water cooled quincy 5120.....

[396foxRN]

I was off today, and there was a large industrial auction at the fairgrounds, so I went, and drove out with this. Only one other guy half-heartedly bidding against me, I was amazed at the deal. one 5120-104, one W5120-02, one likely 200 gallon tank, 1 Baldor 25hp motor, 1 GE 25hp motor, and all the starters and electrical stuff, all mounted on a steel beam skid. anyway.....

I knew they had made some water-cooled quincy compressors, but why? Unless it's in an area with poor air flow, like a ship hull, what would be the real benefit?

Both look to be in great shape, having come out of a plant closing. I plan to keep the 5120-104 pump, and sell off all the rest here soon. But, I am a sucker for old iron, and the W5120 dates from the late 60's.

 

[Prototyper]

Holy load of thumpers Batman! Those are awesome machines. I have a much smaller Quincy 325 from the early 70’s, still going strong and quiet in my shop everyday.

Just curious, how are you planning on using the one of these you keep? Do you have the juice to power it, or re-power with gas/Diesel engine? Would make a beastly sandblast compressor!

I too, am kind of intrigued by that water cooled machine. I’ve never seen one like that. It doesn’t appear to have the typical intercooler between the stages, behind the flywheel. That must be included in the water jacket too? Large compressors do throw off a lot of heat, and water is much more effective for cooling than air, so I guess it does make sense.

I worked for a company that had well over 1000hp of installed screw compressors and dryers in a 20x 40’ room. The cooling system was immense!

Mind sharing what you paid???

 

[cvairwerks]

Once you get beyond a certain size, and loading, water cooling is necessary to remove the generated heat. We used to have some compressors that had 12" or larger bores, and were all water cooled. The water jackets had 2" or larger feed lines.

 

[matt_i]

If the plant already has a cooling tower for other process needs, then its a no brainer to use the existing heat-transfer capability there rather than trying to chill the air with electricity/refrigeration.

 

[396foxRN]

Mind sharing what you paid???

$400


I like the relative newness of the 5120-104, but like the ruggedness of the w5120-02. Every time I look at that w5120, i think of an old hemi, and being the mopar/ford guy I am, it would look cool in hemi orange with black valve covers, and a fake hemi oval air cleaner sitting on it....

anyway, my plan is to make a heavy duty steel frame and mount the compressor and motor 6' off the ground against a wall, so as to maximize the space in my soon-to-be-built garage. also bought a large aluminum aftercooler for a compressor, with an air powered fan in a shroud, that I plan to use in conjunction with this, as well as a large moisture separator. If I go with the w5102, it should be pretty easy to rig up a water pump that runs off the belts running the compressor

 

[Firebrick43]

Do you have 3 phase power in your garage?

On single phase 230 that is over 110 amps. I personally have never seen a single phase motor that big. Seen some 20's.

 

[EOC_Jason]

I hope your power company doesn't have a demand charge!

 

[A_Pmech]

Those are nice compressors. I have a couple of 5120's myself.

 

[930dreamer]

You are the man, nice Quincy find.

 

[396foxRN]

single phase power only at home. So, Im either looking at a vfd or a rotary converter, or making it fuel powered by another engine. My brother is an electrician, so Im gonna pick his brain over Christmas dinner on what he recommends. I also make custom EFI wiring harnesses for dodge magnums, so I could easily power it by a 3.9/5.2/5.9 for next to nothing. Also have done ford efi, and a 4.9 would have no trouble driving both if i wanted to.

I have been thinking over the years of a 4.9 ford engine/trans/transfer case idea to power multiple different items with just a flip of a shifter for whichever one was needed at the time, such as a big compressor or generator. Or, a 4.9 ford or magnum driving a large 3 phase generator that could then power anything I want......

too many ideas, too little time.

 

[cvairwerks]

You do realize that you are going to need to run somewhere around a 50 hp phase converter to run those compressors and that will require a dedicated 100 amp circuit.

Converting to engine power could work, but is a heck of a lot of fabricating and engineering to make it work. If it were me, I’d sell the compressors and motors and buy something else and plumb the tanks together. I tend to value my time pretty high and trying to make those usable for home wouldn’t be worth it.

 

[396foxRN]

I only want to use one of the 5120 compressors, not both. And I want to have it where I can run the pressure into a 60 gallon tank or the 200 gallon tank, using the 60 gallon tank for general use, and the 200 when I want to do air-heavy projects like blasting.

 

[Bert_]

Electrical is do-able, even if you only have single phase available. I would suggest a vfd as that would eliminate the need for a rotary converter running constantly and there wouldn't be a huge inrush on startup.

50hp drive derated for single phase input will run a 25hp motor. It will draw over 100a running, and will need a ~150A breaker. Be sure you have that much power available. The drive won't be cheap though.

If you have plans for any other large equipment you should check into getting 3 phase service. Running stuff like this on 1 phase is sort of a last resort.

 

[cvairwerks]

25 hp on a single phase VFD is going to require at least 175 amps @ 220 and going to set you back at least 3-6,000$ minimum.......

 

[Strouty]

At one point I had planned on using a rotary screw that had a 25 HP motor, I was figuring a 3 phase generator would be the simplest way to go, I ended up going a different route. I just figured once I got to that point, I might as well have a portable diesel powered air compressor. Maybe you can find a buyer for those, then buy something that is easier to deal with on single phase power. I ended up with a duplex compressor that is capable of running on 7.5 to 15 hp motors, all of those are available single phase, so it really made my life easier.

 

[A_Pmech]

Polyspede PC1-250 $2,900.

I ran my 5120 on single phase just fine. A VFD makes the startup much more manageable. On a rotary converter it's about 450A for 5 seconds. A VFD will keep it under 120A.

 

[930dreamer]

I know a guy that has a used 50hp vfd for $1250.

 

[cvairwerks]

Polyspede PC1-250 requires a 160 amp feed and 3/0 input cabling. That puts you into a J form breaker to accommodate the 3/0. Closest breaker in that size is 175 amp, at somewhere around $500. The J form will take up 4 panel spaces, if it will fit the current panel. If not, add a new sub panel and associated cabling and conduit. The 3/0 is going to require 1 1/2" or larger conduit for the run. Any way you look at it, powering it up is going to cost a minimum of $3,000.