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Default Adding external air tank to existing air compressor to give equivalent bigger tank

m II wrote:

He was thinking out loud just like you just did.

When you achieve perfection, let us know how you did it.


Let me see - what's your troll word to throw out at this time? Oh yeah, I
remember... BULL****! Back to your cave little boy. Mommy is about to
bring dinner down to the basement for you...

--

-Mike-



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Default Adding external air tank to existing air compressor to giveequivalent bigger tank

On Oct 28, 11:37*am, "Mike Marlow"
wrote:
m II wrote:
He was thinking out loud just like you just did.


When you achieve perfection, let us know how you did it.


Let me see - what's your troll word to throw out at this time? *Oh yeah, I
remember... BULL****! *Back to your cave little boy. *Mommy is about to
bring dinner down to the basement for you...

Maybe mommy will bring clean panties too...LOL

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Default Adding external air tank to existing air compressor to give equivalentbigger tank

On 10/29/11 6:17 PM, Robatoy wrote:
On Oct 28, 11:37 am, "Mike
wrote:
m II wrote:
He was thinking out loud just like you just did.


When you achieve perfection, let us know how you did it.


Let me see - what's your troll word to throw out at this time? Oh yeah, I
remember... BULL****! Back to your cave little boy. Mommy is about to
bring dinner down to the basement for you...

Maybe mommy will bring clean panties too...LOL

Depends :-)

--
Froz...


The system will be down for 10 days for preventive maintenance.
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Default Adding external air tank to existing air compressor to giveequivalent bigger tank

On Oct 29, 6:18*pm, FrozenNorth
wrote:
On 10/29/11 6:17 PM, Robatoy wrote: On Oct 28, 11:37 am, "Mike
wrote:
m II wrote:
He was thinking out loud just like you just did.


When you achieve perfection, let us know how you did it.


Let me see - what's your troll word to throw out at this time? *Oh yeah, I
remember... BULL****! *Back to your cave little boy. *Mommy is about to
bring dinner down to the basement for you...


Maybe mommy will bring clean panties too...LOL


Depends *:-)

--
Froz...

The system will be down for 10 days for preventive maintenance.


What do you figure guys? Bunnies or flowers on his panties?
  #45   Report Post  
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Default Adding external air tank to existing air compressor to give equivalent bigger tank

You haven't seen his mommy, yet. You could be more interested in her panties
than you know.

-----
"FrozenNorth" wrote in message ...
Depends :-)

---------
On 10/29/11 6:17 PM, Robatoy wrote:
Maybe mommy will bring clean panties too...LOL



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Default Adding external air tank to existing air compressor to give equivalent bigger tank [It works so far...]

blueman writes:

blueman writes:

I have a low-end Harbor Freight 8 gallon air compressor that has many
times over earned its $100 cost.

However, there are times when I would like to have a larger air supply
tank such as when I am blowing out my irrigation system. Of course the
steady-state is limited by the compressor motor to about 4-5 CFM@90 psi.

But I was wondering whether I could extend at least the initial volume
by adding an additional tank.

Harbor Freight for example sells an 11 gallon portable air tank
(http://www.harborfreight.com/11-gall...ank-65595.html)
for about $38. It is rated up to 125 psi (same as my compressor) and
comes with a gauge and a tire-type fitting.

I was thinking that I could re-plumb to NPT and attach it to the drain
hole on my compressor tank (with a T-fitting and ball valve to still
allow drainage).

This would then give me effectively 19 gallons of initial air supply.

Of course, I would need to be careful about duty cycle since filling up
19 gallons vs. 8 gallons would be like doing 2 1/2 continuous fills of
my original tank.

But assuming that I am careful about duty cycle is this a reasonable way
to temporarily extend the initial air supply for occassional uses where
I need to get the advantages of a larger tank?

(Note that it seems that several of the Harbor Freight compressors use
the same HP motor with similar CFM ratings for a range of tank sizes --
probably because the HP is ultimately limited by the 110V 15A supply
circuit)

Thanks!


Now that a new Harbor Freight has opened up about 9 miles, I went to the
store and bought the tank for $37, an 8 ft 3/8" 200psi hose on sale for
$4 and a couple of fittings for a few bucks. And I used a 20% coupon on
the entire purchase...

So for less than $40 total, I have it all working beautifully.

The setup now looks like:


Portable tank------- Tee --- 3/8" hose -- Female quick connect
| |
Gauge Ball valve
& pressure release
(included)

(Note: I added the ball valve to allow for easy emptying rather than
having to exert constant pressure on the built in release


Compressor ---- Drain --- Ball valve --- Male quick connect



When I want to fill the external tank, I quick connect from the tank to
the drain, open the ball valve on the compressor drain and close the
ball valve on the tank.

Then if I want to use the combined volume, I just attach my hoses and
tools to the normal regulator side of my compressor and get a combined
19 gallon volume

If I want to use the portable tank remotely, I just disconnect the quick
connect and then connect hoses and tools to the female quick connect on
the portable tank (I may add an inline regulator later).

If I want to drain both tanks, then I disconnect the quick connect and
open the ball valves on both the compressor tank and the portable tank.


Thanks for all the helpful comments that gave me the confidence to go
ahead with my plan.

Now I just have to wait a few weeks until it's time to blow out my
irrigation system.

Also, as a few others have mentioned, it will be good for high volume,
relatively limited time operations like HVLP spraying.


OK - I used the above setup to blow out my sprinkler on Friday in
advance of the upcoming October Noreaters snowstorm...

To maximize air delivery, I ended up using a 1/2 inch 25ft hose from my
compressor to the water faucet with the hose pressurized to full tank
pressure (115psi) and a regulator just before the faucet set at about
55psi (not my regular static water pressure is about 80-90 psi).

It all worked fine though surprisingly I didn't notice a major increase
in the amount of time that the heads stayed open before falling back due
to decreased pressure. In fact, as soon as I opened the valve the
pressure almost immediately dropped off from the static psi of about 55
to approximately 20 psi. It then took about 30 seconds before the
tank pressure dropped to ~80 psi and the compressor kicked in
again. (note that the pressure lasted longer the first time through each
zone when there was still water in the pipes).

So it seems like the 1/2inch air hose and 1/4 inch fittings (at both
ends) were insufficient to supply enough pressure to maintain 55 psi
through the irrigation system. I guess this makes sense since the
irrigation system itself has 1" diameter pipes and the heads probably
let through a lot more air than the 10 gallon/minute of water that it
does when driven by water.

So, it still had no problem clearing all the zones (one-by-one) of water
down to a slight mist. But I'm not sure the added tank made much of a
difference. Still, for ~$40, it seems like a good addition to my stem
that I can use for multiple uses in the future.

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Default Adding external air tank to existing air compressor to give equivalent bigger tank [It works so far...]

On Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:25:39 -0400, blueman wrote:
So it seems like the 1/2inch air hose and 1/4 inch fittings (at both
ends) were insufficient to supply enough pressure to maintain 55 psi
through the irrigation system. I guess this makes sense since the
irrigation system itself has 1" diameter pipes and the heads probably
let through a lot more air than the 10 gallon/minute of water that it
does when driven by water.


I'm betting on the regulator being your bottleneck. If you're running
90psi normally, the 115 shouldn't be a problem, as it won't be that
high for long.


So, it still had no problem clearing all the zones (one-by-one) of water
down to a slight mist. But I'm not sure the added tank made much of a
difference. Still, for ~$40, it seems like a good addition to my stem
that I can use for multiple uses in the future.


It might have been more evident at the full rate, without the
regulator. You could always fill and try it again to see.

--
Inside every older person is a younger person wondering WTF happened.
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Default Adding external air tank to existing air compressor to give equivalent bigger tank [It works so far...]

Larry Jaques writes:

On Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:25:39 -0400, blueman wrote:
So it seems like the 1/2inch air hose and 1/4 inch fittings (at both
ends) were insufficient to supply enough pressure to maintain 55 psi
through the irrigation system. I guess this makes sense since the
irrigation system itself has 1" diameter pipes and the heads probably
let through a lot more air than the 10 gallon/minute of water that it
does when driven by water.


I'm betting on the regulator being your bottleneck. If you're running
90psi normally, the 115 shouldn't be a problem, as it won't be that
high for long.


It's a cheap regulator (Harbor freight). So if I understand you
correctly, you are suggesting that the regulator limits the volume
significantly and may be the problem here?

I was hesitant to run it higher than 60 since people always warn against
using high air pressures in pvc pipe. Is high air pressure any more
damaging (in the non pipe burst case) to irrigation control valves,
irrigation heads, and backflow preventors then an equivalent water
pressure? (I would think not but just checking)

But you are right that it won't be at that pressure long since as soon
as the irrigation valve opens, the pressure will definitely drop even
before the tank runs out just simply due to the resistance of the hose &
fittings. Actually, the compressor while rated at 115 psi, the pressure
switch shuts off closer to 100 psi.

Note: my water supply is at 90psi static and drops maybe to 80-85 with faucets
open.



So, it still had no problem clearing all the zones (one-by-one) of water
down to a slight mist. But I'm not sure the added tank made much of a
difference. Still, for ~$40, it seems like a good addition to my stem
that I can use for multiple uses in the future.


It might have been more evident at the full rate, without the
regulator. You could always fill and try it again to see.


Still, I am a bit hesitant to put that pressure in the irrigation pvc
pipe and fittings...
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Default Adding external air tank to existing air compressor to give equivalent bigger tank [It works so far...]

On Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:30:19 -0400, blueman wrote:

Larry Jaques writes:

On Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:25:39 -0400, blueman wrote:
So it seems like the 1/2inch air hose and 1/4 inch fittings (at both
ends) were insufficient to supply enough pressure to maintain 55 psi
through the irrigation system. I guess this makes sense since the
irrigation system itself has 1" diameter pipes and the heads probably
let through a lot more air than the 10 gallon/minute of water that it
does when driven by water.


I'm betting on the regulator being your bottleneck. If you're running
90psi normally, the 115 shouldn't be a problem, as it won't be that
high for long.


It's a cheap regulator (Harbor freight). So if I understand you
correctly, you are suggesting that the regulator limits the volume
significantly and may be the problem here?


I'm saying A) that you probably don't need the regulator at all and B)
that they absolutely can have a secondary function as a flow reducer.
First, run it all the way up to full pressure and check the run time.
Then eliminate it and see if your flow changes. I'm betting that it
will.


I was hesitant to run it higher than 60 since people always warn against
using high air pressures in pvc pipe. Is high air pressure any more
damaging (in the non pipe burst case) to irrigation control valves,
irrigation heads, and backflow preventors then an equivalent water
pressure? (I would think not but just checking)


90% of it is underground and you already use 90psi water, so the
difference is minimal. I'd wear eye protection in any case.


It might have been more evident at the full rate, without the
regulator. You could always fill and try it again to see.


Still, I am a bit hesitant to put that pressure in the irrigation pvc
pipe and fittings...


OK, then don't. shrug If you don't feel it's safe, don't do it.
That's your option, and don't let anyone tell you differrent.

I wouldn't hesitate on my own system, but it's drip irrigation and I
open the far end of the 1/2" poly anyway.

--
Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.
-- Jimi Hendrix
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Default Adding external air tank to existing air compressor to give equivalent bigger tank [It works so far...]

On Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:30:19 -0400, blueman wrote:



Still, I am a bit hesitant to put that pressure in the irrigation pvc
pipe and fittings...


Most of the commercial blow out people use 100 PSI. If you are
concerned most air compressors have built in pressure regulators and
you can dial it down. 2 regulators will reduce air flow.
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