Adding extra air tank to compressor?

[nperkins]

May seem like a silly question, but has anybody ever added extra air tanks for additional storage for their compressor? I have a 30 gallon craftsman (Actually I have two of them), and I can get another 25 gallon tank for free...

Is it worth it? Or am I just going to burn out the motor on the compressor?

Eventually i'll upgrade to a 60-80 gallon, but for now if I can give myself an upgrade for next to nothing, why the hell not?

 

[thebeekeeper1]

It really doesn't "upgrade" anything but a few seconds before the compressor kicks on--then runs the motor longer than it is designed to run. No gain and extra duty cycle. There simply is no substitute for CFM.

 

[8man]

I added a 80 gallon tank to my 5 hp 12.4 CFM 60 gallon compressor. It does allow for longer air use before the compressor kicks on. However, I don't like the set up.

I agree that there is no substitute for CFM and my next compressor will have at least 2X what this compressor is running.

 

[Fugio]

I tried it with my pancake compressor. It seemed smart at the time, but was pretty stupid of me.

It didn't save any time because the compressor still can only pump out so much air. All it did was make a portable compressor into a not portable compressor.

 

[Alta_Racer]

I have a 5hp 60 gal DV compressor and then a filter and a 30 foot run to another 60 gal tank there are valves at each inlet/outlet. I get a little moisture from the comp tank but ZERO at the aux tank. That is the main benefit.
I keep the valve at the comp closed, and my whole shop runs off the aux tank so any bleed off is on the aux only, so when I come in and need a "little" air, I can just open the valve and have lots of reserve for filling a tire, blow gun, it will run most airtools for a while as well, so I may not even need to power up the comp. It does take longer to fill, but lots longer before it kicks back in too.
I like my setup.

 

[jgorm]

I'm going to use my current 30g compressor as an aux air tank when I get a new one. I'm going to leave it on the wheels for "portable" air, and use 3/4" fittings to charge it quickly. When it's not in use it will be in my car garage with a connection to 3/4" line to my shop. I've found that when you run 100' of airline it will slow down your flow and using a tank like a capacitor will resolve that issue.

 

[fsae0607]

I have the Campbell Hausfield 8-gallon they sell at Lowe's mounted on my wall, tied into my air lines via a ball valve. It adds a tiny bit of capacity, but no so much that it taxes the compressor. It's great to close the valve, and pull it off the wall to inflate tires out in the street or something.

 

[ttpete]

I have one I use as a surge tank at the end of a long hose. With a short hose connected to an impact, I can get max power just long enough to break something loose, then it'll walk off with reduced power.

 

[larry_g]

I have a 30 gallon craftsman (Actually I have two of them),

You would way ahead if you procured the fittings and valving to connect these two compressors to your load. Don't worry about having the compressors turn on at the same time, not necessary or advisable. Have a valve at the output of each compressor, then to a TEE, and from the TEE a single output to the load. This way you can use either compressor or both together when demand is high. You can also leave one electrically off if you just want the larger tank capacity.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Bondo]

May seem like a silly question, but has anybody ever added extra air tanks for additional storage for their compressor? I have a 30 gallon craftsman (Actually I have two of them), and I can get another 25 gallon tank for free...

Is it worth it? Or am I just going to burn out the motor on the compressor?

Eventually i'll upgrade to a 60-80 gallon, but for now if I can give myself an upgrade for next to nothing, why the hell not?

Ayuh,.... I daisy chain my 2 compressors to ole 100lb propane tanks, when I'm sandblastin', 'n need big air I ain't got,...

 

[sberry]

I have 2 comps a 3 and a 5 and all the tanks plus 25 gallon receiver/Franz. I leave the breaker to the 5 off and the extra 120 gallons I have on line plus itself gives the 3 some real legs. I can time it so I can DA near continuous with about 1 five minute break from 3 hp and am really done with most jobs before I run low. I run 1 smaller motor longer, reduce the starts and reduce the peak a bit using 3 hp vs 5.
Flip a switch and the blue comp would pump on the line, its tank is working all the time.
When I did leave it on I had the adjustment set so unless demand was hi the secondary came on, never in normal use. I used it for a couple weeks last year a bit for outage and once for sandblast, 99.95% of the time its just another air receiver.

 

[sberry]

The port is 3/4 on blue but I valve and hose 1/2 simply because its a short run to manifold and the primary also supplies 1/2, just cant use more than that.

 

[sberry]

Thee threads interest me a little, am considering an upgrade and a super Franzinator and it would even be simple for me to cold water chill it. I am going to help my sound a little with outside air one of these days.

 

[Mark in Indiana]

The best thing about an extra tank is if you position it close to your work area, you will have less pressure drop. That is if you have a large shop.

I have an extra tank to keep my air tools running a little longer. It's also handy to have the air ready for small jobs that I don't need to run the compressor on. However, you have to take extra time to recharge your second tank.

I currently run a Campbell-Hausfield 5/hp. with 2, 60 gal. tanks.

 

[BikerDad]

A lot of it depends on what you're doing with it. I got that same Kobalt 8gal unit FSAE0607 shows, and was going to use it as a reserve for my airbrush, which I was running off my Makita 1500 hot dog, 2 gallon tank. I wasn't worried about the cycle time so much as the frequency, figuring that I'd probably be able to get through a complete job on one full tank(s). The tank is ready, but my airbrushing has been on the back burner, so I don't really know whether or not my idea was going to pan out.

Obviously, if one is using air hog tools, the additional tank may not help nearly as much.

 

[nperkins]

I'm loving the responses here. Its actually giving me more ideas. My garage won't be huge (24x30) when it goes up in a few weeks, but i'm planning on building a compressor shed off the back, and I was thinking about putting the spare tank hanging from the ceiling in the front of the garage, with a fitting inside the garage, and another that goes outside the garage for filling tires and such... Help eliminate the need to kick on the compressor to fill a tire...

Maybe i'll tee the two compressors together and add another tank in the front...

 

[redmondjp]

I'm loving the responses here. Its actually giving me more ideas. My garage won't be huge (24x30) when it goes up in a few weeks, but i'm planning on building a compressor shed off the back, and I was thinking about putting the spare tank hanging from the ceiling in the front of the garage, with a fitting inside the garage, and another that goes outside the garage for filling tires and such... Help eliminate the need to kick on the compressor to fill a tire...

Maybe i'll tee the two compressors together and add another tank in the front...

If you do this, just remember to orient the tanks so you can drain them. You can get the momentary pull-to-drain valves from semi truck air tanks and have a cable coming down so you can easily do it from below.