compressor tank size for full time shop?

[alteredpilot]

search engine yielded no results so here goes...

i've read a bunch of posts so far and lots of guys are calling 80 gal tanks for shop use...so is that fo the home shop or the business shop?

my 80 gal 5hp CH at home is great...for at home...but we're opening a full time shop this year...

we're leaning towards the quincy qt25 compressor, but how big a tank should i be looking at?

no paint work, just air tools (impact wrench, air ratchet, die grinder, maybe a sander, drill, that kind of thing....)

thanks.

 

[TNToy]

The compressor in our shop is an 80 gallon Puma. It's a lay-down style tank, and specs @ 18.0 CFM at 90 PSI.

There are three of us over here, and it does run short on very rare occasions. Mostly when two of us are using an impact while the third is doing something that uses a HUGE volume of air... either using the tire machine, or else raising a vehicle up on our only in-ground pneumatic lift. That lift alone kicks the compressor on every time. That 12" piston must require a massive amount of air to lift.

But 3 of us using airtools at once is no problem. Never starved for air unless you do one of the previous things - You have to use a lot of air in a hurry WHILE running airtools elsewhere to deplete it. Or just use a single R.O. Sander.

What are the specs on that particular compressor?
http://www.quincycompressor.com/qt.html <-- not too helpful.

I'd say anything around 20CFM should be just fine. And unlike a CH, where running it often will kill it... the Quincy will shrug it right off. Just open the drain **** when you go home every night, and change the oil every couple of months.

 

[W-Cummins]

An air hungry sander or grinder can eat all the out put of a 5hp compressor very fast. I have one that I really love to use but it eats 23 cfm at 90psi all by its self and that's only one user! Impact wrenchs don't seem to take much air untill you get into the bigger models (3/4" - 1" + ) A larger tank will help you out _IF_ you can use it to compleat the job w/o a tank refill or, to lower the start cycles per hour on your machine. It will _NOT_ replace a larger compressor. That said I would get a 120 or 200 gallon tank if your application allows you to take up that much space.... ( I have not seen any tank mounted compressors that have that big of a tank in a vertical model)

William....

 

[kartracer55]

At work we use two 20+cfm Rotay screw compressors with a 60 gallon tank.

Usually 3-4 people working at a time, SOMETIMES 5.

1 in ground lift, 2 jacks on an alignment rack, two tire machines (which get used together often), jacks on an in ground Dyno for emmissions, and a pneumatic oil fill.

In ground lift is actually used as often, if not more often than all of the other above grounds are.

I have yet to have shortage of air, even when you have two guys using air tools, somebody raising the in ground and somebody mounting tires. Not to mention, these compressors have thousands of hours on them. What's nice is that in the morning, you can turn them both on and the entire system pumps up to 140psi in literally a minute.

If your looking to set up a pro shop, I would definetly consider rotary screw compressors. My shop runs two I would imagine as a back up, so if one fails its not a HUGE problem. They each take up the floorspace of something somewhere between a large window air conditioner and a dishwasher (sorry, its the only thing I can think of at the monent haha)

Jim

 

[Charles (in GA)]

That said I would get a 120 or 200 gallon tank if your application allows you to take up that much space.... ( I have not seen any tank mounted compressors that have that big of a tank in a vertical model)

These are all 120 gallon vertical tanks

http://www.eatoncompressor.com/catalog/item/504747/172473.htm

http://www.eatoncompressor.com/catalog/item/504747/172439.htm

Charles

 

[bmwpower]

IR also makes vertical and horizontal 120-gallon compressors.

The Quincy QT can be configured with a 120 gallon tank. 10HP+ QT models can be configured with 200 gallon tanks.

 

[Junkman]

Quincy can also configure a compressor with 2 heads and 2 motors, so if one can't keep up with the demand, the other one will kick in and make up the difference. I almost bought one on eBay, but came to my senses when I realized that a trip to Chicago from Connecticut was not in the cards. It was a 3 phase unit that sold for $750. I would have needed to convert it to single phase and that would have cost about $700, so I scrapped the idea. I already had a Quincy, but you know how it goes.... you never have enough air or tools....

 

[Aahz]

It really comes down to the volume you will be using....I just finished (almost) sizing a compressor for a 20 bay combination HD truck and auto shop and it's sizing out at a 25 hp duplex (2 pumps and motors on a single tank) and the tank will be 250 gallons. Sounds like overkill until you add in the nitrogen generator for tires (28 cfm), blasting cabinets, 40 cfm oil pumps, etc....Do they really need 250 gallons of storage (plus all the added storage in the pipe system)? Probably not....but that ONE day per year that the entire shop is cranking...they are probably gonna' come close...and all of that extra storage will insure their compressor doesn't beat itself to death trying to keep up.

Most compressor companies have already sized a tank in the package...ie...a 10 hp compressor typically comes on a 120 gallon tank...a 5 or 7 hp compressor is usually on an 80 gallon and so on...You can make variations to what the recommended sizes, but it will usually cost more money.

Best bet...figure out your air demand and get the biggest compressor you can afford that fits the need. After you have that figured...take the recommended tank size and start adding the options...I would recommend an auto tank drain, oil monitor, air cooled aftercooler, vibration pads and a magnetic starter...(as bare necessities) and if you still have money left...a refrigerated air dryer. If you're going to do body work....skip the reciprocating design and head straight for the screw style compressors.

 

[bmwpower]

If you're going to do body work....skip the reciprocating design and head straight for the screw style compressors.

Why?

 

[W-Cummins]

These are all 120 gallon vertical tanks

http://www.eatoncompressor.com/catalog/item/504747/172473.htm

http://www.eatoncompressor.com/catalog/item/504747/172439.htm

Charles

Well now I have seen one at least a picture of one That 10 hp model looks like a nice machine

I didn't know that quincy also had 120 gal vertical tanks ( I never looked at their "home owner" QT line and the QR dose not appear to have one)

I too was looking at a duplex compressor and bid on a few but never won one. A dual 7.5hp QT on a 200 gal tank was the last one I missed out on They seem to be rather hard to find used and I wasn't going to buy a new one.

I also looked at a rotary compressor ( a very nice gardner denver 20hp model) but quickly found out that it was NOT the machine for my use. They are GREAT if you need a source of continuous air output. For less than continuous use, I don't think they are a good deal. The problem is that they want to start and stay running, the GD I looked at was microprocessor controled and would run a min of 15 min every time it started up. They are made to run 8+ hrs a day and just unload when not needed. That is fine for a plant or another high use applications but not for my intermittent use.

William....

 

[Aahz]

Why?

As W-Cummins wrote above....a rotary screw is built to run, run, run.....but ask it to start and stop and you will pay through the nose in maintenance problems....Body shops have a much higher air demand than the typical mechanical shop....when painting, grinding or sanding your tools run for much longer periods of time than for instance... a wrench is pulling lugnuts. Their tools have massive continuous demand.....(comparatively speaking).

A standard reciprocating compressor is really designed for about a 70/30 duty cycle. (The lower it is the longer the compressor will last). Even so-called "continuous duty" recips will experience problems if you try to run them 100% of the time (or even over 70%). They need the time to cool down and regroup...

A screw is built for 100% duty cycle....it's when you start and stop that you run into trouble. (Best analogy I can think of is a well tuned auto engine (reciprocating compressor) vs. a Pratt & Whitney turbine aircraft engine (Rotary Screw)...they both serve the same purpose (propulsion).....but you are going to get more mileage out of the turbine than you will out of the auto engine if you were to run them balls to the wall until they run out of fuel or fail. (Unless the turbine is driven by a Navy pilot and the car is driven by an Air Force pilot...in which case the Air Force wins every time....)

 

[oldcarfart]

search engine yielded no results so here goes...

i've read a bunch of posts so far and lots of guys are calling 80 gal tanks for shop use...so is that fo the home shop or the business shop?

my 80 gal 5hp CH at home is great...for at home...but we're opening a full time shop this year...

we're leaning towards the quincy qt25 compressor, but how big a tank should i be looking at?

no paint work, just air tools (impact wrench, air ratchet, die grinder, maybe a sander, drill, that kind of thing....)

thanks.

I have a 5hp, 80 gallon tank unit with anouther 60 gallon tank inline (compressor quit, saved tank) and a 10 gallon tank at my blast cabinet, the system works great, you can never have enough capacity.