On Sat, 01 Oct 2011 22:39:26 -0500, Ignoramus30024
wrote:

On 2011-10-01, Gunner Asch wrote:
On Fri, 30 Sep 2011 20:39:48 -0500, Ignoramus4271
wrote:

On 2011-10-01, Steve W. wrote:
azotic wrote:
If you are going to be spray painting things you refurbish you want dry
air going to your spray gun.
That is an understatement. You want dry air for anything in the shop.
Air tools don't like water any more than paint guns.
I like to make sure I have different colored hose whips as well. I use
blue for dry air and red for air that passes through an oiler.
The blue lines are usually stored in a cabinet with the spray gear. That
way they don't collect crud that could cause problems while spraying.



By the way, this place is completely plumbed for compressed air. It
also has an awesome electrical distribution, 230/3phase available
everywhere, same for 125v, etc.

i

Pull all the quick disconnects, install plugs, fire up the compressor
and charge system to 150psi Minimum. Turn off compressor and see how
fast it bleeds off, then start looking for leaks.

A leaking air system will eat your ass with power bills.

First, I need to set up a magnetic starter for this compressor.

i

And it looks like there's the hardware on the front of the compressor
for changing it over to Continuous Run Unloader mode - which you want
to do whenever you plan on sandblasting, paint spraying, or anything
that uses mass quantities of air. You have to electrically bypass the
tank pressure switch with a toggle switch, and flip a lever valve on
the unloader to make it actuate.

The unloader pops open the valves on the compressor head when the
tank hits the shutoff pressure, and the electric motor keeps spinning
the compressor at idle and everything gets a chance to cool down.
Doesn't use nearly as much power when spinning unloaded, and you don't
get all the motor starting surges driving your Demand Meter (on a
commercial service) way up - that Demand Meter drives you cost per KWH
up for the month.

Read The Friendly Manual, Quincy should explain it. Switch it back
to Pressure Switch running for normal shop stuff where you aren't
using much air.

It's VERY Hard on the motor when the compressor is only a bit bigger
than the job (and 10-HP qualifies!) and you short-cycle it on
Start-Stop mode - start and run for 2 minutes and catch up, then stop
for two minutes, then start for two minutes, stop for two minutes...

A few hours of that and the "Magic Smoke" escapes from the motor.

Sometimes it's better when you only have a "5 Sears HP" compressor to
let it stay in "catch-up mode" as you sandblast - watch the pressure
gauges to stop blasting when the pressure drops and let it catch up,
then it runs continuously.

If you goof up and let it stop, go take a break - give the motor 10
minutes to cool off. If you've been going at it for an hour, you
probably need it too.

-- Bruce --