Compressor advice

[garage rookie]

I was given this old Montgomery Wards compressor. It runs fine and is wired to run on 220. The motor is a Doerr 2hp, rpm is 3450(yeah I know it's high). What I need to know is if I can put this pump and motor on a bigger tank? The current tank is 20 gal. I hope the pics come out ok.

 

[6768rogues]

There is no reason why you can't put it on a bigger tank but it will take longer to build pressure. When I had a small compressor, I used to tee in portable air tanks for more reserve.

 

[reinhardt]

i apologize in advance if i am telling you stuff you already know.

the pump outputs 'X' amount of cubic feet per minute (cfm) of air. any given tool consumes 'Y' amount of cfm. the tank is a reserve that the tool will consume until the pump has to turn on to refill the tank.

if 'X' is greater than 'Y', then you can run that tool all day long and the pump will stay 'ahead' of the tool. if 'Y' is greater than 'X' then you can run the tool until the air in the tank is ran down and you have to stop to let the tank refill. with a larger tank you can run higher cfm tools longer till you have to wait for it to refill (which will be a longer time).

I would reccomend having an extra tank hooked up inline w/ the compressor you have. then you can close off the extra tank for normal use, and open the tank for high cfm use situations for extra reserve.

ben

 

[Kev442]

Take part A, insert into part B. About 9-10 minutes to fill from zero to 120 (60 gallon). I made this as my old tank pinholed.
What others said is true, you are getting a better go from the start, but you wait longer to fill. A 2 horse is not going to perform like a 5 horse.

However, I find that when using a cutoff wheel, I have enough air to do a cut and while I am inspecting or moving to the next cut, it is filling constantly, giving me another decent run.

These compressors are tough, but not rated for constant duty, so you still run the risk of burning it up.

 

[Chloe Taylor]

There is no reason why you can't put it on a bigger tank but it will take longer to build pressure. When I had a small compressor, I used to tee in portable air tanks for more reserve.

A compressor needs some space and a place like such as to from where air can cross the compressor from its both ends. If you are considering in keeping the compressor on top of a big tank, surely is a bad idea.....