Air compressor question....
 

I happen to be in posession of two air compressors. One 1.5 HP and 12 gallon tank. The other 3HP and 12 gallon tank. What do you guys think about making up a manifold out of black pipe and hooking them together. The pressure switches should shut them off at around 100psi right? I am sick of wating for the compressor to pump up while working. This should yield more capacity and I happen to have access to both. For a few fittings that should atleast double my capacity. Any opinions or suggestions would be apreciated.

Re: Air compressor question....
 

Should work but it'll be twice as loud. Have you considered looking in a pawn shop or resale/fleamarket for a larger unit that will more suit or needs? Good luck.

Re: Air compressor question....
 

What are using it for that causes you to use so much air? If your spraying you should use an HVLP system with a turbine. There is less overspray, use less paint, and no compressor.-PF

Re: Air compressor question....
 

The motor HP fills the tank. I would connect the two tanks and use the 3 HP motor to fill. You will then have a 24 gal tank with a 3 HP motor. It will take about twice as long to fill but you will end up with more cubic feet of compressed air. You cannot run any type of high cfm (cubic feet per minute) air tool besides a spray gun,nail gun or similar low cfm tool without at least an 80 gal tank and 5 hp motor. If you are trying to run air sanders you need to spend the $s on a bigger compressor.
:D

Re: Air compressor question....
 

Just trying to make do with what I got for now. Mainly using die grinders for fabrication purposes, not so much constant use like sanding. I just happen to have the two compressors so I think I will try it. Does anyone think it will be a safety hazard. Thanks guys.

Re: Air compressor question....
 

A die grinder uses a lot of air. I use them with a diamond wheel to trim my fiberglass parts. I think that as long as you connect the two tanks together and use the 3 HP motor to fill and set the regulator so as to not exceed the psi rating on the tanks you will have doubled the capacity.
Just my 2 cents!
:D

Re: Air compressor question....
 

Bryan,

Don't over engineer it. Just rig up a T fitting at the compressor outlets and connect them with a short piece of 1/2" air hose. You can even use standard quick couples. For limited use, it will work just fine. Adjust the auto switches to stage them so the larger one handles most of the load and the smaller one pulls in only if the pressure starts to drop too low.

You want to avoid connecting a hard pipe to any compressor if you can.

Mike.

Re: Air compressor question....
 

We run 2 compressors in my shop and there are no problems doing what you suggest. We have a 7.5 HP and 15 HP hooked together, so we have a backup if necessary, but they are both on line and both motors run when demand is high (sometimes 4 air sanders running). As noted by others, the extra tank capacity will help, stage the motors so they come on at different pressures, and let it rip. We have them hard connected, but they are bolted to the floor. Keep the hoses big for connection if you do it that way.

I agree that if you really want to sand/grind, you need 80 gal and at least 7.5 HP to push it.

Good luck, but you should have no problems.
Peter

Re: Air compressor question....
 

Here is what I came up with, the beauty is it was made with parts on hand.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84...irmanifold.jpg

Re: Air compressor question....
 

I have a 5hp 60gal that I wore out over the year's. I now have a 80gal 5hp and I have the 60gal tank setup so I I can open 2 ballvalves and bring the 60gal online with the 80gal. The motor and compressor on the 60gal has been disconnected.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...5/p1010066.jpg

I even installed an hour meter on this one.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...5/p1010077.jpg

Re: Air compressor question....
 

I guess this is as good as time as any to get some info I was wondering about:

I want to buy a compressor that will allow me to shoot paint, use a D/A, impact wrenches, etc as well as nailguns.

What are the requirements I need in a compressor ? Portability would be great too, but I think that is asking for a lot.

Thx

Re: Air compressor question....
 

Wart - What is the second ball valve for? I assume you have them t'd together somehow and open the valve to allow the old tank to fill, where does the second valve come in? Just wondering. I am doing exactly what you did only on a smaller scale, I am connecting them to my makeshift manifold with quick connectors and flexible hose because the two compressors are portable.

abl1111 - The short answer is the biggest you can afford. From what I gather you are basically looking at HP of the motor, capacity in gallons of the tank, Max PSI and most important CFM or cubic feet per minute. I am sure others will add to my list.

Re: Air compressor question....
 

With the 2 valves it put's the 60gal tank in series with the 80gal and the main air line in the shop.

The air goes from the 80gal in the top of the 60gal and then out the side of the 60gal to the main line.

If I didn't have 2 valves the air would go in the main line from the 80gal and then backup into the 60gal tank.

This stuff is all stationary and hard plumbed.

I dialed down the regulator switch on the 80gal. It is designed for 175psi. I have it set at 150psi because the 60gal tank is not rated that high.

Re: Air compressor question....
 

I see.

Re: Air compressor question....
 

For compressors, the DA sander is the air hog and is what you have to account for when buying a compressor. I think that 5HP is a bit small and will not keep up with constant sander use, but 7.5 HP and 80 gal will keep up just fine. We have a portable 5 HP gas compressor that will run 1 DA pretty well, but it is loud and you need a good air treatment set up as the pump gets very hot and the air gets real wet.

Otherwise you are going with a fixed unit. Get a 3 phase unit if you have that type of power, as a 7.5 hp 220v unit also hogs juice. The higer cost will soon be covered by reduced elec bills if you are going to use it a lot.

Re: Air compressor question....
 

I also suggest you take a look at a quality compressor, I work for a subsidiary of Ingersoll-Rand, maker of one, if not, the best air compressors and air tools in the world. Take a look at their line in air.irco.com and let me know which model(s) you're interested in and I'll see what price I can get for you.

Re: Air compressor question....
 

I have only known of one house in my life that had 3phase power.
That was because it had a full machine shop in the basement.

Pay attention to the advertised CFM and the actual CFM. That unit I have has the chart's for actual CFM non of the other's I looked at had that and I did a lot of reserch.

Re: Air compressor question....
 

Don't know about RI but down here in Texas our power company will not give you three phase at a residential location power unless you have a commercial application, even though repairing a classic seacraft could be considered one of the most important jobs in the world, I don't think any electrical provider would think that boat repair would warrant three phase service not only that but installing a three phase service from the meter loop on in is the responsiblity of the resident and is very costly. I would venture to say that he would be able to buy several compressors that would suite his application for the cost of a installing a three phase service.