Compressor location

[babzog]

Wondering if compressors like to be parked and run in subzero temps, or if they prefer to be kept above freezing (even if cold)? I ask because I have two options available to me for situating one:

1. In the garage, taking up space. Open to getting dusty/dirty/covered in cobwebs and dead bugs and will be exposed to subzero temps in the winter (it's enclosed, but uninsulated and unheated).

2. In the (unused) cold storage room, which shares a foundation wall with the garage. Easy to drill a hole through for power and air lines, will remain above 0deg Celsius but will be exposed to humidity and mildew in the warmer weather (which is why we don't use this space).

I know I'd have to lug the ****** down into the basement and navigate it into place (there's a tight spot in there) to satify option #2, but it would essentially be housed out of sight in a concrete bunker. Cost of running power for option 2 is cheaper (cable would be about 5' long and I already have it) vs about 30' long for option 1. Air line costs would be about the same when I do eventually plumb the lines. Only other issue, as noted above, is drilling into the bunker for the power and air.

 

[HandyManny]

Like any piston driven engine the engine on a compressor would prefere above freezing or better when starting or operating.

I would not go out of my way to store a compressor in below freezing temps, but if it happens on occasion it's no big deal. Inside an enclosed garage (even if unisulated) is a good option.

 

[Packard V8]

Yes, there can be consequences in operating a compressor stored in sub-freezing temps. Drain valves, blow-off valves, pressure switches and lines can freeze up.
No, it's not usually a problem, but in a worst case, it could kill someone or blow up a building.
Maybe, if it were mine, I'd defiinitely go with #2. Do you plan to have the compressor continuously maintain pressure? If not, install an indicator light bulb in the garage or somewhere visible you will see last thing at night. You want to be able to see when the compressor is powered. Otherwise, out of sight, out of mind, and you could leave the compressor running for days and weeks when you aren't using it. Been there, seen it happen.

thnx, jack vines

 

[babzog]

Yes, I had planned to have the compressor maintain pressure at all times (even my little one maintains its pressure).

 

[HandyManny]

Drain valves, blow-off valves, pressure switches and lines can freeze up.
No, it's not usually a problem, but in a worst case, it could kill someone or blow up a building.

Ever see an air compressor fail due to puncture or over pressure? They don't explode.

Not to say that escaping air can't cause other potential dangerous things around you. It can.

 

[Mstrfxit12]

I am new here but was reading the comment on compressors not exploding. While the compressor itself may just fail, a stuck safety valve and pressure switch or a tank mounted remotely where condensate can't be readily drained is pretty dangerous.
http://http://www.doli.state.mn.us/CCLD/BoilerIncidentsAir1.asp

This link shows what could happen...

 

[HandyManny]

Unfortunately my computer will not connect to your link. So I can't read what it says. I'd like to know what it said thought. Could you fill me in or copy paste some info.

I will say that 20 years ago I was in a shop where a large industrial sized compressor failed due to corrosion leading to fatigue. It literally burst a split in the tank. Air rapidly escaped. The greatest danger near the point where it burst was that anyone near it would have had permanent hearing damage and been bombarted with lose debris from near by.

They also did a segment not long ago, within the year, on the show Deconstructed where they did all kinds of abuse on full aircompressors, dropped em off builds, punctured them, over pressurized them after making the by-pass valve not work. You name it. Same thing it simply let the air out of the weakest point where it burst.

No doubt there is a potential for lots of danger, especially where the plumbing or valves are concerned, don't want that stuff come flying off. But over and over again it has been proven that they simply do not explode. Now having said that I would discourage anyone from storing a compressor in below freezing temps.

 

[Packard V8]

Ever see an air compressor fail due to puncture or over pressure? They don't explode.

To say air compressors don't explode is just plain wrong!

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/chaparral-nm/TQ2VATS1V4J6S453E

Compressor explosion kills Chaparral man
Full story: KOB.com Eyewitness News 4 - New Mexico
Dona Ana County sheriff's officials say a 52-year-old Chaparral man was killed when an air compressor blew up while he was working on it in his front yard.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=69953

I had a scary deal this morning. Air compresssor tank exploded. My old compressor gave out so I bought a new one and had plumbed in the old tank along with the new tank to get the additional draw-down air. Well, the new compressor shut off pressure was 15 PSI higher than I had the old one set and the old tank blew up big time! Knocked a bunch of stuff over, blew my new compressor on top of the tongue of my trailer sitting next to it, and blew a hole in the metal wall of my storage unit/shop. Sent one piece of sheet metal, now shrapnel, through the wall of the next unit 15' away. Fortunately nothing was in the next storage unit to ruin, I wasn't standing at my bench grinder next to the tank that blew, and the landlord was very understanding about the whole thing. I have some pics but can't re-size them to post, so if someone would let me e-mail them to post here they are a sober warning that crazy, un-expected things DO happen. I just thank God it wasn't worse and that I'm fine, although some pieces went past me in the explosion!

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/showthread.php/my-brand-new-80-188327.html

One of my college buddies just had one blow out a end bell. The bell flew literally between his son's legs and then BROKE THE CAST IRON BASE OF A DRILL PRESS. A small difference in the trajectory and it might have shattered a leg. A smaller part broke my friend's cheekbone......

 

[Mstrfxit12]

http://www.doli.state.mn.us/CCLD/BoilerIncidentsAir1.asp

try this

and this is a home garage.

 

[babzog]

Mmm.... compressor is sized at 36" L x 24" Diameter x 69" H... the tight spot in the cold storage is 23.5" wide. I have to pass by that to get to the back so, unless the dimensions are overstated, it either goes in by the door, blocking the rest of the room or I gotta put it in the garage.

 

[HandyManny]

Well gee it looks like some do and have. I had a different experience, and it was due to steel corrosion and fatigue. Ive even seen the same thing happen to a welder grade oxygen bottle, simple burst a hole and hissed out it's contents.

Saw lot's of test done on them too, but who know how credible they were, it was a TV show afterall.