Any ideas how to mount compressor high over man door?

[Cryptic1911]

We're thinking of making a shelf of some kind to mount a compressor over the outside door in our garage. We are looking to put it at 7'6 height, and roughly a 2ftx6ft shelf area for it to sit on (60gal horizontal).

We would like to rubber mount it to reduce vibrations.. just not sure if we should mount some kind of ledger board around the 2 walls and put legs on the right side (going to make a new workbench there too), or if we should make it a 4 leg setup, although we would have to make the left side legs about 3ft apart to miss that little platform under the electrical box, as well as the 220v plug right there.

So, any good ideas on how we should do this?

 

[DaleK]

Depends what's inside the walls and ceilings. If there's enough framework I'd be tempted to hang it, as high as you can. Maybe use chains or cables and you could put some rubber in the hangers for cushioning as well.

 

[SARG]

*That should shake a few drywall screws loose*

 

[Cryptic1911]

The walls are all 2x6, ceiling is 2x12's spanning 15ft. I guess one option would be to hang a cable or something.. just not sure if we want to do that, or make it more solid with legs

 

[Altec]

Build a small attached shed, and put it in there. I would be scared to death to have a compressor over my noodle.

 

[bob15]

You're looking at a lot of vibrating weight 8 feet over head. I personally don't like the idea, as it seems like an accident waiting to happen. How do you plan on picking it up to place it on this shelf, fork lift?

If you're head over heels in wanting to do this, I would skip the 2x's and build it out of super strut. You can have feet and bolt them into the floor to prevent walking. I would run 2 pieces to the joist over head which will help with stability. Bolts, lock washers or loctite would be used for fastening.

What is wrong with keeping it on the floor?

bob

 

[machine_punk]

I think either option would work, as long as you lag-bolt the framework to the studs/joists.

If I were going to hang it, I'd use threaded rod and strut...which is the industrial product designed to do exactly what you are doing...hang heavy things from the ceiling (just make sure the struts on the ceiling is lagged into several joists, to share the load. Then use strut nuts to attach the correct lengths of threaded rod, down to a couple of other pieces of strut, which will either attach directly to the pads of your machine, or support a heavy (plywood?) platform on which you can set your compressor.

I like the "tall table on legs" idea, simply because it decouples the air compressor from your walls (reduces noise). If you do this, make a 'box' out of the top (put plywood on top and on bottom, and stuff it with insulation, or something to reduce the noise--maybe even some dynamat covering 20% of the pieces of plywood). You may still want to tie this into the wall, just to make sure it doesn't fall off.

think about all your connections, before building whatever shelf system you are going to build (electricity, connections for air hoses, drain for the bottom of the tank).

Looking forward to seeing how you choose to do this...post pics please.

Kev

 

[59 wagon man]

very easy i did this for years before as suggested a bought a cheap plastic shed and put the comp outside 2 ledger boards lag bolted to the two walls and 3/8 knee (l shaped brackets with holes on both sides) brackets lag bolted to the joists and hang 1/2" threaded rod to support the unsupported sides once again using knee brackets bolted to the platform you built level it bolt the comp down and your set

 

[sublimate]

I'd make a triangle corner shelf so it's anchored to 2 walls instead of cantilevered out from the 1 wall.

 

[Jack Olsen]

Assuming that's an interior door, I'd also vote for an outside shed. Even with rubber dampening, it will turn that wall into a vibrating drum head.

 

[Cryptic1911]

You're looking at a lot of vibrating weight 8 feet over head. I personally don't like the idea, as it seems like an accident waiting to happen. How do you plan on picking it up to place it on this shelf, fork lift?

If you're head over heels in wanting to do this, I would skip the 2x's and build it out of super strut. You can have feet and bolt them into the floor to prevent walking. I would run 2 pieces to the joist over head which will help with stability. Bolts, lock washers or loctite would be used for fastening.

What is wrong with keeping it on the floor?

bob

Don't want to waste the space on the floor.. we have the entire floorspace around the garage used up.. cabinets all down one side, lathe and pallet rack along the back, and workbench all down this wall. I'd rather not use the floor space we may have in the pallet rack area for a compressor, and although we could put it up on the pallet rack, I'd rather use this wasted space in the opposite corner.

I'm not worried about having it up high, as long as it's anchored, it won't be any worse than standing under the lift that is 2ft away with a 4000lb vehicle on it.

As for picking it up, I have access to genie lifts at work that will pick it up no problem

If I were going to hang it, I'd use threaded rod and strut...which is the industrial product designed to do exactly what you are doing...hang heavy things from the ceiling (just make sure the struts on the ceiling is lagged into several joists, to share the load. Then use strut nuts to attach the correct lengths of threaded rod, down to a couple of other pieces of strut, which will either attach directly to the pads of your machine, or support a heavy (plywood?) platform on which you can set your compressor.

I like the "tall table on legs" idea, simply because it decouples the air compressor from your walls (reduces noise). If you do this, make a 'box' out of the top (put plywood on top and on bottom, and stuff it with insulation, or something to reduce the noise--maybe even some dynamat covering 20% of the pieces of plywood). You may still want to tie this into the wall, just to make sure it doesn't fall off.

think about all your connections, before building whatever shelf system you are going to build (electricity, connections for air hoses, drain for the bottom of the tank).

Looking forward to seeing how you choose to do this...post pics please.

Kev

LOL, I never gave unistrut a thought.. and we have some on the other side of the garage holding the heater!

I want to rubber mount stuff to isolate, as well as anchor it to the wall with a loose cable so incase all the bolts fall out, it can't walk all the way off the platform.

The reasons for wanting to put it in this corner are many.. the main electrical panel is right there, so it'll have to go about 3ft for power, there's access to outside to drain the water out, and the air lines can go right along that wall as it will be over the work bench, and right next to the lift. I'd run a piece of hose over to a length of pipe, have a few drops, as well as run a piece out for a spool the ceiling for working under the lift

If we do this, pics will definately be posted.. probably in the build thread in my sig too

I'd make a triangle corner shelf so it's anchored to 2 walls instead of cantilevered out from the 1 wall.

Hadn't thought of this, but I think with the ~3ft of space to the garage door it would eliminate this option since it's a horizontal compressor. It would probably work if we had a stand up compressor though

 

[kbs2244]

If you have the equipment to put stuff that size up on pallet racking I would put the compressor up high and out of the way on the other side of the room and put more pallet racking above and around the door.

Only because of the noise and vibration issue.

You could put it on new pallet racking above the door, but that don’t solve the noise issue.

 

[Cryptic1911]

Actually that is an outside door, so its as far away from the house as it can get

 

[Sureshot]

I have my vertical 8' off the floor. I made a bracket that lags to the post. It has been there for 12 yrs.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/56347875/Compressor.JPG

 

[fstbusa]

I fastened a couple 2x4s to the wall and supported the outside corner with all thread thru a 2x4 spanning across the trusses.

 

[kbs2244]

If you are going to do it like fstbusa I would, at the least, cut away the drywall so that you are lag screwing tight to the framing.

But if noise is not an issue, go for it.

 

[NUTTSGT]

If I had pallet racking, that's where I'd put it.

 

[fstbusa]

If you are going to do it like fstbusa I would, at the least, cut away the drywall so that you are lag screwing tight to the framing.

But if noise is not an issue, go for it.

Mine is lag screwed tight to the studs. It just has drywall sandwiched in there. plus my compressor doesn't weigh much, like 150lb.

 

[Racecarl]

Ditto on other posters recommending installing the compressor in a corner. When I poured the foundation walls, I added two additional anchors 3' from the corner on each wall to install the legs for the compressor stand. The legs are made of 2 3/8" oilfield pipe. I used 2X4X1/4" tubing to go from the left leg to the right. I welded a piece of 2X2X1/4" angle iron from the corner pipe out and from the crosstube out to catch the outermost compressor tank leg. The same angle iron also runs along the walls and is lag bolted into the 2X6 studs in the wall. The two outer legs are fastened to the anchor bolts in the foundation and the inside corner leg is lagged into the sill plate.

I have the compressor sitting all four tank legs. The tank legs each sit on one valve spring from a 619 John Deere engine. The spring surrounds a 2" piece of rubber hose with a 7/16" bolt running through the hose. This works amazingly well as a vibration dampner. The compressor does not dance around and does not shake or vibrate the building excessively. I also relocated the air filter to the attic, which made big difference in noise level.

The ceiling in my shop is 12' 6". I rigged up a temorary winch to lift the compessor while I installed the legs, and then lowered the compessor onto the legs. I bored a hole in the ceiling and ran the hand winch from the attic. This worked OK, but resulted in quite a few trips from the attic to the floor to get the compressor in the right position.

I used a 1" hydraulic hose from the tank valve to the copper air lines I ran around the perimeter of the 24X30 shop.

I considered placing my compressor above the walk through door, but I liked the corner idea better. If I were to install a compressor above a door, I would use oilfield pipe and build the stand with four legs. I would anchor the legs to the floor (unless there were hydronic pipes in the floor) as well as tie the stand to the walls.

 

[cyamaha2007]

My quincy is 12ft off the floor. I built a deck then used diagnal braces from the deck to wall. Then for safety i used 2 3/4in thread all rods from the deck to the top cord of the truss. Its been up there for 5 years. To mount the compressor to the deck i used 4 rubber body mounts off a junk pickup. I also ran a 1/2in steel cable through the lifting eye and around a truss in case all else fails

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

There are many good suggestions on how to mount it over your door if you must but I would strongly recommend that if it is in fact going over that doorway you get an engineer to look at it or at least run the idea by your local zoning office. Also ask your insurance company how they feel about it.

Personally, I wouldn't do it. I would go with the out building/shed option.

 

[fstbusa]

There are many good suggestions on how to mount it over your door if you must but I would strongly recommend that if it is in fact going over that doorway you get an engineer to look at it or at least run the idea by your local zoning office. Also ask your insurance company how they feel about it.

Personally, I wouldn't do it. I would go with the out building/shed option.

I agree with you that it is risky to let the trusses bare the weight if it but if you span across multiple ones the weight per truss ends up to be less than a grown man that walks on them so I feel more safe that way.

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

I agree with you that it is risky to let the trusses bare the weight if it but if you span across multiple ones the weight per truss ends up to be less than a grown man that walks on them so I feel more safe that way.

I just envision a little child walking in the doorway just as something gives way -maybe from an earthquake, tornado, or even termites...

 

[fstbusa]

I just envision a little child walking in the doorway just as something gives way -maybe from an earthquake, tornado, or even termites...

That is shocking to think about but all of those things are acts of God and can't really be controlled sans termites.

If we all were too scared of all those things we might as well live in a canvas tent on the ground.

 

[pipsters]

That is shocking to think about but all of those things are acts of God and can't really be controlled sans termites.

If we all were too scared of all those things we might as well live in a canvas tent on the ground.

If I lived in an area prone to tornadoes, hurricanes, or earthquakes IMO it would be stupid, yes stupid, to put heavy objects up high.

Live in Canada? You're probably not going to get hit with 150-200 mph winds. Live in the south, midwest or gulf coast...yep. Live on the west coast? There was an earthquake just a few days ago. Why tempt fate?

 

[ford33]

How do you perform maintenance on the compressor? When you need to change belts, oil or filter, it will be difficult and unlikely to do maintenance. H

How often would you check the overhead mounting system for loose bolts or worn parts and correct it? Will it be as safe 10 years from now as it was the day you put it up there?

The idea of a heavy vibrating machine over my head while I work at the bench would not be appealing. The noise would also be bothersome. The others who placed the compressor high in the corner were not working under it or near it for any length of time. The intention to mount overhead near your workbench is not a good idea, IMHO.

I placed my outside and it has worked well. I live the Chicago area.

 

[fstbusa]

How do you perform maintenance on the compressor? When you need to change belts, oil or filter, it will be difficult and unlikely to do maintenance. H

How often would you check the overhead mounting system for loose bolts or worn parts and correct it? Will it be as safe 10 years from now as it was the day you put it up there?

The idea of a heavy vibrating machine over my head while I work at the bench would not be appealing. The noise would also be bothersome. The others who placed the compressor high in the corner were not working under it or near it for any length of time. The intention to mount overhead near your workbench is not a good idea, IMHO.

I placed my outside and it has worked well. I live the Chicago area.

I understand your point. Mine is not over where I work , it's in the corner overtop of my toolbox. Plus mine doesn't get used all that often, maybe once a week at most so the noise doesn't bother me. We all do what works best for our own situation.

 

[darkk]

Well, I guess *dad* gets to speak now. We have a non-connected, heated 22'x24' garage about 18 feet away from that outside door. That is where the compressor resides at the moment. We also have a 3" underground conduit running from that corner of the new connected garage to that older garage and it has 100 amp service. We could leave it where it is and just pull a 1/2" rubber air line through the conduit and call it a day.

 

[Steevo]

I put mine up on a pallet rack to avoid wasting floor space, and since it isn't attached to the walls, it doesn't transfer any vibration to the structure.

 

[zoomzoomjeff]

How about just the tank mounted up high, and the compressor itself mounted elsewhere for ease of maintenance, and noise isolation? That's what I was thinking about for my own setup.

 

[srmofo]

Just thinking out loud here,

How is your structure fastened together? Do you think the vibrations from the compressor could loosen the nails given enough time?

If you do fasten it to the wood structure, I would at least invest in some real, quality anti-vibration feet for the compressor. Plus it would quiet it down some since its right over your head.

Or since I just read that the compressor is already mounted in another garage with conduit run, I would leave it there. I cant stand the sound of compressors running

 

[Falcon67]

I second the Unistrut suggestion. Our "server room" has a 4 ton horizontal "residential style" AC unit hung from the ceiling using Unistrut. Been there a long time and doesn't move. It also runs 24x7, so the vibration is there for sure. Granted the ceiling is concrete beams and if it falls it's just miss a million or so bucks worth of equipment. Unistrut, threaded anchors, 3/8" all thread. It weighs probably around 200+ lbs.

 

[akdiesel]

I'm all for Unistrut. Put it into the corner as a free standing unit with a few fasteners to the wall.
A triangle form should work fine. For your corner location it looks like you would have one 6' piece and possibly two 4'-5' pieces against the walls. A 10' piece of 12gauge 1 5/8" strut should handle about 500 lbs with about 150 lbs supported evenly.
When I say free standing I mean use verticle supports as well and fasten to the wall at the bottom edge and at the top three corners but also use some rubber cushions to help with vibration.
I see a lot of good high systems but I guess I would incorporate a hurricane tie like the ones used for water heaters. I know they are fastened at the feet but this is my family and my life around it. We live in an earthquake zone so most stuff is imbedded into our heads that it needs anchored.

 

[dankicksass]

The idea of a compressor mounted over the door seems kind of drunk to me.

 

[rj440]

My compressor weighs almost 500 lbs, the thought of it up in the air is frightening. I'd leave it on the ground and put shelfing above it if you need the space

 

[Cryptic1911]

Some good ideas here.. We'll have to think about it and see what we can come up with, thats if we even do this at all. One other option that I hadn't considered, is that we do have a loft in the old garage, we could even mount it up there and still snake a line through the conduit like darkk was saying. That would still keep it over there, but clear up the floor space too, so kinda win win

The idea of a compressor mounted over the door seems kind of drunk to me.

It's over an outside door that almost never gets used

 

[A_Pmech]

I don't see anything wrong with putting it up high, but there's a very good chance it will make the wall vibrate at an annoying level. I would put it outside under a lean-to as well.

 

[MoonRise]

Possible to do so? Yes.

Good idea? I'm not so sure about that.

A 60 gallon air compressor with tank weighs somewhere between about 250-400 lbs (depending on motor size/weight and whether pump is heavy cast iron or whatnot).

You thus have a pretty heavy chunk of vibrating machinery up in the air and over a doorway (doesn't matter if it is 'hardly used', it's still a doorway and thus a path where someone might be underneath the 'platform').

General safety-factor for suspending/mounting/lifting things is 4-5x safety factor. Lifting/suspending things over personel usually moves the required safety factor up to 10x.

That kind of means making your 'platform' strong enough for 4000 lbs or more.

Also, the general safety provision to guard against falling items.

Also, you would run afoul of the NEC 'clear space around an electrical panel' requirements. Which is generally 30 inches wide (or the width of the panel, whichever is bigger) and 36 inches in front of the panel and vertically up to the ceiling or at least 6 ft above the panel if the ceiling is higher than that. Your proposed compressor mounting platform 'intrudes' into that clear-space requirement. NG.

Stick the compressor in a corner where there is no general pathway for personnel underneath (like on the pallet rack) and you reduce the required safety concerns by a lot.

Or leave it in the 'other' garage and run an air line from 'there' to 'here'. But you can't run the air line in the electrical conduit. The electrical conduit is just for the electrical stuff, nothing else 'allowed' in that conduit, sorry.

300.8 Installation of Conductors with Other Systems.
Raceways or cable trays containing electric conductors
shall not contain any pipe, tube, or equal for steam, water,
air, gas, drainage, or any service other than electrical.

 

[Motofixxer]

I mounted mine about 4' off the floor. I welded a steel frame then put 1 1/2" of plywood on that, then lag bolted the feet through rubber isolators to the plywood. Steel frame has 5/16" by 4" lag bolts into the studs. Then there is a 1x1 square steel tube leg for support.

Does it vibrate the wall, of course. Is it noticeable, not really unless you put your hand on the wall. How did I get it up there, from the bed of my truck and a little physics application.