Upgrade - Shop Air - Quality 60-80gal compressors?

[tq60]

What he said...

Price difference not much and if you can find a dealer with units on the floor and have folding moneymany can have arms twisted this time of year.

Remember looking at Curtis units when shopping for current model, almost went with them as it first home built was a Curtis pump with poured babbet and trashed crank.

Used connections at former employer to turn journal to just clean up and pour babbet to fit.

Worked great but too small.

The Curtis did not have near the features the Champion did and it was many hundreds more expensive.

Ours is using a 50 amp range outlet, cannot remember wire size or breaker, with the unloader it never starts under load and being 2 stage does not work that much harder than single.

The motor protector has tripped a few times but we have it set lighter for better motor protection.

We added a 120 vac coil relay inside the starter with a standard cord on the coil.

This plugs into an outlet next to main power wired to lights.

Pressure switch control wire goes through relay and added toggle switch so we can control operation with simple switch and interlock to lights so is off automatically when we turn out lights.

Also added 120 vac air solenoid so supply air also off so the tank stays full if we forget to close the ball valve (hose reels have slow leaks)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[FlyFishn]

When you get down to ordering a compressor, make sure you know what you are ordering, often the pictures and advertise specs. do not match the model number. So like with the Champion RV series they have lesser 5 Hp models without mag starter that have 3600 RPM motors, the mag starter versions are 1800 RPM. Also things like an after-cooler, automatic drain, etc. if purchased separately are much more expensive. Get all the details, some have packaged deals with isolation feet hoses and other accessories, but get everything in writing/email first. Also some drop ship from the manufacturer at no additional cost, others with lower pricing charge.

Excellent info. I have been digging in to Champion's options, among others.

 

[FlyFishn]

I would read this thread on what breaker sized worked for a compressor 7.5 Hp motor, so you can get by possibly with smaller breakers but I would give yourself a minimum of a 125% margin an wiring and breaker size:

I read thru that thread. Good stuff. That was worth the read - sorry to hear of the problems he had, but it is a lesson. Same goes for post #15 with the burned up motor + wiring. Id be curious how "under size" the wire was, what size load (amps), and what size breaker.

In any event, it sounds like a 7.5hp unit is out of the question.

I did get some info from a friend of mine that has a 60gal tank compressor with around a ~3hp motor (no spec, but 15a @230-240v FLA). It shows around 10cfm @ 90psi so I am guessing it is a single stage. Knowing him and what he runs - if he gets by with it then it is probably adequate for my uses. I don't know that he does all that much with rotary tools, but impacts and air ratchets a lot for sure, as well as vacuum on coolant systems. I still have some reservations on what to expect with rotary tool run time durations as less compressor CFM than what a tool consumes means the air will deplete through the run cycle of the tool (even with the compressor running - how ever higher the draw is than the compressor output the faster the depletion). Though rotary tools aren't nearly my primary use, when I do use them that is the real crapper to the amount of air I have now - just not enough to make it work well.

 

[ahazi]

I have that same compressor. I purchased it for doing the trim in my new house. Used to have a Porter Cable pancake compressor for the same reason but absolutely hated how loud it was.
I have always said that I would never buy anything from HF but that Ultra Quiet compressor is awesome. It has become my go-to compressor, even in the shop as long as I don't need a large volume of air.

FWIW, I recently bought a compressor for some work at a residential work site. With many people holed at home during the day as a result of COVID-19 noise was becoming a big issue.

I replaced a small and reliable Craftsman compressor with California Air Tools 8010A Aluminum Tank Air Compressor | Ultra Quiet, Oil-Free, 1.0 hp, 8 gal. It has bigger tank and is more expensive than the HF but seems to be of a higher quality and finish than the HF. My guys that use the compressor mostly with pneumatic finish nailers are very happy with it.

Ariel

 

[Tim9]

Interesting idea. That isn't a bad idea to try. We have a small electric pressure washer. I am not sure if I can adapt it to get it on the tank to pressurize it, but it might be worth a try. I would think any pressure washer would be well over the pressure of an air compressor.

I used nitrogen to test my tank. I’ve seen the video on using a pressure washer but since we’re only talking about needing @200 psi to hydro test a tank, a small B tank of nitro will get you there. Most HVAC guys keep a small tank of nitro to test the refrigeration systems. So if you have a friend that does HVAC, ask him. I picked up my tank from an estate sale. I bought the tote A/O torch and he gave me a nitrogen tank.

 

[Papa Charlie]

Keep in mind that circuit breakers are designed to take more than their rated amps for short periods of time. It is heat that caused them to trip, not directly the amperage. Sure the more amperage you put through them above their rating the hotter they can get, this does not happen instantaneously.

All compressors are different. To say that a 5hp motor is going to consume X amount of power is not true. Each motor by design can pull differently. The 5hp Kobalt 60-Gallon, Two Stage at Lowes for example only pulls 16.2 amps at 230VAC, 1ph. A 30 amp fuse, regardless of how much the motor operating correctly pulls will not trip. If it does, I would say you have either a problem with the motor, motor starter or unloader or the wiring is under sized. Another, more common issue with residential systems is that the grid that they pull from can be subject to brownouts, where the voltage drops more than 10%. This can cause huge increases in amperage the motor pulls.

I think we need to be careful about making broad generalities. Each machine, depending on how they are designed will be different as will the building and power source.

 

[FlyFishn]

For what it is worth, here is a video I did a while back load testing the welder on the same circuit. When I had it set for 115a weld current the circuit amperage was around and over 40 amps - and the circuit breaker held. Bumping up to 130 amps of weld current the circuit amperage was around and over the upper 40a range, peaking around 63a, and the breaker didn't immediately go.

115a (weld current) is the most I can see needing, with the vast majority being under 90a. So that drops the load on the circuit even more than at the 115a I ran with in the 1st segment of the video.

https://youtu.be/9dRPMl4pvVQ

Yeah, the higher load than rated breaker isn't the best thing - but it holds with surprising strength.

 

[FlyFishn]

I am a fan of Champion and Quincy compressors. I would NOT buy one from a big box store. I purchased my Champion online from TP tools. It is a 19cfm 80 gallon RV series. It runs great. My largest consumer of air is a CNC plasma cutting table. JMO

Do you know what the "foreign parts" are on your compressor? As in - do the tank, motor, and compressor show anything other than US on the labels? Is yours a "VR" series or "RV" series? There is a big difference in the order of the letters - the R series (models start with VR in the code, not RV) use an R-15B compressor with ~1700rpm class motors and the VR series (models start with VRV in the code) use an R-15A compressor with ~3600rpm motors standard.

I got on to FS Curtis for a bit and found a lot of their parts are imports - compressors, motors - then assembled in US. Champion was mentioned as being US aside from possibly motors sourced from Mexico or Brazil. Saylor Beall is another brand I'm looking at.

 

[Stonebriar]

Well mine is not either. Its about 15 years old a Centurian model ccsrva. It has a Blador motor 1725rpm. It is all USA parts it looks like.

 

[FlyFishn]

Well mine is not either. Its about 15 years old a Centurian model ccsrva. It has a Blador motor 1725rpm. It is all USA parts it looks like.

OK. Thanks for the info. That is their VRV series today. One of the guys I am corresponding with got from his rep that is just a "rebranded" Centurion. Doesn't sound like there is much difference. Though, I would be curious in current times if there are more over-seas parts? Hard to tell I suppose.