Champion 9-A compressor pump info.

[dwall174]

Champion A-9 compressor pump info.

I have an old Champion A-9 compressor pump that I'm looking to find an owners manual or even a copy of a spec-sheet for the pump.

"I need to find out the min. RPM needed to maintain the splash oil lucubration system"

The original compressor set-up had a 1/2HP 3450 RPM motor with a 2-1/2" drive pulley & a 9" pump pulley, Which would have the pump running at about 950RPM.

Due to clearance problems with a custom mounting location I need to use a smaller (under 6") pump pulley! I have a 5-1/2" pulley that would work for the pump, But I need to figure out the motor's RPM & drive pulley size needed to have the pump run as slow as possible to help keep the noise level down.

Doug

 

[DSLTRK]

I have an old Champion 9-A compressor pump that I'm looking to find an owners manual or even a copy of a spec-sheet for the pump.

"I need to find out the min. RPM needed to maintain the splash oil lucubration system"

The original compressor set-up had a 1/2HP 3450 RPM motor with a 2-1/2" drive pulley & a 9" pump pulley, Which would have the pump running at about 950RPM.

Due to clearance problems with a custom mounting location I need to use a smaller (under 6") pump pulley! I have a 5-1/2" pulley that would work for the pump, But I need to figure out the motor's RPM & drive pulley size needed to have the pump run as slow as possible to help keep the noise level down.

Doug

Your new pulley would run the pump about 580 rpm, so it should be enough to keep the oil splashing.

 

[md21722]

The pump flywheel is designed to balance out the pump and also to cool it. If you have a clearance problem, raise the pump. Many of these older Champions were put on raised bases anyway.

 

[dwall174]

The pump flywheel is designed to balance out the pump and also to cool it.

The pulley on this pump is just a stamped steel pulley, So I doubt it would help in the balancing of the pump or cooling it!

Doug

 

[md21722]

OK, if you used a 1725 RPM motor with the existing 2.5" motor sheave and a 5" pump pulley that would get you down to 862 RPM. 400 RPM is generally the stated minimum pump speed of splash lubricated reciprocating compressors but good luck getting down that slow if you're also decreasing the pump pulley. If you kept the 9" and swapped to a 1725 RPM motor you'd be around 480.

I do want to ask, what are you going to do with this thing? It's not going to make a lot of air. At 1/2 HP rated speed you are talking about 2 CFM. If you slow it down by half you are going to get about 1 CFM. That's about 18.5 minutes to fill a 20 gallon tank from 0 to 100 PSI.

 

[dwall174]

If you have a clearance problem, raise the pump

That would be too easy

My plans are to mount the compressor/motor/ & a small 3 gal tank to a piece of 3/4" plywood & have it fit under a scroll saw stand I have. The overall height needs to be about 1 foot.

 

[dwall174]

I do want to ask, what are you going to do with this thing? It's not going to make a lot of air.

Yeah it don't need to produce a lot of air or even have a fast recovery time!
It's just going to be used to keep the table/cutting area of my scroll saw clear of dust & small wood chips.

Doug

 

[md21722]

Cool scroll saw, You could put the stand on blocks to make more room

 

[dwall174]

Cool scroll saw,

Thanks

It started out a little rough, But it turned out pretty nice after re-building it.
Here's some before & after pic's

Doug

 

[dwall174]

You could put the stand on blocks to make more room

Yeah but then I would need to build a riser for the chair I matched the stand to.

Doug

 

[dwall174]

I'm still looking for a spec-sheet or owners manual for the Champion A-9 pump if anyone happens to have one!

Is there a recommended ratio between the motor pulley & the pump pulley?

Trying out different pulleys & motors to get the noise level down I'm running into problems with building up pressure above 60 PSI. Getting up to 40~50 PSI is not a problem, But I'm thinking I need a bigger ratio or maybe a larger HP motor to get the pressure up to around 90 PSI?

Doug

 

[dwall174]

I finally managed to find a parts diagram for the compressor pump, Looks like it's a discontinued Commandair line model A from the 1960's. Fortunately they still have parts for it.

Doug

 

[md21722]

I love seeing these old compressors still in operation. Thanks for the update. I had a Champion dual stage that I believe was an RE-4. Supposedly last made in the mid 50's. It still runs and pumps air as high as the gauge will go. It had the current style aluminum once piece head, but unusually also had an aluminum crank case. Only the side inspection covers and exhaust port manifolds and some fittings were steel!

This thread almost belongs in Vintage.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[dwall174]

I love seeing these old compressors still in operation. Thanks for the update.

Here's a couple more pic's of my latest set-up minus the plumbing just for a test fit. I ended up re-configuring the base & was able to use the original 9" pump pulley. Overall height is about 1" higher than I wanted, But there's a little extra room under the 2x4 framing for the lower shelf.

Doug

 

[dwall174]

I love seeing these old compressors still in operation.

Here's the latest up-date on my little customized Champion air compressor that I rebuilt & is now a dedicated part of my scroll saw set-up.

I added a small aluminum cooling coil from an old dehumidifier. The fan & motor from the old dehumidifier is mounted inside the scroll saws base which helps cool the coil & the motor. The fan mounted in the stand is powered from a outlet connected to the pressure switch "By drain valve in last pic"

I also made a little "oil-loop" out of some left-over aluminum tubing from the old dehumidifier that in theory should help cool the compressor oil. It's hard to tell if it actually helps out or not since the compressor doesn't run that often.

Being this compressor will mainly be used just for keeping the cutting pattern clear of sawdust. I adjusted the pressure switch to it's maximum differential setting, I'm getting a cut-in pressure around 38psi. & the cut-out pressure just over 90psi.

Doug

 

[dwall174]

Here's some current pics of the scroll saw with a "redesigned base" and the air compressor added!

I redesigned the base to make it tilt forward which gives me a better viewing angle.

I still need to do a couple of little tweaks to the final set-up!

1) lock-line for the air blower & a fine-adjustment needle valve for better air control. I also plan to add a solenoid valve that's controlled by a foot-switch that will also be used for the scroll saw.

2) I need to rework the light set-up I had, It worked ok but I probably should have dual little LED lights which will help eliminate shadows created with only using one light.

Doug