Air compressors
Submitted: Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 12:14
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Hairy (WA)
Gday all,
Ive been toying with the idea of mounting one of those cheap 240v air compressors under my car and running it through an inverter.
Im thinking of stripping it down, mounting the compressor under my car, maybe making a longer thiner air tank and mounting a small retractable air hose reel on the spare wheel carrier.
I havent priced all the parts to make one from scratch yet , but being you can buy a whole compressor for under a $100 with switches, air fittings , regulator, pressure reliefe valve and tank, Im thinking it might be a cheap way to make a decent air set up.
Has anyone tried to make anything similar.
What do you think?
Cheers
Reply By: Bushranger1 - Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 12:49
Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 12:49
You would need one real big inverter to run a 240V compressor motor. The starting current is huge & your battery would go flat real quick. The cost of such a large inverter would also make it cheaper just to purchase a good quality 12V compressor.
Cheers
Stu
AnswerID:
442894
Follow Up By: Hairy (WA) - Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 13:04
Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 13:04
Would it work alright with the motor running or am I barking up the wrong tree with using 240 volt?
Cheers
FollowupID:
714936
Follow Up By: wizzer73 - Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 13:15
Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 13:15
I think you are barking up the wrong tree with 240V. You would probably need a 1.5kW inverter as minimum for a 2hp compressor. That would cost $500+ easily. Then all the wiring as
well.
Malz have a double pump compressor (about 160LPM i think) for abot $320 with a set of staun deflaters on special. This would be cheaper and pump tyres up quicker.
wizzer
FollowupID:
714940
Follow Up By: Bushranger1 - Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 13:19
Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 13:19
Not sure of the exact number in relation to the AMPS draw of the compressor motor but like I said the puchase price of a large wattage EG:- 2000W inverter is around $500.00. Add this to your $100.00 compressor & it makes it a lot cheaper to go for the 12v compressor option.
Off course you may
well need an even higher wattage inverter than this for it to work.
FollowupID:
714941
Follow Up By: Hairy (WA) - Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 16:07
Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 16:07
I wonder what would be involved in changing the 240v motor for a 12v starter motor or something similar?
FollowupID:
714959
Follow Up By: Bushranger1 - Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 17:57
Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 17:57
Why re-invent the wheel?
There are plenty of good quality 12v compressors already available on the market.
FollowupID:
714974
Reply By: Wokwon - Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 13:57
Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 13:57
I don't think a cheap compressor designed for freestanding use would put up with vibration and dust either. They also aren't rated to run more than about 10% duty cycle (1 min on, 10 min off) or they overheat and
cook the motor.
I had a supercheap auto $160 model die while I was trying to sandblast with it, it just couldn't keep up the air and cooked itself, despite a thermal overload switch (on the motor).
AnswerID:
442900
Follow Up By: Hairy (WA) - Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 14:36
Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 14:36
Gday,
It shouldnt be doing any more work than it would be sitting on the floor of your shed pumping up your tyres. Which the one I have seems to be quite capable of doing so far.Worth a thought though.
Cheers
FollowupID:
714947
Follow Up By: Hairy (WA) - Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 14:44
Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 14:44
I dont think the vibration would be a huge problem.........compressors vibrate when runnibg on their own and Ive had them on work vehicles before and never had a problem. Water and mud needs to be looked at though.
FollowupID:
714949
Reply By: dereki - Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 14:16
Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 14:16
my 2c
240volt motor probably won't be designed for automotive use. Water, dust, mud etc will probably get into it via the cooling vents and wreck it. Some 12 volt compressors are designed for use in these environments.
240 volts under a car probably isn't the best idea from a saftey point of view either; with the water and so on.
D
AnswerID:
442904
Follow Up By: Hairy (WA) - Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 14:41
Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 14:41
Gday,
Your right I would defiately have to enclose it in a reasonably dust and water proof area.
Cheers
FollowupID:
714948
Reply By: Rod W - Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 15:19
Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 15:19
Hairy, if your 80 series is the 4.5lt petrol then you can fit an old aircon compressor to the motor.
AnswerID:
442907
Follow Up By: Hairy (WA) - Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 16:06
Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 16:06
Gday Rod,
Ive had a look at endless air, but they are fairly dear......$500-$600.
I might look at makeing my own.
Cheers
FollowupID:
714957
Follow Up By: Rod W - Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 22:36
Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 22:36
Hairy, yes thats what I mean, make your own set up. When I did
mine in 1998 it cost me around $60 for a few fittings and some rubber hoses.
So is it for the Landcruiser 4.5Lt 1FZFE engine?
FollowupID:
715008
Follow Up By: Hairy (WA) - Tuesday, Jan 25, 2011 at 22:21
Tuesday, Jan 25, 2011 at 22:21
Yeah mate.
FollowupID:
715088
Reply By: Motherhen - Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 16:18
Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 16:18
Hi Hairy
We have been through a number of next to useless cheap compressors - 12 v and 240 v (the latter for use at
home on mains power). Waste of money all of them.
Motherhen
AnswerID:
442912
Follow Up By: Hairy (WA) - Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 16:53
Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 16:53
Gday Motherhen,
Your right with the cheap compressors.
I might just have to buy the fittings, retracta reel, make a tank and put it all together myself with either and air cond comp. or a good 12 volt comp.
Cheers
FollowupID:
714964
Follow Up By: Member - Boeing (PER) - Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 20:36
Monday, Jan 24, 2011 at 20:36
Hi Hairy, I think that if you have the skills, then that is the way to go. If it goes wrong on a trip you know how the unit is put together.
Regards
Mark
FollowupID:
714999
Reply By: vk1dx - Tuesday, Jan 25, 2011 at 17:40
Tuesday, Jan 25, 2011 at 17:40
Firstly I wouldn't touch anything "cheap". Secondly unless you are towing a road train with heaps of tyres or you want to spray the odd
dingo fence then why not get one from ARB, Ironman or heaps of other manufacturers and stick it under the bonnet.
In all the time we have had the compressor all it does , and does it
well, is air-up on return to the black top.
I wonder why you want to reinvent the wheel or do you just like to tinker. At least the "non cheap" commercial units are tested by both the maker and people like you and I. We know one of them will hack the environmental things and do the pumping up at the end of a drive.
Phil
AnswerID:
443011
Follow Up By: Hairy (WA) - Thursday, Jan 27, 2011 at 17:18
Thursday, Jan 27, 2011 at 17:18
Firstly, The ARB type ones are to slow for what I want.
Secondly, I obviously need to "air up" more often than you do.
Thirdly, Im not reinventing the wheel as I cant find what I want at a reasonable price.
Cheers
FollowupID:
715278
Follow Up By: vk1dx - Thursday, Jan 27, 2011 at 18:34
Thursday, Jan 27, 2011 at 18:34
Fair enough.
May I also say that a run through the Vic High alps can involve up to 6 times on and off hard surfaces. Therefore airing up "back on the bitumen" can happen more than six times a trip.
Cheers
Phil
FollowupID:
715286