Electrical/Air compressor question

Re: Electrical/Air compressor question

Mark Nowicki

Learn how to bother and unplug it when not in use.

Timer Outlets

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In New Jersey

There are lots of ways, you just have to make sure your timer is rated for 120% of the unit's maximum draw and is still within the allowable amperage of the circuit.

Simplest is a disconnect by the front door

Dick Coers

A simple knife switch box at the front door. It sounds like the compressor is 110v, so wire an outlet with a night light, from that box too. Light is on, you forgot to pull the switch. I've always had a ball valve right at my compressor outlet. It get's shut off every night. There could still be an issue if the compressor itself fails, but leaks in the lines is no longer an issue.

Have a look at...

Bill Howatt

this one.

https://www.amazon.com/Commercial-Style-Sringwound-Switch-Length/dp/B00CTW2LYA/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=ff12hc&qid=1571167700&sr=8-6

There are various mechanical timer switches on Amazon and certainly elsewhere. The important electrical rating is the HP of the motor.

Bill

Re: Have a look at...

Pete in Holland MI

Have done that trick before. Had to find a 110v coil relay. The coil is fed with juice from your lights. The compressor is run from a separate circuit thru the relay's contacts. Can even use this option with a 220v compressor, with the right relay.

Pete

Re: Electrical/Air compressor question

AlMorgan

I put my compressor on a RF controlled switch. I put the remote by my table saw, when I need the compressor I switch it on. You can put a light on the switch that controls the compressor, so you'll see that its on in your workshop.

What I did

John K Jordan

My 5hp compressor is in a closet with the cyclone dust collector. I also worried about a leak causing overheating from the compressor running continuously. Shops have burned to the ground from this, one in particular close to "home".

I mounted a 5hp motor disconnect switch outside the closet and easily visible/accessible in the main shop, along with all of the valves, water separator, dryer, and regulator. I turn off the switch when I leave the shop. A planned enhancement is a bright light that is on when the circuit is powered.

A backup option would be an automatic fire suppression system in the closet and a screaming smoke detector with a remote horn. The switch and discipline is cheaper.

JKJ

Thanks And....

Barry Irby

I went to an electrical supply house yesterday and bought a one hour timer switch. Not exactly what I wanted. Then I saw the one posted above that would run longer. That's closer and I may buy that. I like the relay idea and may pursue that. My DC is in the same closet and it runs off micro switches on the blast gates. I bought the Long Ranger setup. It had a controller supposedly rated got my DC. When it failed I opened it up and found the internal parts did not match the rating. I bought a second larger relay and now use that.

As far as the other ideas....A man has got to know his limitations. I know that I can not be counted on to reliably turn the unit off every time I leave the shop. I know this because I have one light in the shop not on the switch. I seldom use it, but when I do I often find it on the next day when I come back. And we all know Murphy. Murphy will cause the compressor to burn up as I am driving out of the neighborhood gong to the movies.

Thanks for the help. Good ideas.

Re: Thanks And....

Bill Howatt

I'm with you on the likelihood of forgetting to turn off the switch. My shop is in the basement and I have been given the "evil eye" when the compressor turns on in the evening or the night because of air leakage.

I have 3 LED bulbs in a stairway from basement to garage not to save power because they get used a lot but because they can accidentally get left on for long periods of time.

Your post has made me seriously think of following my own advice and getting a timer switch and perhaps a relay for it.

Bill

Re: Safety Issue

Hank Knight

Barry, unless you have an automatic tank drain, it's important to drain the tank frequently to purge condensate that accumulates there. Failure to purge it over the long haul can result in a catastrophic failure when the tank rusts through. I have forced myself into the habit of manually turning off my compressor and purging the tank every time I leave the shop. It doesn't take but a few seconds and it's a necessary safety practice. If my compressor was on an automatic switch, especially if it were outside my shop, I probably wouldn't be as diligent about draining the tank as I should be.

Auto Drain

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In New Jersey

Item No. 4919K13

at: https://www.mcmaster.com/condensate-drains

Had one for 15+ years

Clean it once a year

bullet proof and dry tank

First Line of Defense

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In New Jersey

is stopping all the leaks, and periodically checking for more.

Bubble water (Dawn plus some red dye) on every joint, valve, etm, and remaking the seal if anything is revealed is the best prevent.

Next test is to pump your tank up to max then turn off the power and watch to see if the system holds pressure at an even ambient temp. When I finished my high pressure air plumbing in the new shop, I killed the power and waited for 72 hours to see if the system held. Didn't lose a pound.

When not in use, every valve up-stream for a hose is turned off. Hoses leak; hard copper lines don't.

If I'm going away, I close the main tank valve and flip the circuit breaker (dedicated 30amp).

Re: Auto Drain Activation

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In New Jersey

Mine activates on a single pressure drop per fill cycle of 10 PSI. I don't turn my compressor off except if I'm going to be away for a few days.

Sounds like you have a a/c powered drain.

Re: Slight Hyjack regarding "reservoir" drain

Stephen Roth

I have an 80 gallon compressor. Unless I forget to drain it for a while, I get less than an ounce of water out of it when I do discharge. Logic has it that this ounce of water stays on the bottom, beginning the rusting process.

So my thought is to terminate the drain in the tank into a bell fitting, or into a small section of a larger 2" pipe, that would hold that last ounce between discharges. The valve would be at the distal end of this copper reservoir. It would essentially be a non-rusting holding area for the condensate to sit in instead of rusting the tank.

Any ideas? Did I just invent something?