if anyones looking.. cheap comp tanks

[scarrtlk]

in the st. louis county (MO) area, cummings industrial tools has a lot of compressor tanks from 3 gal and up... and the cheapest tank is 19 bucks. sorry not much info on this. they're there and theres a lot of them

I have a couple of refrigerators in that I'm going to demo and try to make a couple of silent compressors. can anyone send links to how-to do this...
I'm a plumber so I'm pretty confident in welding and brazing...I just don't know what goes where

thanks.

[Snuff]

Hi Scarr'
There articles here on the site in the airbrish artist mag portion on how to do this.
Bythe way be careful welding on those tanks theye're thinner metal than thing like scuba tanks and such. The guys that weld them are certified for pressure vessel and produce flawless welds.

The tanks probably have all of the fittings welded in already though.
I made one about a year ago from an old scuba tank and a freezer compressor
The tank was certified for 3000 psi and is a 1/4" thick so i had no reservations about welding in a drain cock, the rest is plumbed in through the main hole in the top. This tank only has to hold 120 psi when fully pressureized.

Hope this helps.

[scarrtlk]

thanks for the reply...I'm going to get everything together and take it up to my school and have one of the instructors help me...

I already have a compressor a craftsman 3 gal with everything already on it so it should be simple to just change out the old compressor to the new silent one...I'm going to try and do a how to starting tommorow if this all works out...

wish me luck, thanks.

[Snuff]

Duuude,
You already have all of the goodies to make it work , thats great.
All you might have to do is lengthen a line or two here & there ( or shorten ) to fit the new tank.

[scarrtlk]

yes...almost done...all this talk about doing it...I'm almost finished...I'll post pictures as soon as I get a chance to...if I had everything together to do it I would have had it done in less than an hour

And yes I had cut a short piece of wire about 6 inches long to go from the switch to the new compressor.. and hack off some of the copper...I'm going to go to the hardware store tomorrow to see if I can find a reducing coupling to fit both sizes of copper tubing or I might just buy some hose and clamps... and do it that way....it might look prettier that way

and also I cut it on to see if it was working I could barely hear it.. nice...
I remember when I first got the compressor it scared the (you know what) outta me...and it also had a bad leak so it would kick on when it wanted to

[scarrtlk]

pictures...

first one is original compressor removed almost...had to cut wires

second one is the "silent compressor" from mini fridge.. it is 1 hp so it should work.

third one is the "silent compressor" mounted to the tank and wired...

have to get some hoses or something to put it all together..and air filter..looking good so far... will let everyone know results tommorow

[thearthound]

Scarr, that is excellent! You got Skillz!
keep us updated, and let us know how it goes with the fittings.

[redneck]

you did a good job on the compressor ,welcome to the forum

[scarrtlk]

I just hit a roadblock..

after getting everything hooked up I turn it on and nothing...
compressor kicks on air is going but there's a leak at the where the transfer tube goes to the pressure switch...

when I turn it on theres a little needle that pokes out....this is what's leaking...
do I need to adjust this to get it two work .... now confused

[scarrtlk]

ok I got it going now.... but now I have another probem...I can get it to hold up to 100psi with no problem....but now it won't cut off...the only way I can get it to cut out is to turn it off turn it back on.....

when the pressure gets down to 70 it automatically cuts back on..

[xzotic ink]

I never knew this stuff, pretty interesting, glad to know in am emergency to pull the fridge out and rip out the compressor....lol..i love it..

[redneck]

I believe that most pressure switch cuts out at 120 PSI but some pressure switches can be set for different psi

[scarrtlk]

ok...got it.. everything is working fine now... got the compressor to cut out at around 110psi I don't know what or when it kicks back on... I'm going to try and get it to cut back on as high of pressure I can...to keep air in the tank...
but everything went fine

total cost around $11 dollars to convert existing craftsman compressor to silent compressor

purchased parts:
hose clamps
brass fittings
hoses (rated at 300psi)
fuel filter

tools...
tin snips (used to cut refrigerator copper lines...i had to use something that I can use to cut and run... )
copper cutters
flat and Phillips an screwdriver
wire cutters/ stripper
channel locks
crescent wrench

if anyone has any questions about this please feel free to ask...

thanks again for the help

[scarrtlk]

I'm sorry to keep posting...but anybody else with this type of setup what is your average fill time from 0 to full..

[redneck]

its been a while since I timed the tank fill up , maybe 4 or 5 minutes

[maddjohnny]

Originally Posted by scarrtlk

pictures...

first one is original compressor removed almost...had to cut wires

second one is the "silent compressor" from mini fridge.. it is 1 hp so it should work.

third one is the "silent compressor" mounted to the tank and wired...

have to get some hoses or something to put it all together..and air filter..looking good so far... will let everyone know results tommorow

I'm impressed on your outcome. Nicely done!
I have an old compressor I think I want to try this on too. I was going to use the compressor the way it is, and I probably will for a while, but its kinda loud.
Its a Sears Craftsman 1 HP, 12 gal tank. 100psi max.
I don't know what the rest of this means, but the specs are:
7.5 scfm at 40psi., 6.1 scfm at 90 psi.
If I could swap the orig. motor with one from a fridge it would be great!
Could a motor from a full size fridge work just as well? or is a mini fridge better? and why? Does it matter the HP? Should it be 1 HP? or is less ok?

Great job though! Let us know when you have all the bugs worked out of it!

[shovelhead]

They say 19 lra or better. Whats an LRA ? got no idea. But ,I have a 19 (and it will be marked on the compressor) ,and it takes it about 13 minutes to fill my 18 gallon tank. Once full ,my brush is never starving for air. (HP-CH). A littler different with a VL. One thing, you have got to be sure and put as many filters or water seperaters as you can. I have two large ones. One at the discharge of the compr.,and one at my air manifold under the bench.Peace