jscott14
Member
I wanted to take some time to post the ongoing progress of my garage air compressor project. This is my first real post on this forum, but I learned a TON of information from here, so I thought I’d try to pay some of that back. Hopefully some of this is entertaining, enlightening, or in some way useful. It’ll be a series of posts, I’m sure. I’m a regular garage hobbyist/mechanic, and for years, I got by using a small Harbor Freight pancake air compressor. Believe it or not, I could use an impact wrench with it… one lug nut at a time! I could get ONE lug nut off, then wait for the compressor to fill back up.
Then one day on Craigslist, there was an ad for a free dishwasher. A guy had purchased a new dishwasher and simply wanted his old (but functioning) dishwasher gone. While at his place to get the dishwasher, he talked about how he’s on a new mission to clear out his garage, and he asks, “Do you have a need for an air compressor?” Taking one look at it, my answer was a simple, “Yes, but I don’t think I can afford it.”
His answer floored me. He asked, “Can you afford ‘FREE’?” As long as I could get it loaded and gone, it was mine for the taking. And thus began my life with my first “real” air compressor!
Not bad for a freebie, eh? I didn’t have 240v power in my garage at the time, and my breaker box is on the polar opposite side of my house, so by the time I ran a new 240v outlet (wire, fittings, breaker, etc), I was in for about $250. But that’s still not too bad, considering how much of an upgrade it was over my HF pancake.
I enjoy doing minor vintage motorcycle repair, and a few months ago, I started working on a 1974 Yamaha DT400 (the old dual shock 2-stroke enduros). I wanted to have the frame powder coated, so I got a bid on it. $600 to have all the bits sandblasted and powder coated. This was a bit more than I was expecting (but from what I’ve learned, a reasonable estimate).
So as my mind tends to do, I thought, “I bet I could build a powder coat setup for $600, then do it whenever I need!” I might rue the day I pondered this, but as of today, I’m too far down that path to stop… and I haven’t even purchased a powder coating gun yet! (Let alone my curing oven that I’m building from an old filing cabinet).
You see, for me, my project first stalled at the sandblasting stage. I bought a sandblast cabinet off CL for $75. Nothing fancy… just the standard Harbor Freight cabinet. But I can easily upgrade that and make it work. EXCEPT for the fact that it really needs air. A LOT of air. More than the 9 or 10 SCFM that my freebie DeVilbiss compressor could deliver. Believe it or not, this is when I discovered this forum. I wanted to get a good compressor (that could do sandblasting) but that wouldn’t break the bank. Anyone who has been down this path before should be laughing at that statement. ("I want a monster air compressor that doesn't cost much!" It's a unicorn, I tell you.) But ignorance is bliss. And let’s just say I was very… “blissful”.
But through this forum, the most important thing I learned is to ignore shiny paint jobs on big box compressors. Old-school (even DECADES old) industrial compressors are built to last in a way that big box compressors aren’t. And so, my search for a reasonably-priced industrial compressor began. Step 1 was to set a budget. To be perfectly honest, I wanted it for as close to “free” as possible, but conceded that I could spend up to $300 out-of-pocket (on top of whatever I could sell my free 60-gallon DeVilbiss). I ended up selling my DeVilbiss for $300, so that was my “starting” budget, with a stretch budget of $600 (the $300 I got for my old compressor + $300 out of pocket).
After a couple of weeks, I found what I thought was THE compressor… it was a Champion 120-gallon vertical compressor with the 4-cylinder R30d pump. A 7.5hp monster for… $600! This compressor had all the options… the auto-drain, the low oil shutoff, and the mag starter/definite purpose contactor. But these hopes quickly dissolved when I learned that it was 3-phase. My mind started racing for options. Rotary phase converter? VFD? A used single-phase 7.5hp? Those options also quickly evaporated. VFDs that can handle a 7.5hp 1P motor? Ungodly expensive (because it needs to be a “15hp” VFD). Used 7.5hp 1P motors? Well, they’re not easy to come by, and when you do, they’re expensive. Rotary phase converter? At the end of the day, I didn’t want to have to fire up the RPC every time I wanted to use my air compressor. And thus, my hopes of the Champion monster were put to rest.
However, I found THIS little guy on an auction site:
The ad held very little info about the compressor. No brand name. No model number. Listing stated that “motor needs work”. But the bell housing on that pump sure looked like a Champion centrifugal unloader. I couldn’t seem to find a Champion pump that looked EXACTLY like this, but I was convinced enough that it was a Champion that I put in a bid of $200… and won!
This is where I’ll end this post. But there’s more to the story. A LOT more. My next post will cover my repair and “restoration” of the pump (which I WAS able to identify). But for now, I’ll call it a day. This is mostly “back story” stuff. I assure you that it gets better (circuit designs, LED lights, and digital displays!)
Then one day on Craigslist, there was an ad for a free dishwasher. A guy had purchased a new dishwasher and simply wanted his old (but functioning) dishwasher gone. While at his place to get the dishwasher, he talked about how he’s on a new mission to clear out his garage, and he asks, “Do you have a need for an air compressor?” Taking one look at it, my answer was a simple, “Yes, but I don’t think I can afford it.”
His answer floored me. He asked, “Can you afford ‘FREE’?” As long as I could get it loaded and gone, it was mine for the taking. And thus began my life with my first “real” air compressor!
Not bad for a freebie, eh? I didn’t have 240v power in my garage at the time, and my breaker box is on the polar opposite side of my house, so by the time I ran a new 240v outlet (wire, fittings, breaker, etc), I was in for about $250. But that’s still not too bad, considering how much of an upgrade it was over my HF pancake.
I enjoy doing minor vintage motorcycle repair, and a few months ago, I started working on a 1974 Yamaha DT400 (the old dual shock 2-stroke enduros). I wanted to have the frame powder coated, so I got a bid on it. $600 to have all the bits sandblasted and powder coated. This was a bit more than I was expecting (but from what I’ve learned, a reasonable estimate).
So as my mind tends to do, I thought, “I bet I could build a powder coat setup for $600, then do it whenever I need!” I might rue the day I pondered this, but as of today, I’m too far down that path to stop… and I haven’t even purchased a powder coating gun yet! (Let alone my curing oven that I’m building from an old filing cabinet).
You see, for me, my project first stalled at the sandblasting stage. I bought a sandblast cabinet off CL for $75. Nothing fancy… just the standard Harbor Freight cabinet. But I can easily upgrade that and make it work. EXCEPT for the fact that it really needs air. A LOT of air. More than the 9 or 10 SCFM that my freebie DeVilbiss compressor could deliver. Believe it or not, this is when I discovered this forum. I wanted to get a good compressor (that could do sandblasting) but that wouldn’t break the bank. Anyone who has been down this path before should be laughing at that statement. ("I want a monster air compressor that doesn't cost much!" It's a unicorn, I tell you.) But ignorance is bliss. And let’s just say I was very… “blissful”.
But through this forum, the most important thing I learned is to ignore shiny paint jobs on big box compressors. Old-school (even DECADES old) industrial compressors are built to last in a way that big box compressors aren’t. And so, my search for a reasonably-priced industrial compressor began. Step 1 was to set a budget. To be perfectly honest, I wanted it for as close to “free” as possible, but conceded that I could spend up to $300 out-of-pocket (on top of whatever I could sell my free 60-gallon DeVilbiss). I ended up selling my DeVilbiss for $300, so that was my “starting” budget, with a stretch budget of $600 (the $300 I got for my old compressor + $300 out of pocket).
After a couple of weeks, I found what I thought was THE compressor… it was a Champion 120-gallon vertical compressor with the 4-cylinder R30d pump. A 7.5hp monster for… $600! This compressor had all the options… the auto-drain, the low oil shutoff, and the mag starter/definite purpose contactor. But these hopes quickly dissolved when I learned that it was 3-phase. My mind started racing for options. Rotary phase converter? VFD? A used single-phase 7.5hp? Those options also quickly evaporated. VFDs that can handle a 7.5hp 1P motor? Ungodly expensive (because it needs to be a “15hp” VFD). Used 7.5hp 1P motors? Well, they’re not easy to come by, and when you do, they’re expensive. Rotary phase converter? At the end of the day, I didn’t want to have to fire up the RPC every time I wanted to use my air compressor. And thus, my hopes of the Champion monster were put to rest.
However, I found THIS little guy on an auction site:
The ad held very little info about the compressor. No brand name. No model number. Listing stated that “motor needs work”. But the bell housing on that pump sure looked like a Champion centrifugal unloader. I couldn’t seem to find a Champion pump that looked EXACTLY like this, but I was convinced enough that it was a Champion that I put in a bid of $200… and won!
This is where I’ll end this post. But there’s more to the story. A LOT more. My next post will cover my repair and “restoration” of the pump (which I WAS able to identify). But for now, I’ll call it a day. This is mostly “back story” stuff. I assure you that it gets better (circuit designs, LED lights, and digital displays!)
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