stove pipe rumbled.

We would go out side for fresher air and cool down ,then we would see the flames comming out of the chimmey!

We never blew up..and I wouldn't recommend it...

Motor brushes and the fumes...I wouldnt give it another thought or for the light switches .

You would be pretty ill before the vapor is so dense and volatile to ignite from the compressor motor..I would think?

[rocketraider]

Flash point on a lot of painting solvents is pretty low. I wouldn't want to use them around any ignition source be it open flame,  electric arc or mechanical spark.

 

Frank, your problem is you live  a few miles down the road from a big swamp fueled by excess hot air!

[Larry Schramm]

When I lived in Alabama in the 80's there were painters that ran their air hoses through a refrigerator/freezer like a still to get the water out of the paint gun air line.  Very creative and the painters said that it worked well. 

Edited March 5, 2021 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)

[rocketraider]

Refrigerant air dryers are effective and efficient. We used them at powerplant for instrumentation air supplies, which required filtered dry air.

 

A few years before I retired the 50 year old refrigerant type dryers were replaced with regenerative desiccant dryers which to me never worked quite as well but were a lot easier to service. They were dual path and you could take one tower offline to service it. But good lord when that thing switched towers and depressurized to heat and dry the desiccant. They operated at 300psi and when one depressurized it sounded like the war had started😳😬🤯😵. I almost climbed the thing one night when it did that...

[Fossil]

11 hours ago, Frank DuVal said:

Are you saying one part of your yard is drier in humidity than another?🤔

Some people have been know to install their compressors in places like damp basements. If you live in a humid area piping your compressor intake to an  environmentally controlled area would be a good idea.  In our plant  our compressor intake was piped outside as the building tended to be very humid inside during washdown. 

[Frank DuVal]

On 3/3/2021 at 9:18 AM, RansomEli said:

One recommendation, however. If you are going to use the compressor for painting, use black iron piping and not plastic. The black iron cools down the air and lets you remove moisture easily.  My old setup used PVC piping and that caused problems. I've now converted to black iron and am a happy camper. 

 

Here in the rusty east black iron pipe makes rusty water. Every industrial plant I worked in with black iron piping was like hooking air tools to a rusty water supply. 

 

I ran galvanized pipe for several shops and it works way better. Sure, I've heard that the zinc might flake off and get into tools, but I've SEEN rusty crap get into tools. Galvanized makes cleaner water. 😄 This is also why air pipe should not be level, and no dips, make the pipe drop 1/4" /foot towards the end you want to drain. Makes no difference, drain away from or towards the compressor. 

 

A proper air system runs the pipe at full tank pressure and has filter/regulators at every drop (point of use). This allows the piping to become a larger tank.

 

In my home garage built this century, I just brazed type L copper pipe. Sheds heat quick and never puts crap in the pipes. 

 

I have recently done a Rapid Air (Aluminumized PEX?) plastic system for an industrial building. Went in FAST! Bought it from Summit Racing. It is not used enough to know if it will shed heat and condense water vapor to drain well. Also it is harder to run straight lines with PEX, lots of clamps to hold a proper fall without dips.

 

And, there are known failures of PVC pipe from compressor oils that naturally flow with the compressed air. Metal pipe and PEX split when they fail (see Youtube videos). PVC pie is a BOMB with shrapnel! No PVC manufacturer says to use their product with compressed gasses. 

[Frank DuVal]

11 hours ago, rocketraider said:

Frank, your problem is you live  a few miles down the road from a big swamp fueled by excess hot air!

It IS a swamp, why else would a section be called Foggy Bottom? If the land was worth anything, Maryland would have kept it!😆

 

11 hours ago, Flivverking said:

In the late 70s and early 80s ,a friend an I painted cars in a 20x20 cement block garage with a Iron Franklin style wood stove going in the corner for heat..and a small window exhaust fan on the other side of the garage.

There were times the space got foggy like smogg with constant spraying ,then the fire roared quite a bit extra and the stove pipe rumbled.

We would go out side for fresher air and cool down ,then we would see the flames comming out of the chimmey!

We never blew up..and I wouldn't recommend it...

Motor brushes and the fumes...I wouldnt give it another thought or for the light switches .

You would be pretty ill before the vapor is so dense and volatile to ignite from the compressor motor..I would think?

 

There are class ratings for electrical devices in explosive areas. See the NEC. The real problem is building up of ignitable gasses and then igniting them. 

 

In the "Don't DO What I DO" tales, in the spray booth I had in Richmond it got cold. Small 2400 sq ft building, turn on spray booth  fan, very quickly 20 degree outside air would be inside the shop and then sucked into the booth. Urethane does not like cold weather. Not having the money for a real million BTU heater (that's the typical spray booth factory heater size), I improvised. We placed a 150K BTU torpedo heater at the booth intake to preheat the air. When even that was not enough, we dragged it into the booth running. before the spraying started. I figured as long as it was running, the fumes would just burn. They would not build up to an explosive mixture. If it was started after the fumes were sprayed, then ignition, blast off. Sometimes the operation took long enough the heater would run low on Kerosene and start/stop. Whoa! Unplug it now!😲 As I said, DO NOT TAKE MY ADVICE on this!!!!!!!!

 

Also with that booth we had moisture issues, so I ran 100 feet of galvanized pipe in a zig zag pattern on a brick wall, with fall to the end, to condense the water vapor out of the line, then through a refrigerated air dryer, and then in the booth air drop a filter/regulator feeding a desiccant filter 4" dia and 24 inches high followed by one of those Motor Guard toilet paper filters. The Sikkens and PPG reps said if that didn't get it dry, nothing else could be done!😄

[TAKerry]

I have both black iron and copper.  The black iron when i drain does tend to get a little dirty. But I clean the filters regularly and have never had a problem with the end result. Downside is installation, its heavy and you need costly special tools to install. Fortunately I have them so it was no big deal. Never had problem with the copper, I would think that it is more expensive to use now, no expensive tools needed for install. I hope to be 'plumbing' my new shop soon and will probably go with black iron again.

[Fossil]

In our food processing plant we ran only galvanized pipe. No problems with flaking.  

[Zahroof Valves Inc.]

I will recommend to contact Zahroof Valves. They manufacture top-quality valves & compressors. They also provide innovative solutions to increase efficiency of valves & compressor.

[Guest]

On 3/2/2021 at 5:51 PM, Bhigdog said:

Directly bolting a piston type compressor to a concrete floor is a no-no. The cyclical vibrations will eventually cause the tank to crack where the legs are welded on. McMaster has pads.......Bob

 In Ma., the tank MUST be at least 1' above the floor to allow air to escape safely in case of a burst tank.

[Guest]

On 3/3/2021 at 9:26 AM, TAKerry said:

I would NEVER use pvc for air line piping, but I suppose that is a subject for another thread.

 Two reasons NOT to use PVC piping in an air system are,

 

1. the line may break and shatter small bits of plastic and blind you!

 

2. if a fire started, it would melt the plastic pipe and the out rushing air would feed the fire, turning it into a blow torch, spreading the fire.

[TAKerry]

Troll reviving a zombie thread?

 

 

[TAKerry]

Since it has been brought back up, I am not sure if it has been mentioned but I have seen on another forum where someone got an a/c condenser from a junk yard and ran his air through that as a makeshift dryer. Another ran a series of finned copper from baseboard heat. This too was supposed to work very well to keep the air cool and the moisture out.

[Flivverking]

"Troll reviving a zomie thread" 

What's it to you? 

The topic is still revelant at anytime as far I I can see..

I originally started the post but had so many costly automotive and personal set backs since I posted ,I never made any purchase.

I'm now recouped and just last week had cause to use my old compressor for a quick(I thought)project which prompted me to look for this thread this morning..and go over the suggestions again.

[Frank DuVal]

Troll only because it appears to be a blatant advertising post, not just the usual person looking at an old post for current information.😉  And this thread is only a year old, not a necropost like Gary coined the ones revived from 2000.

[TAKerry]

3 hours ago, Flivverking said:

"Troll reviving a zomie thread" 

What's it to you? 

The topic is still revelant at anytime as far I I can see..

I originally started the post but had so many costly automotive and personal set backs since I posted ,I never made any purchase.

I'm now recouped and just last week had cause to use my old compressor for a quick(I thought)project which prompted me to look for this thread this morning..and go over the suggestions again.

"Lighten up Francis" 

 

Sorry if I offended anyone by pointing out a one and done solicitor! If you took the time to read on you will see that I did make a relevant contribution to those that may be interested.