Above 1200 Sq/FT The ASYLUM - Happy 40th Birthday to Me! (Est. 2005)

shopnut · Aug 1, 2014

E12-535iTurbo said:
PVC is fine for the intake.

As for the breaker for the compressor I take it that the other electronics like the fans etc. are also wired from the same breaker circuit? You don't want the have a fan blowing fresh air into a blazing fire .

All this progress and those nice pictures you post really makes me want to start building too. However untill now it's only a paper exercise for me. Although I'm gathering parts. My compressors are no way near as nice as yours but the rest of the setup will be. Keep up the nice work!! In time I'll return the favor by posting my own setup.

“You don't want the have a fan blowing fresh air into a blazing fire” Haha. Nor would I want the other fan sucking fire out of the cabinet and blowing it directly into my storage loft!

You’re going to convince me I need that emergency stop switch if you keep this up!

Both fans get power from a second circuit and it has a single pole breaker (110V) in the main panel. I was tempted to pull power for all the 110V components from one of the hot legs in the dedicated 220V compressor circuit, but I’m not sure if this is frowned upon by the electrical experts.

I mentioned it before some time ago, but I feel it is an important point to make again. This may be unique to my situation, but I wanted separate control on the pump and the shop air solenoid valve. With a previously pressurized tank, there will be times when I don’t need to switch the pump on because I just need a little blast of air somewhere. There will also be other times when I need to completely deplete the tank, and to do so, I need to turn on shop air without the pump coming on. I was halfway down the path of putting these items on the same switch when I realized I needed independent control. I will add, however, that I doubt I will ever turn on the pump without turning on the shop air as well, so those actions could be combined. Just a little food for thought.

I would love to see what you have designed (be it in paper or hardware form), so feel free to post it here. There is always something to learn from other people’s ideas. I started putting a schematic together for mine while it’s all fresh in my mind, otherwise a year from now, I’ll be scratching my head trying to figure out the circuit and logic.

shopnut · Aug 4, 2014

FINISHING THE AIR INTAKE FILTER…

Luckily, the Solberg filter arrived just in time to accompany me on the trip out to the Asylum. Here is the model FS-10-075 shown apart and also next to the stock airbox.

The air intake piping runs down in the cabinet corner opposite the STACK aftercooler and draws cool air in down by the base of the compressor tank. (Yep, the cabinet panels came off for this job, but I’m getting quick at it

)

Here’s a close-up of the upper end. A rubber hose provides for movement between the compressor and the cabinet.

Down at the bottom end, the yellow cabinet doors will provide direct access to the Solberg filter can.

Rather than using the brass pipe ****** I showed earlier, I used a molded Campbell Hausfeld intake pipe from another model. I figured it would do a good job of isolating the heat from the rest of the intake parts.

Over the years, I found the miter saw is great for cutting the larger PVC pipe, like the 1-1/2” nominal stuff used here. Nice square cuts every time!

akdiesel · Aug 4, 2014

shopnut said:
FINISHING THE AIR INTAKE FILTER…

Here’s a close-up of the upper end. A rubber hose provides for movement between the compressor and the cabinet.

Nice work on the system. Did you have to heat the rubber hose to get a good bend with no kinks?

shopnut · Aug 4, 2014

akdiesel said:
Nice work on the system. Did you have to heat the rubber hose to get a good bend with no kinks?

Thanks. I kind of cheated though - I cut the elbow out of a 1-1/4" ID pre-formed coolant hose I had lying around. Seems to fit pretty good in it's new home.

akdiesel · Aug 4, 2014

shopnut said:
Thanks. I kind of cheated though - I cut the elbow out of a 1-1/4" ID pre-formed coolant hose I had lying around. Seems to fit pretty good in it's new home.

shopnut

Now that is good thinking, not cheating.

shopnut · Aug 5, 2014

DETAILS ON THE TIMER DOOR…

I decided to spruce up the compressor main switch a little bit and a couple of copper pipe caps did the trick. Here are the parts stacked in the assembly order.

I didn’t want a screw showing on the top cap so the screw runs up through the bottom cap and holds the red plastic piece in place.

Then the top cap fits snugly down on the red piece.

Although I kind of like the copper color, the caps got a quick shot of matching silver paint. We will see how it looks when the paint dries.

For holding the door shut, I used these little black knobs I had in my hardware drawer. I would have preferred some 1/4 turn versions, but couldn’t find any suitable black ones in a quick search. To make it easier to access, I will cut the excess thread off so only a couple threads engage.

And here is a quick picture with all of the silver screws replaced with black ones. I don't know about you, but I feel better!

shopnut · Aug 5, 2014

akdiesel said:
shopnut

Now that is good thinking, not cheating.

I'm not much of a cheater or corner cutter these days.

akdiesel · Aug 5, 2014

shopnut said:

At first sight of this picture I thought you installed a BEER holder.
Continuous improvement.

shopnut · Aug 6, 2014

akdiesel said:
At first sight of this picture I thought you installed a BEER holder.
Continuous improvement.

Haha. That would be a thimble sized glass!

(Seriously, I do need a beer holder around here though, and a can crusher!)

Wingnut65 · Aug 6, 2014

OK, a Shot Glass holder...

shopnut said:
I'm not much of a cheater or corner cutter these days.

Really??? I hadn't noticed! :thumbup:

Your attention to details is legendary. And the black screws and silver copper caps are proof!

colin39 · Aug 6, 2014

I think shopnut borders on being kind of , ocd? What do you think?

Colin

Wingnut65 · Aug 6, 2014

colin39 said:
I think shopnut borders on being kind of , ocd? What do you think?

Colin

He would probably call it CDO, just because they have to be in alphabetical order!

I'm in therapy for mine and shopnut isn't at any of the meetings.

shopnut · Aug 7, 2014

colin39 said:
I think shopnut borders on being kind of , ocd? What do you think?

Colin

Wingnut65 said:
He would probably call it CDO, just because they have to be in alphabetical order!

I'm in therapy for mine and shopnut isn't at any of the meetings.

The first step to solving any problem is admitting there is a problem. It would be senseless to deny it with all these pages of proof here on the GJ. But that’s as far as I got in the recovery program because I seem to keep losing the address to the meetings for some reason. :dunno:

I can only hope Wingnut is taking good notes. Neatly numbered and alphabetized notes, of course!

shopnut · Aug 7, 2014

COMPRESSOR CABINET VENTILATION – HERE’S MY PLAN…

The last thing you want happening inside the cabinet is something the heat exchanger guys call “recirculation”, and that occurs when the hot air loops around and gets drawn back into the cooling fan. So for best performance, you want an easy path for cool air to come in, and once heated, to quickly get it out of the cabinet. Baffling can help direct air as it passes through.

I’m lucky in that my compressor has a built-in pulley fan and tight fitting shrouds that force air across the pump. And the electric motor has an internal fan that keeps it cool. All I need to do is make sure cool air gets to the shroud intake slots and then **** it up and out the cabinet top once warmed up. Here is the pulley fan with one half of the shroud removed.

I didn’t feel like fighting natural convection, so I will direct my air flow upward through the cabinet as it is heated, the direction it would slowly want to go anyway, even without a fan. Here is a side view of what I’m hoping will happen inside the cabinet. The “FAN” as shown is the belt pulley. The baffles will run the entire width of the cabinet creating more or less two separate chambers.

I started enclosing the top and sides of the cabinet.

I doubt convection and the pulley fan would be enough to move adequate air through the cabinet, so an 8” duct fan will assist from above to draw air up. This shot is looking up at the exhaust duct in the ceiling that leads to the 8” fan. The STACK aftercooler 4” flexible duct is also routed over to the vent where its hot air will be extracted along with the cabinets.

Below is a side view showing one of the hard baffles. It’s the one that lies on top of the belt guard. I’m not totally convinced hard panels are the easiest way to do this, considering all the various things it has to wrap around, so I bought a welding blanket to create a flexible conforming baffle around the hot compressor. The welding blanket was the first non-flammable cloth I thought of, but they are a little pricy. More to come on this as I work through the design and try some different ideas.

Lastly per Vernmotor’s suggestion (thanks buddy), I dug this old thermostatic switch out of the parts bin. It will keep the 8” exhaust fan running until the inside of the cabinet cools down to the preset temperature on the dial. The main switch will still be upstream of it and have ultimate say whether it runs or not. I’m basically going to take the green extension cord and install the switch halfway between the ends, creating an inline thermostat. The switch will be located near the hottest part, the pump.

I will get the air flowing the way I want it first, and when satisfied, I will then focus my efforts to quieting things down if needed. I really don’t find it that objectionable as is, but I’m sure it could always be quieter.

JCQuick · Aug 7, 2014

Recirculation
And that's why A VW engine bay is sealed off from the hot air that rises from the underside of the engine

LOL I couldn't resist

shopnut · Aug 8, 2014

Nobody likes hot air!

BTW... Happy Birthday JCQuick! I know it's this month sometime.

JCQuick · Aug 8, 2014

shopnut said:
Nobody likes hot air!

BTW... Happy Birthday JCQuick! I know it's this month sometime.

Damm your good :shocking:

Monday to be exact and with any luck I'll be picking up some engineered drawings :thumbup:

shopnut · Aug 10, 2014

I couldn't think of a better present! I just got tools, but it was exactly what I asked for.

Looking forward to seeing you break ground.

shopnut · Aug 11, 2014

MY CRAFTSMAN C3 NI-CAD BATTERIES FINALLY DIED…

The last Ni-CAD batteries I acquired were put into service in 2010 and they have served me well over the last 4 years. It has come to the point now that they don’t hold a strong enough charge for the drills. But I will keep them around for a while to power up the flashlights.

So it was time to add some new batteries to the set. Rather than buying high-priced batteries Sears sells separately, I normally buy one of the combo kits that include some batteries to save a few bucks. This time I was looking for their XCP batteries which are the high performance Lithium-ion versions since I’ve had good luck with their first generation Li-ion packs. Here’s the set I picked out for my B-day (thanks Mrs. Shopnut!).

It included a 1/2 drill/driver, 1/2 impact wrench, and 2 of the compact XCP batteries. Although I use a torque wrench for installing wheel lug nuts, I think the impact will come in handy for taking them off.

The set is growing...

Mrs. Shopnut even got into the game when she purchased this handy little vacuum. She loves that thing, btw.

I mark the date the batteries are put into service, and I try to use the older ones first if I have a choice. Many times, however, I will have 4 or 5 batteries being used at once.

Since the majority of my batteries are now Li-ion, it was time to upgrade my charging station to the appropriate chargers. This picture shows the old Ni-CAD charger on top.

Two multi-chemistry chargers were installed. Thank you Sears for making a charger that handles all of your current and old batteries. The chargers are still powered through an outlet that is controlled by a 12-hour wind-up timer. Even though the batteries are able to stay in the charger all the time, I still like to power all appliances off when I’m away from the shop.

And when not in use, just close the door to hide it all.

nine4gmc · Aug 11, 2014

Happy Birthday!!

Bob Heine · Aug 12, 2014

Hmmm, would that be the last one that starts with a 4?

shopnut · Aug 12, 2014

nine4gmc – Hey, thanks buddy. Like most guys, I don’t generally make a big deal out of it. But it’s usually just a great reason to drink an extra beer or two

.

Bob Heine – Good catch! I really need to live-it-up this year before I turn into an old geezer, don’t I? But more importantly - I really, really need to finish this place!!! It is approaching the point of doubling the time I thought it would take to complete it (initially 5 years, so I dreamed). Of course, I blame the delay on the fine folks here at the GJ suggesting all these great ideas that I just had to incorporate! But it has been fun, no doubt.

Since the timing will be about right, maybe my next thread about playing with the toys in the finished shop should be titled:
The ASYLUM – Happy 50th to Me! Finally Finished and Ready for Action!

Thanks for following along all these years!

tinbender 66 · Aug 12, 2014

Happy birthday, you're just a pup!

akdiesel · Aug 12, 2014

shopnut

Happy Birthday. You deserve to relax for a few minutes.

shopnut · Aug 12, 2014

akdiesel said:
shopnut

Happy Birthday. You deserve to relax for a few minutes.

Ahhhhh, that was great. Minutes are over. Back to work. (Thanks AK)

shopnut · Aug 12, 2014

tinbender 66 said:
Happy birthday, you're just a pup!

Just a pup? Then why do I make these funny sounds every time I try to stand up?

Thanks TB

shopnut · Aug 12, 2014

AN ULTRASONIC CLEANER FOR THE SHOP (Part 1 of 2)…

I heard about professionals using ultrasonic technology to clean motorcycle carburetors several years ago and it seemed the cost was fairly reasonable if you were willing to mail your carb to one of these places to have them do it. Then a recent thread at the great GJ (Link: ultrasonic cleaners for rebuilding carbs, etc) alerted me that HF sells one under $100 and it’s large enough to do the typical m/c carb. So my research began to learn more about the DIY process.

I was just about to buy the Harbor Freight 2.5 liter cleaner, but my ebay savvy scored a slightly more industrialized unit for $80 delivered. This exact one is normally sold anywhere from $120-175, depending on the source, so I think I did pretty well. Here is some detailed information for those who like to see specs.

3003-Ultrasonic-Cleaner - ProSonik PSUS2.5L (1).JPG

3004-Ultrasonic-Cleaner - ProSonik PSUS2.5L (2).JPG

Of course, they make this one look huge in the picture, but it’s roughly 6” cube tank seemed large enough to fit an entire m/c carb (disassembled). It came with a basket and lid, but right after I won the auction, I bought some cheap stainless strainers for really small parts like fuel jets, screws, and springs

Some quick research also turned up this thread about using smaller containers (beakers, bags, etc) filled with your favorite cleaning solution to hold the smaller parts so you don't foul up a whole bowl of solution or water: http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general-archive/tips-wanted-using-ultrasonic-cleaner-home-shop-96298/

Many mfrs and users recommend you do a “Foil Test” to check if it’s working properly. If you do it right out of the box, it also serves as a baseline to compare performance a few years down the road. You basically hang a sheet of aluminum foil in the tank and see how it gets mangled. It sounded fun to me so I gave it a whirl.

During the test. In one picture you can see the ripples in the water. But don’t be mistaken, it is doing much more than just vibrating the water. It is actually imploding microscopic bubbles on the surface of anything submerged in there. Millions of little water jet blasts are doing the work.

And the foil pieces after a little dunk in the tank...

Small bits of aluminum covered the bottom of the tank after the test, so I don’t recommend dunking something really thin in there – there may be nothing left of it!!!

nkachur · Aug 12, 2014

Shopnut,

That is way cool. We use them at work to clean gas masks. you have made some huge progress since my last post. Congrats things are looking good.

shopnut · Aug 12, 2014

nkachur said:
Shopnut,

That is way cool. We use them at work to clean gas masks. you have made some huge progress since my last post. Congrats things are looking good.

Thanks. You probably know better than anyone else how slow it can go sometimes when its a one man show. But I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. There was a point when I didn't think I would get this far, but it's happening.

I hope all is well with you my friend.

shopnut · Aug 12, 2014

AN ULTRASONIC CLEANER FOR THE SHOP (Part 2 of 2)…

So it was time to give it a real test. I had this old 1970 Rochester 2-barrel carb that volunteered to jump in the tank first and I thought it was a very brave gesture

.

After seeing what the machine did to the foil, I figured I would try just hot water first. Results were dismal, even after three 20 min sessions, but I wanted to see if this was even possible to save on cleaning solution.

It was time to step it up a notch, so I went with a 50/50 mix of Krud Kutter (KK01) and distilled water. What a difference that made! I also bought some Simple Green Extreme Aircraft and Precision Cleaner (13406), but have not tried it yet. BTW, distilled water is recommended to mix with the solutions because it is mineral free. [EDIT] I paid about $16/gallon (includes shipping) for each of these from Amazon Prime. Real users have verified that both of them will not discolor aluminum parts.

This thread provides a discussion on solutions to use on aluminum parts. It was also mentioned that Simple Green Pro HD does not discolor it: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=771218

Here is the carb getting a bath in the 50/50 KK. Temperature was approaching the max setting. I purposely held the basket up a little bit so the carb was not completely submerged.

Here’s another shot showing how the bottom portion was starting to look a lot better.

In

Before and After (about 60 minutes at 160F)...

It didn’t come out perfect, but that white stuff you see is corrosion and a simple cleaning isn’t going to fix that. In the future for a proper carb cleaning, the entire thing should be taken apart. When I started, the shafts wouldn’t even rotate. After 60 mins in the tank, they rotated freely. This tells me it’s getting into the small voids nicely (they say one millionth of an inch!)

I’m very hopeful about the potential on my motorcycle carbs because none of them are even half as bad as this old thing. I’m more interested in getting the dirt cleaned out of all the small passageways – looking better will be a bonus. The greatest thing about the whole process is the fact that you just dunk it in, push a button, and walk away. And I have plenty of other things I can be doing in the meantime!

More to come as I try it on other parts and with different solutions.

Fyrme · Aug 13, 2014

Very nice write up shop, It looks like you have pretty much the same unit as mine. However the panel board and "claimed" tank size is different. Does yours have the double frequency setting? I've tried both and don't really notice a difference in cleaning, just that the noise is twice as annoying LOL.

Untitled by Fyrme, on Flickr

I'd be interested to see if the Simple Green HD prevents discoloring of aluminum. Because regular SG WILL discolor it. I found that out the hard way.

Jvvmusme · Aug 13, 2014

Now try soda blast on the carbs.

Wingnut65 · Aug 13, 2014

Happy Belated B-Days, JC and shopnut!

Any excuse for new tools is a good excuse. And dead batteries absolutely means new tools to go along with them! :thumbup:

But, I am baffled at why you don't just rebuild the battery pack with new cells?

You will have to give follow-up reports on what can be cleaned in the ultrasonic and what to use in it.

For the Simple Green and use on aluminum. Don't! It will corrode the aluminum. They have a special product that I got a sample of at Sun-N-Fun a couple years ago, called Extreme Simple Green - Aircraft & Precision Cleaner. It is formulated for use on aluminum. That should solve the issues of discoloring and corroding it.

JCQuick · Aug 13, 2014

for a fellow named Quick :3gears:

I sure can be a little slow some times but I think I figured out shopnuts birthday lol that one will be easy to remember :bounce:

hoho98925 · Aug 13, 2014

Nice info on the cleaner. well done. thanks

shopnut · Aug 13, 2014

Fyrme – Thanks! Hey, it does look very similar with the same the pattern in the housing. It even looks like the big control panel placard is hanging just a tad over the rounded corner just like mine!

Mine has simple heat and timer settings and that’s it, though. I’m not sure how much adjustment you have on the frequency and power settings, but I read they use a lower setting for cleaning delicate things like circuit boards, so that may come in handy for you.

The noise on mine can be a bit annoying after a while. Not bad though. I honestly thought the dogs were going to freak out when I turned it on the first time, but that wasn’t the case. They actually came closer to see what I was up to. Parts or even the basket rubbing against the inside of the tank can make it worse (and damage the tank!) so I shifted things around until the buzzing stopped.

Regarding the cleaners – Before buying my ultrasonic cleaner, I read many threads about the standard Simple Green discoloring aluminum. A retired USAF guy at work even confirmed it from actual experience years ago. I picked out the two I did because I specifically read from other users that they didn’t affect AL. I added a link and prices in the main write-up above concerning that cleaner discussion.

Simple Green HD is mentioned by users to not discolor AL as well. I ended up going with SG Aircraft blend because I read it was originally developed to not hurt aluminum aircraft parts. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out they are roughly the same formula.

Jvvmusme – Thanks for the suggestion. Looks like another item is getting added to the growing wish list. Any suggestions on what blaster to buy? Thanks in advance.

Wingnut65 – Thanks for the B-day wishes.

I've swapped out cells on Ni-Cad packs before with reasonable success (never seemed to charge quite right though because I probably didn't get the heat probe attached properly), but I would like to rebuild these will Li-ion cells. Do they even sell those?

It’s good to know I purchased the right Simple Green stuff! It pays to do a little research sometimes.

JCQuick – Do we need to change your member name to JCSlow? (j/k)

That’s funny - you're trying to remember my B-day and I'm trying to forget it!

hoho98925 – You are welcome. Just trying to share my experiences and research with those thinking about making the plunge.

98925 isn't the zip code for the North Pole, is it? (Ho Ho - get it?

) Okay, that was a corny joke.

Fyrme · Aug 13, 2014

I usually clean most things on Lo freq. Mine has Hi and Lo, I think they are 40hz and 20hz respectively. If you ever want to really annoy someone with it, turn it on while on your cel phone and stand with in 5 feet of it. Apparently it causes some extremely obnoxious interference that makes your voice weird. At least that's what my wife said. LOL I didn't notice a thing!

Wingnut65 · Aug 14, 2014

My Bad... I don't know how I missed your info on the Simple Green. I must have hit page down and just caught the last half of your post. I saw the before and after, but missed the description...

Don't know about the Li-ion being available. I have had one battery pack rebuilt at Batteries Plus. It worked well, but I paid for it, too. YouTube makes it look so easy...

shopnut · Aug 14, 2014

Fyrme – LOL, I’ll have to remember that trick the next time I’m on the phone with my MIL

(j/k, she’s a great lady)

Wingnut65 – No worries. I’ve been adding reports here at lightning speed lately (well, fast for the slow Asylum build anyway), it’s probably hard to keep up! (j/k)

Seriously, your larger picture is better at showing the label of what people should be buying if they’re dealing with aluminum parts. So thanks for that.

shopnut · Aug 14, 2014

DIRECTING COOLING AIR THROUGH THE COMPRESSOR CABINET…

Okay, with those couple of distractions out of the way, it’s back to wrapping up this compressor project. For the air baffles to direct cooling air inside the cabinet, I decided a flexible material would be the easiest. The welding blanket that would eventually be used was not exactly cheap, so I cut a template out of some old canvas first to mock it up. Here it is clipped into place.

All seemed well, so it was time to transfer the pattern to the real material.

While I was working in this area, I added a long lag screw to hold the upper end of the 4” STACK aftercooler duct up by the cabinet exhaust duct.

And here’s the final results.

I forgot how badly fiberglass mat frays so I struggled with that a bit. If I ever need to take it out, I will spread some RTV on the edges to keep it from getting worse. But it's doing the job and probably 95% effective at blocking the air from flowing in the wrong places.

Above 1200 Sq/FT The ASYLUM - Happy 40th Birthday to Me! (Est. 2005)

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