Shop Compressor -- turn off when not in use?

[tom86951]

Curious what most folks actually do with their compressors?

 

[Davefr]

Curious what most folks actually do with their compressors?

Absolutely turn it off. (especially at a residence). All it takes is a large unexpected leak to cycle it on and it'll run continuously until someone observes the runaway condition and intervenes. If it overheats it could cause a fire if the thermal overload device fails. I'm not trusting my property to any thermal shutoff device. This exact thing happened to my IR compressor. Fortunately I came home and found it running non stop. A reed valve failed. Now it only get's energized when I use it.

 

[Willie Makeit]

Insure I don't have any leaks and then don't worry about it. Mine stays under power constantly & never had an issue. If I knew I was gonna be away for more than a month at a time, I would certainly drain the tank and flip the breaker.

 

[rbgearz]

I generally turn mine off and drain it.

 

[71goldss]

I keep mine off. I generally drain the tank of moisture for a few seconds after each use, while still keeping the tank pressurized with air before turning it off. I like having instant air available for small uses like airing tires and such without have to fire the whole thing up.

 

[engineer2]

I turn mine off so I don't get woken up in the middle of the night. I don't want the air dryer running all the time either.

At work they are left on 24/7. Eight hours of work and 16 hours of slow leaks. Sometime people come in at odd hours for work, so it's best that way. The ex-military guys like to get in at 3-4 am.

 

[The Tool Tyrant]

I didn't use to, but a friend that also left his on 24-7 at his shop, had a pop-off valve stick open on his compressor which then ran continuously all weekend until the pump went south, then fried the motor.
I have since then started turning mine off at night, both at my shop and my home.

 

[GeoBruin]

My compressor is in a shed behind my shop. It's wired to a pool timer that shuts off every evening. Many days I don't use it so it never gets turned on. Often I just need to blow something off quickly so there's usually enough air in the tank for that but if I really need it to run a tool, I walk around and bump the switch on.

It's a minor inconvenience for the knowledge that the most it could ever run if it sprung a leak while I'm gone is 24 hours and statistically much less than that.

 

[PoorUB]

Curious what most folks actually do with their compressors?

My compressor is wired with a relay to the lighting circuit in the shop, no light, no compressor.

IMO you need to shut off the compressor as things can fail. Air hoses pop, diaphragms in pressure switches fail and leak, pressure switches stick on, PVC air lines rupture and the compressor runs until you go out to the shop.

Insure I don't have any leaks and then don't worry about it. Mine stays under power constantly & never had an issue. If I knew I was gonna be away for more than a month at a time, I would certainly drain the tank and flip the breaker.

Do you leave your air hoses connected? I had one blow and the compressor ran long enough that when I got home the pump was smoking!

 

[Damn Yankee]

Off and drain.

 

[redwrench60]

Compressor at a repair shop I worked at was left on 24/7. At some point during the weekend an air hose on a ceiling mounted hose reel swelled up a blister near the coupler and burst causing the hose end with coupler to continuously whip around and beat about a thousand dents in the fender and door of the car up on the lift next to it.

 

[RTM]

I only have little portables that see rare use, so my choice is obvious.

Buddy who is much more serious about his machine shop skills and tools had a big 80 gallon in his shop, and one night blew the main piece of pipe (metal tubing) between the compressor and the tank, somewhere after midnight. In his neck of the world, all the neighbors, the police and fire responded to the explosion it was SOOOO loud. Plus gunshots and explosions weren't that unusual there. I dunno if it was powered on or just left charged. He did say he changed his practices after that, but I forget what the finale outcome was.

 

[confidant]

Keep mine off.
Have walked outside to shop in
middle of night when I remembered
I had left it on.

 

[housewolf]

I leave my compressor on but close the supply valve on my air line. I have a leak on an 1/8” shark bite fitting to the lock release on my lift. If my system was air tight, I wouldn’t bother

 

[nadogail]

I turn mine off and frequently blow the condensation from the tank.

 

[engineer2]

I turned mine on one day and it was building pressure OK, and then it wasn't. Ran up to the garage, and everything was quiet. Checked the shed and heard the whoosh of air. Turned out a hose crimp failed in the shed. The hose whipping around cleaned off my workbench very nicely, but left a mess of miscellaneous parts on the floor.

 

[dnschmidt]

I only turn mine off when I go on vacation. If I'm at home it's always on. Of course since it's physically located on the other side of the wall from my living room If it would turn on, which is doesn't since I have no leaks, I'd hear it immediately.

 

[demarpaint]

I turn my 60 gallon compressor off when not in use. During spring, summer, and fall I keep air in the tank, but drain water from the tank a few times a week. This way I have air when I need it for tires etc. When the pressure in the tank drops enough I'll switch the compressor on. Usually by the time the tank needs air I'm usually doing a project that requires turning the compressor on anyway.

I also have 15 gallon compressor, I use that during the winter months, shut it off and drain the tank after each use.

 

[yyc_ranger_4x4]

When I wired mine up, I included provision to run it off a relay from the lighting. No lights, no compressor run. I also setup the drain to only purge after the motor stops running for 1 second.....no crappy timer drains constantly emptying the tank.

 

[Rinspeed]

Getting woken at 3:00 AM by a compressor is not fun.

 

[freebirdwelds]

Off.....I don't own stock in the power company.
Unfortunately the days of making the power meter stop spinning when going to bed is long gone.

 

[gtae07]

I accidentally left mine on once. Went out to the shop and found it smoky with the compressor banging away. Pump was trashed, no idea how long that had been going on.

It's fixed, but now there's a tiny leak somewhere in the plumbing. I even put a shutoff valve on it, and while it helps it still bleeds down in a day or two (or a couple hours if the valve is open).

I rarely use it any more, though.

 

[mepstein]

When I worked at the shop, it was hardwired to a circuit breaker, along with a bunch of other equipment. It all got switched off leaved by for the day and turned on when we showed up. I think that’s pretty normal at most shops.

 

[Snapped-off]

Turned off when not in use.

 

[Walkers]

It usually only takes one trashed pump and motor before you go from a turn it on and forget about it to a switch it off when done for the day. Mine was a ruptured hose. Interestingly, when the tank pressure gets very low the pump pistons start pumping oil into the tank because they have no oil control rings on the pistons (usually relying on pressure to keep the oil at bay). Then when it gets nice and hot from the lack of lube and the pistons start to seize the motor starts getting cooked from overwork. So in the end you get both a bad pump and a bad motor.

 

[The Cobbler]

I try to shut it off when I'm done. if I used it everyday, I would leave it on probably. on second thought, I would probably still turn it off.

 

[jbfsr]

Got a 5hp 80 gallon it stays on 24/7. Mine is in the basement by the main panel. Have copper plumbed in the basement shops and to the garage at the opposite end of the house. It's on an automatic drain that goes off at 3am. Added a solenoid valve to the output controlled by wireless switches. Works like a dream.

 

[southalabama]

Off when not in shop.
Automatic drain takes care of moisture.
When leaving shop turn main valve off to air lines. If anything leaks it would only be in piping.

 

[bscman]

Local shop burned down after their compressor ran away due to a blown air line.

It's so easy to flip the breaker, or install a relay/timer. Much easier and cheaper than replacing a pump, or an entire garage.

Why WOULDNT you shut it off?

 

[ATC]

Yup. I turn mine off when not in use.

 

[sparky 1971]

Mine sits by the door so it's easy to turn the ball valve off at the air outlet. I never turn off the power switch. If I forget to turn the valve off, it has a leak at the first joint in the black pipe that bleeds for about four days before the pressure drops to a point that the motor runs.

My small (30 gallon) compressor leaks like a sieve so it does get shut off. It only gets used when I'm using a cutting wheel or die grinder since the 60 gallon 3hp can't keep up by itself.

 

[DrinkMan]

In addition to safety reasons mentioned in this thread, we have another reason to turn ours off. Our basement garage is directly below our master bedroom and the location of our compressor just happens to be under the bed. Occasionally, it would cycle on in the middle of the night. And it is not a quiet compressor. So, we have good discipline in turning it off.

 

[jeepinerdeep]

It's free to turn turn it off and close the valve. It's really expensive if it runs away, melts down or burns my shop to the ground. There is no upside to not doing it.

 

[whateg01]

Insure I don't have any leaks and then don't worry about it. Mine stays under power constantly & never had an issue. If I knew I was gonna be away for more than a month at a time, I would certainly drain the tank and flip the breaker.

Nobody has a leak until they do

 

[Boogerman]

Put valve on outlet from tank, turn that off, leave electrical on. Open valve when want use air.

 

[Big Bad Dad]

Always turn off! I went down to my garage one day, and from outside heard a weird noise. Went inside, and found the electric motor on my air compressor running wide open and very hot. I had left the switch on. Apparently it had leaked down and cycled on and the belt had gotten loose and slipped off. I had not been to my garage for over 24 hours, so don't know how long it ran that way.

 

[dr_clyde]

At home I just have a little pancake compressor, so I just plug it in when I need it.

At the shop we turn off the compressor at the end of the day. This building has enough air leaks in it that it would run at night for no reason, and it only takes a couple minutes to pressurize the system so there's no real benefit to leaving it on. I'm not overly worried about leaving it on, it happens occasionally. I have a screw compressor, so even if there was a big leak like a burst fitting, it would be happy to just run all day as they're designed for that.

 

[Rinspeed]

I've always been a little baffled at those that say they drain their tank when done. Why waste electricity and cause more wear on your pump, just leave it full. I have a 1" SS ball valve before my manifold that I just shut off so no leaks.

 

[VolvoRyan]

Off and drained. A 90-deg fitting, some pipe, and a ball valve makes it simple to blow out the drain lines. Cordless tools mean that the air tools don't get used like they used to.

-Ryan

 

[u2slow]

I bring some work habits/rules home.

If theres no watchkeeper on duty, comp is off and air is isolated.