For those of you using air tools for die grinding, peening and other prep work within a shop what size compressor are you guys running? I hate waiting for compressors to catch up and have been spoiled with high cfm compressors at employers I have had.
I run the eastwood QST-30/60 in my basement workshop. Runs my cnc plasma without breaking a sweat and its incredibly quiet by air compressor standards. With the die grinders and orbital it will lag after a minute of continuous trigger but catches back up quickly. I believe a secondary tank would alleviate that. Its rated for 100% duty cycle and pushes about 12cfm. Its main purpose is the plasma table...everything else is just frosting on the cake.
Awesome that gives me a rough idea of what to look at. Powering it is not a problem it’s just choosing one that will do the job. My shop at home has been an 8 year slow do as I can afford project. I’m glad I paid to have the 400v three phase installed as that really opens up the used market option.
HELL YEAH! Sky is the limit on 3 phase power. Same here with the slow build. The scroll and screw type compressors are pricey but worth it in my mind. Unless you can mount your compressor outside its worth the investment to relieve yourself of the noise of a reciprocating compressor. A home shop should be your sanctuary in my opinion. 20-30 cfm should run most air tools at 100% duty.
Keep us updated!
Yeah 3 phase was sort of a must have for me. It allows me use 400v split to run my Syncrowave 350lx at full amperage without any power breaker issues at all. You should see the size of the feeder cables to my Syncrowave.
It didn’t happen all at once. I connect from the street to my house first with just the single phase connected at the house. Ran cable to the shop from the house and that sat unconnected for about a year. Than had all 3 phases and the shop connected with a 3 phase meter installed at the house.
Took a few years but thanks to the local electrical lines maintenance people and a local industrial electrical company plus a lot of trench digging and cable running by hand by me it all worked out.
Hats off to you sir!
I was just going to buy 230v power tools (230v being our equivalent to US 110v) but I can see the appeal and handiness of running air tools. If I buy high quality air tools it may be a worthwhile option.
If it weren't for the plasma needing air I'd most likely be all electric tools.
I’m hoping that if I lean towards higher quality air tools I can keep the noise down as well. I don’t really want to draw too much attention to myself having an industrial grade shop in residentially zoned area. I try not to bother the neighbours. Haven’t caused any brown outs yet so that’s handy.
Thanks for the info and that is what I will plan on using.
Just got home, the placard on the motor says 17 full load amps. I went with a 30 amp breaker as not to trip on startup. Big AC motors can draw over three times their running amps on startup.
The one downside of this compressor in particular is this little bleed orifice under the switch/back pressure relief assembly. When the compressor shuts down it bleeds the pressure from the filters and compressor sections. This sprays the remnants of the oil/air separator out of the bleed orifice. I ended up soldering a nipple fitting onto the orifice (its tiny) so i could rout the bleed off to a collection tank along with the condensate drains. Works like a champ now.
I had to get a 63amp 2 pole breaker for my syncrowave running at 400v. I had it hard wired in and the electricians specifically used a breaker designed for high in rush current. There are different breakers for different loads, anything with a high in rush uses a special kind.
Brian: Thanks for the tip on the bleed off and will do something similar.
One thing I think should be standard on every compressor but is not is an automatic drain for water. I plan on setting up something like that as some compressors are really bad for filling up with water.