Setting up a garage air compressor

[mayday0017]

He most likely won't have any problem getting his asking price or close to it. If I was selling it I wouldn't let it go for under $500, 80gal chineese made compressors sell for that on craigslist every day of the week.... But thats just my opinion...

 

[markag]

Well, I was going to look at the Quincy Saturday morning, but someone bought it yesterday. Looks like I was just a little too late on that one.

 

[markag]

Well my parents came down this weekend to visit and their birthday present to me was to purchase me the 60 gallon Sanborn air compressor from Menards. I got it home and had fun unloading it from the bed of the truck. It is roughly in place. I've got some work to do to get it up and running.

Like I've stated before, this compressor will be used for mostly automotive repair & household projects (1/2" & 3/8" impacts, air ratchet, angle grinder, nailer/stapler, air hammer, etc). It may receive occasional use for painting and blasting. I got the compressor for free as a gift from my parents. Can't beat that price.

I was able to run a cable for the 240V circuit yesterday evening, but have yet to connect anything on either end of the cable. I'm running a dedicated 20A circuit for it with a 20A turnlok 240V receptical & making a power cable for it with some 12 gage power cable with a male turnlok end.

I also bought a new electrical panel to replace the existing sub panel that is in my garage. My existing panel has no more room for expansion. It is only a 6 space. I probably could have purchased some tandem breakers for it, but I still wouldn't have had enough space to wire up 2 dedicated 240 circuits (oven & compressor) and still been able to support the circuits that are already there. So I bought a 20 space, 20 circuit 100 amp main panel that I am going to use to replace the existing sub panel. I went with a main panel so I could use the main breaker as a service disconnect for my garage circuits.

Getting the compressor ready to run is a project in itself

 

[litljay]

Most guys on here are pretty handy with running pipe. Here in our plant, we used rapid air products to run about 500' of pipe with multiple drops for equipment along the way. We used the rigid aluminum product they sell for the main distribution and the MaxLine for the drops. It's pricey, but really easy to install.
We figured we were basically trading the price of the material with the labor to install pipe.

http://rapidairproducts.com/index.asp

 

[markag]

I like their stuff, but probably is a lot more pricey then what I would need in my home shop. I'm planning on either going with black pipe or with copper eventually when I run my lines.

 

[iajonesy]

Well, I was going to look at the Quincy Saturday morning, but someone bought it yesterday. Looks like I was just a little too late on that one.

Was that Quincy in Washington Il.? I was there on Sat. and called about it and the guy had sold it to a buddy of his.

Mike

 

[markag]

Yep. It was in Washington. He told me during the week that someone was going to look at it on Saturday, then the next morning he sent me an email saying it was sold.

 

[markag]

Picked up a 1/2" drive stanley impact wrench for $20. Can't go wrong with that. I think it is rated at 500 ft-lbs and is in like new condition except for a couple of scratches on either side.

 

[ez-duzit]

Though I might have over-paid I really wanted a compressor with sufficient capacity to easily handle any of my air tools. Extremely heavy duty. Found this on c/l ($850). Haven't yet got it setup.

 

[motorscot]

I bought this: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_158284_158284

last year when they had it on sale for $609 w/free shipping (no sales tax either)

Runs all my tools and blast cabinet with no problems. Only issue was the OEM plastic filter housing that was mounted directly to the pump. It melted and fell off. I replaced it with a 1' section of black pipe and 90* elbows on each end. Been working fine for 10 months now.

I would like to fab up a ac condenser as an aftercooler

 

[markag]

Got mine up and running this weekend. I replaced the sub panel in my garage to give myself extra capacity (went from a 6 slot panel to a 20 slot panel).

I wired my power cord into the compressor, & spent some time leveling it (it is still on the shipping pallet). I checked to make sure the pulleys were aligned & then I opened up all the valves and let it run for 30 minutes with no load. After 30 minutes I closed the valves and let it fill up to full pressure. It went from 0-135 psi in 5 minutes 8 seconds. Everything seems to check out on it. I want to change the oil before I start to use it. I need to figure out how much oil it takes so I have enough. From what I have found online, it should take about 1 quart.

I've got it setup now for immediate use. I have my shut off valve and filter regulator coming off the side of the tank feeding directly into my hose reel. I still need to mount the reel to the wall, but as it is now, I can at least use the compressor. I will worry about air piping later.

 

[pharmon]

Something else to remember is if you can get a hold of a two stage compressor they provide more air per motor horse power. Additionally a reciprocating compressor is typically most cost efficient for smaller compressors (under 25 cfm) . If you want to blast fast you need a lot of cfm (like 100 plus) but for a cabinet a smaller compressor can work if its suction feed (25 cfm roughly for a suction cabinet).