Hey, folks:

We got a new compressor, a 5HP IR upright - way bigger than the one I
inherited from my father-in-law. It will be installed late this month in
a small addition next to our shop. I have some questions:

1) I'd like to have it drain automatically. This description of
installing an automatic drain seems fairly straightforward:
http://www.paragoncode.com/shop/compressor/
Is there a better product? Comments on this product or the procedure he
describes?

2) IR sent it without oil, logically enough, but our nearest IR dealer is
50 miles and a large body of water away. IR's website is not really
helpful for picking which oil to use, and the manual (yes, I read it) is
quite vague. Suggestions? I order from MSC regularly, if they are a good
source.

3) The manual suggests a clear 1' space on each side of the unit. Can I
get away with less? It's a tight space to start with, but I can clear
some more stuff if I have to.

Thank you!

Alden

Alden Hackmann wrote:
Hey, folks:

We got a new compressor, a 5HP IR upright - way bigger than the one I
inherited from my father-in-law. It will be installed late this month in
a small addition next to our shop. I have some questions:

1) I'd like to have it drain automatically. This description of
installing an automatic drain seems fairly straightforward:
http://www.paragoncode.com/shop/compressor/
Is there a better product? Comments on this product or the procedure he
describes?

2) IR sent it without oil, logically enough, but our nearest IR dealer is
50 miles and a large body of water away. IR's website is not really
helpful for picking which oil to use, and the manual (yes, I read it) is
quite vague. Suggestions? I order from MSC regularly, if they are a good
source.

3) The manual suggests a clear 1' space on each side of the unit. Can I
get away with less? It's a tight space to start with, but I can clear
some more stuff if I have to.

Thank you!

Alden

Alden, if I ever get a brand new real compressor, I'm going to remove the pipe
that goes out of the air pump and into the tank, and in its place plumb in a
refrigerated air dryer and filter. Most of the water will never hit the tank.
It would also largely obviate your need for an automated drain.

Anyway, I have my Quincy right against the wall and I see 'em that way in shops
all the time.

GWE

"Alden Hackmann" wrote in message
...
Hey, folks:

We got a new compressor, a 5HP IR upright - way bigger than the one I
inherited from my father-in-law. It will be installed late this month in
a small addition next to our shop. I have some questions:

1) I'd like to have it drain automatically. This description of
installing an automatic drain seems fairly straightforward:
http://www.paragoncode.com/shop/compressor/
Is there a better product? Comments on this product or the procedure he
describes?

2) IR sent it without oil, logically enough, but our nearest IR dealer is
50 miles and a large body of water away. IR's website is not really
helpful for picking which oil to use, and the manual (yes, I read it) is
quite vague. Suggestions? I order from MSC regularly, if they are a good
source.

3) The manual suggests a clear 1' space on each side of the unit. Can I
get away with less? It's a tight space to start with, but I can clear
some more stuff if I have to.

Thank you!

Alden

What would you think will be the duty-cycle? Your requirements will depend
on how much air you're using. Use a non-detergent oil, I prefer Dayton's
synthetic if only because it's a phone call away. I'm not a fan of auto
drains...learn some discipline. A dryer is pretty costly. Just change the
oil once in a while, clean the filters, drain the tank often and if it gets
too hot give it more room and/or aim a fan at it. If it starts making a lot
of noise or dancing across the floor...fix it. Happy air!

"Alden Hackmann" wrote in message
...
Hey, folks:

We got a new compressor, a 5HP IR upright - way bigger than the one I
inherited from my father-in-law. It will be installed late this month in
a small addition next to our shop. I have some questions:

1) I'd like to have it drain automatically. This description of
installing an automatic drain seems fairly straightforward:
http://www.paragoncode.com/shop/compressor/
Is there a better product? Comments on this product or the procedure he
describes?



I went through two of those drains in short order. My neighbor has the first
on he put on his compressor, still works fine! I bought one from Grainger,
it worked much better for me, it is more money, but much easier to install.
It has been working flawlessly for 2 years. Here is a link, plus the item #
is 4KT04 in case the link does not work.
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/pro...&ccitem=&xi=xi
Greg

On Wed, 07 Sep 2005 17:52:27 +0000, Ignoramus11916 wrote:

On Wed, 7 Sep 2005 17:43:31 +0000 (UTC), Alden Hackmann
wrote:
Hey, folks:


1) I'd like to have it drain automatically. This description of
installing an automatic drain seems fairly straightforward:
http://www.paragoncode.com/shop/compressor/ Is there a better product?
Comments on this product or the procedure he describes?

I am waiting for the same product, I ordered it a week or so ago. I will
report on it.



I have the HF auto drain valve, and a compressor very similar to the one
on the web page referenced above (mine's red, not black). The drain was on
my compressor for 3 days, and is now sitting in a drawer.

The auto drain valve itself seems to work perfectly, but the associated
plumbing has given me nothing but grief. I needed my compressor back, and
it was easier to go back to the manual drain than to get the auto drain
working.

The polyurethane hose that comes with the HF auto drain valve cannot
withstand any heat at all. Unfortunately, the unloader line gets pretty
hot during heavy use, and causes the hose to burst.

The second time the hose burst, I went out and bought some 1/4" copper
tube. However, the fitting on the drain valve body is made specifically
for soft plastic hoses. It cannot be replaced with a standard compression
to male thread fitting, because the threads in the valve body are not the
usual 1/8 NPT that one would expect (probably metric). I need to find or
fabricate a fitting.

Also, like the web page author, I found that the included drain cock was a
piece of trash. I replaced it with a better one, but it is a fraction of
an inch longer and it hits the floor. It would probably break off while
rolling the compressor around. I need to find or fabricate a shorter tee
or something to gain some ground clearance.

I've spent twice the purchase price and a bunch of time on this kit, and
it sits in a drawer doing nothing.

--
Ron DeBlock N2JSO
If God had meant for Man to see the sunrise,
He would have scheduled it later in the day.

"Grant Erwin" wrote in message
...
Anyway, I have my Quincy right against the wall and I see 'em that way in
shops all the time.

GWE

Most of us with Quincys have forgotten where they are!

1) I'd like to have it drain automatically. This description of
installing an automatic drain seems fairly straightforward:
http://www.paragoncode.com/shop/compressor/
Is there a better product? Comments on this product or the procedure he
describes?

I have one on my 20 gallon compressor and it works great but I also had the
problem with the cheap plastic tubing overheating and blowing out. I
replumbed it with 1/4" copper tubing but I had to couple that to the plastic
tubing near the valve with a compression coupling because the valve can only
connect to plastic tubing as someone else mentioned.

I complained to Harbor Freight about the tubing and they refunded the full
purchase price to me and let me keep the kit so I ended up getting mine for
free! :-)

Otherwise I've been very happy with it and never had to touch it since it
was installed about 4 years or so ago.

Just a guess but it may be possible that the autodrain won't drain enough
from your tank because it's so large.

Best Regards,
Keith Marshall


"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"

don't use that drain valve - I have one from harbor frieght - installed it
on my Quincy compressor, and used it once - it destroyed itself, now I'm
back to a manual drain. My compressor shuts off at 160 PSI - the drain
valve is a pain to install - I had to solder the copper unloader tubing to
the T fitting provided, and get a leak free connection - about the second
time the valve actuated it started to leak, and by the third or fourth time
it had blown the O-ring seal half way through the drain port and was sucking
up about half the compressor capacity full time. This is a really
suboptimal design - there must be something reasonable that works, but this
isn't it. If you want the stupid thing, I'll send it to you rather than
return it to HF for a refund, but trust me, you don't want it.

Now, for the group - is there any auto drain that actually works?

Oh, and RE spacing - you need to be able to get to the compressor to open
the drain and as someone else pointed out, there must be adequate air flow.

Oil - my quincy uses 30 wt, my sears uses ATF


"Alden Hackmann" wrote in message
...
Hey, folks:

We got a new compressor, a 5HP IR upright - way bigger than the one I
inherited from my father-in-law. It will be installed late this month in
a small addition next to our shop. I have some questions:

1) I'd like to have it drain automatically. This description of
installing an automatic drain seems fairly straightforward:
http://www.paragoncode.com/shop/compressor/
Is there a better product? Comments on this product or the procedure he
describes?

2) IR sent it without oil, logically enough, but our nearest IR dealer is
50 miles and a large body of water away. IR's website is not really
helpful for picking which oil to use, and the manual (yes, I read it) is
quite vague. Suggestions? I order from MSC regularly, if they are a good
source.

3) The manual suggests a clear 1' space on each side of the unit. Can I
get away with less? It's a tight space to start with, but I can clear
some more stuff if I have to.

Thank you!

Alden

i also have the same one still in a box i'd mail to someone for the price of
postage.

"william_b_noble" wrote in message
news:1126160409.79ffcceab2a508938e5918cf60189ff5@t eranews...
don't use that drain valve - I have one from harbor frieght - installed it
on my Quincy compressor, and used it once - it destroyed itself, now I'm
back to a manual drain. My compressor shuts off at 160 PSI - the drain
valve is a pain to install - I had to solder the copper unloader tubing to
the T fitting provided, and get a leak free connection - about the second
time the valve actuated it started to leak, and by the third or fourth
time it had blown the O-ring seal half way through the drain port and was
sucking up about half the compressor capacity full time. This is a really
suboptimal design - there must be something reasonable that works, but
this isn't it. If you want the stupid thing, I'll send it to you rather
than return it to HF for a refund, but trust me, you don't want it.

Now, for the group - is there any auto drain that actually works?

Oh, and RE spacing - you need to be able to get to the compressor to open
the drain and as someone else pointed out, there must be adequate air
flow.

Oil - my quincy uses 30 wt, my sears uses ATF


"Alden Hackmann" wrote in message
...
Hey, folks:

We got a new compressor, a 5HP IR upright - way bigger than the one I
inherited from my father-in-law. It will be installed late this month in
a small addition next to our shop. I have some questions:

1) I'd like to have it drain automatically. This description of
installing an automatic drain seems fairly straightforward:
http://www.paragoncode.com/shop/compressor/
Is there a better product? Comments on this product or the procedure he
describes?

2) IR sent it without oil, logically enough, but our nearest IR dealer is
50 miles and a large body of water away. IR's website is not really
helpful for picking which oil to use, and the manual (yes, I read it) is
quite vague. Suggestions? I order from MSC regularly, if they are a
good
source.

3) The manual suggests a clear 1' space on each side of the unit. Can I
get away with less? It's a tight space to start with, but I can clear
some more stuff if I have to.

Thank you!

Alden

Now, for the group - is there any auto drain that actually works?



Did you miss this post?


I went through two of those drains in short order. My neighbor has the first
on he put on his compressor, still works fine! I bought one from Grainger,
it worked much better for me, it is more money, but much easier to install.
It has been working flawlessly for 2 years. Here is a link, plus the item #
is 4KT04 in case the link does not work.
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/pro...&ccitem=&xi=xi
Greg

On Wed, 7 Sep 2005 23:19:56 -0700, "william_b_noble"
wrote:

Snip..
Now, for the group - is there any auto drain that actually works?


Alden


My compressor has an electric dump valve. It has 2 dials, one for
setting the interval between dumps (45 mins. max) and one for the
duration on the dump. It works very well and I can get the name off it
if you want? It can also be manually activated either by the "test"
button or by unplugging it, and plugging in the 110 Volt socket.

One idea I like is to connect/plumb say a 6 foot air line and blow gun
to the drain. One would be more inclined to dump air you don't have to
crawl on your hans & knees every time.