Air compressor location?

Paul Downes

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959
Location
Westphalia, Michigan
My long term plans call for relocating the air compressor and dust collector in a small room I will build in a lean-to that will go on the back of my pole barn next spring. My concern is in regards to how the compressor will work if it is in a cold room. The shop is heated and I am wondering if I should also pipe some heat out into the add on room? I want to get the noise out of the shop. a friend has a commercial Torit cyclone dust collector I might barter for as an upgrade to the bag type I now have and at 5 hp. I figure the new one will be quite noisy.

It occurs to me that if the air moving through the dust collector might heat the small room. Any ideas?
 
My concern is the DC. as you pull air from the shop, it has to be replaced. Since you are planning on having it in another unheated room, where will the replacement air come from? If the outside, your heat bill will increase a lot.

Bruce
 
Yah, I'm aware of that issue I might run the return air right back into the shop. The Torit dust collector is about 11 ft. high and I will be swaping out the motor to a single phase compressor motor. I will probably have to add filters and I think rout them at 90 degrees to the cyclone so I can stick the pipe after the filters right back into the shop. I hope they knock the noise down enough. If not, I might have to somewhat seal the room (insulation) and put a vent back into the shop with baffles to limit the noise.
 
My compressor lives in an unheated space no problem.:thumb: As for the DC I would pull make up air from out side and not worry about trying to get the heat back from the DC room.
 
I put my cyclone dust collector and air compressor in a lean to attached to my shop. For return air I just cut some holes at the base of the wall. I insulated the wall between the shop and lean to for noise reduction and it made a huge difference. Even with the return holes the noise with both machines running is quite bearable.
 
I don't know where you live, Chuck, since you didn't add it to your profile, but I live a long way south of Paul and the temps get below zero. I AM NOT going to pull that air into my shop.

Now, if the DC room is insulated well, it might stay in the area of 50 Degrees, still too cold for me.

Bruce
 
My bigger compressor (I've got three of various sizes not counting the portable 12V one) lives in the barn, which lives in Vermont. The DC lives in the shop with me, though.

What? Yeah, three - a teeny one barely big enough to blow dust out of my bowls, sitting next to the lathes. A "regular sized" mobile one I drag around the house for construction work. The big one in the barn to feed the shop & the tire hose.
 
I know Houston isn't like up north, but the last company I worked for had 4 or 5 major sized compressors, 2 of these were commercial sized compressors with tanks about 6' tall and about 30" diameter.... the others were mobile units that they could take to offsite pack jobs, but the two main ones that ran the nail guns on the yard both sat in the open air, just inside the crane bay with piping outside for easy access for the guys working the yard. It was not unusual to see 300 to 1000 feet of hose strung across the yard... The crane bay did not have doors and the main compressor sat about 6 feet inside the east door. Weather didn't seem to be a factor.
I don't have a compressor yet, but plan to put a small one in my DC shed at the end of my shop... I'll have to mount it up above the DC motor because at the time I built the shed I didn't think about a compressor and didn't leave room... my DC shed isn't insulated, nor is my shop.... all I hear is a hum from the DC when it's running. Mine is a HF 2 hp double bag unit.
 
I don't know where you live, Chuck, since you didn't add it to your profile, but I live a long way south of Paul and the temps get below zero. I AM NOT going to pull that air into my shop.

Now, if the DC room is insulated well, it might stay in the area of 50 Degrees, still too cold for me.

Bruce

NH Bruce, and if you pull that air past a heat exchanger than it warm when it hit the shop. It's all about having a proper HVAC system. I have seen shops that did not have an external make up air source that would slam doors shut and suck water in through the roof. Try explaining that to a customer. If you turn off your DC than the water will quit dripping on your table saw. :rofl::rofl:
If you pull it from your DC room than your pulling the heat from the motors and the dust that passed through the filters back in. Heat is ok in the winter but not so much in the summer.:thumb:
 
I guess that one advantage to keeping the compressor outside in he winter would be that any water in the tank would lay frozen on the bottom. I will see if I can find out from the manufacturers literature if there is an operating temperature minimum. My mechanical biased mind wonders if the tolerances of the piston might be shrunken from the cold causing excess wear on start-up in a cold environment. :huh:
 
NH Bruce, and if you pull that air past a heat exchanger than it warm when it hit the shop. It's all about having a proper HVAC system. I have seen shops that did not have an external make up air source that would slam doors shut and suck water in through the roof. Try explaining that to a customer. If you turn off your DC than the water will quit dripping on your table saw. :rofl::rofl:
If you pull it from your DC room than your pulling the heat from the motors and the dust that passed through the filters back in. Heat is ok in the winter but not so much in the summer.:thumb:

My shop is built into a pole barn. It has a false ceiling. I sectioned off the back 18 ft. (18X32) of the barn and put up a ceiling attached to the trusses. It is insulated and I keep adding insulation as I acquire it. I break up all the shipping styrofoam I receive and stick it between the trusses. Eventually I will cove all the spaces with 3/8 plywood. The walls are also well insulated and the shop stays a nice 55-60 degrees in the winter and stays cool in the Summer for 3/4 of the day. A friend gave me a window air conditioner last year but I didn't have to install it yet because last Summer was quite cool. I do get plenty of make-up air around the cracks of my entrance door inside the shop. The only water leakage I have is from some leaks around 2 windows when we get a strong storm from the South. The new lean-to should cure that problem.
The main purpose for the lean-to is to cover all the wood I use to heat the house and barn. I'm getting real tired of digging wood blocks out of the snow or trying to burn wet wood. I do try to keep the wood tarped but humans fail to remember to put the tarp back and the wind sometimes wins. :D
 
I would run synthetic oil in the compressor and you won't have to worry about the cold or heat. I run synthetic in everything I own. Garden tractor, compressors, truck, car. it's pricey but pays you back in less wear in long negativity. I studied oil when I used to sell oil filtration systems and you'll never find a dinosaur oil in any engine I own, there is absolutely no comparison.

One more myth to break, you can break in any new motor with synthetic, synthetic people guarantee it and I've done it. Petroleum people don't like that to get out! They say the ring won't seat, that's bull. New Harley's come with synthetic in them. Sorry got a little to passionate about oil for a second.

One other thing, it was said the water would freeze in the bottom of the tank. True but it will still rust. I'd drain it every now and then (when it's not froze). I don't think it will freeze because the air coming in the tank is usually heated from being compressed, unless it's bitter cold out. (not for me!)

Build a little duct work so your intake air has to pass over the motor before it enters the shop and it well take off some of the cold.

Bill
 
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Weird thing is since I've moved up to the Reno area, I have yet to see any liquid come out of the bottom of my compressor. Zip, Zilch, Nada. Back when I was in the bay area, I would get a nice little stream everytime I kicked the bottom valve open. It's weird...

I'm seriously considering moving it outside and building a little shed around it. Every square foot counts...
 
I wish I had an attic, heck, I wish I had my garage ceiling insulated, more to protect me in the summer than the winter!

I had to move this big ole 80 gallon 2 stage IR compressor around to get some ply wood in the shop this weekend. I've been thinking of putting it on a moveable base, but a little enclosure outside would be even better...
 
. I run synthetic in everything I own. QUOTE said:
I also run the synthetic oils. Well almost always. I also add Motorcoat to my vehicles. I sort of know the guy who invented it and have a former boss who puts it in his airplane engines. He is an engineer/mechanic and has built all kinds of racing engines. There are a few considerations on airplane engines (like the friction starter won't work until you take the oil out and replace it and burnish the starter surfaces.) He adds it before taking off with the engine running and after flying a good distance does the oil change and burnishing. He claims its the best insurance against an oil pump or line failure in flight. The only other problem sometimes is that the engines run cooler.

We have torn down engines run with synthetic oil and additives and they look almost brand new inside. I bought an old Dodge truck for wood hauling that had 250,000 miles on it. I switched it over to synthetic oil with the Motorcoat and given that it leaks oil and I forget to check it sometimes I have run it down to 1 or 2 quarts.:eek: I noticed a little knock, but the engine performed normally and wasn't hot. I've also had a coolant hose swell up like a football because the thermostat was shot and I just noticed a little rise in engine temp. :eek: The only problem was I blew the front seal on the water pump from all the back pressure. Otherwise the engine never overheated.
 
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