THSCC Forums

Silly. Mike doesn't do research on stuff, everything he does is done on a whim......

yeah, and he never steps in manure without it turning into bluegrass somehow either. nice acquisition Mike.

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BenchWarmer Motorsports

another one of those damn LeMons heads

just another Chump

we are an Autocross Club Dammit............

Basically the motor would have needed to be replaced with a 230v motor to get the higher flow. Not sure about the compressor, but I'd be leery of over-driving (overclocking?) an older one with no idea if it's rated for higher RPMs to get the higher flow rate.

Big problem is how much a new 230v motor costs. Getting into the hundreds of dollars.

To replace the motor and compressor pump, would have cost more than the new one from HD. So it's like getting a 60 gallon tank, regulator, pressure valve, and switch for free

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

Three things to look at when buying a compressor for high flow requirements like sand blasting.
1. The circuit amperage required rather than the CFM. You can play with the statistics (like stereo power) to give almost any CFM wanted (the cheaper compressors base it on pump displacement without losses or directly at the outlet without a regulator), but you can't lie about the power consumption, it takes a certain amount of amps to produce a certain HP in an electric motor, law of physics. If the unit does not call for a 50A 220V circuit, it will not push enough air, PERIOD!
Second, look at the duty cycle rating. If it is 20%, that means it can run for 2 minutes then it needs to cool for 8 minutes out of every 10 minutes of use. The more air you use for an extended period of time the higher duty cycle you need. Low duty cycle pumps are typically lapped ringless pistons and/or aluminum cylinders that will not last long if run continuously and have greater and greater losses as they heat up and the clearances increase. A large tank will decrease the duty cycle by acting as a storage buffer. You cannot get too big a tank, always buy the biggest you can.
Third: get a two stage pump, they are much more efficient and have a significantly smaller operating loss.
You can buy the right compressor the first time or keep swearing at and/or replacing the smaller units. Pay me now, or pay me twice as much later.

Suggestion: Use as large a supply line as you can keeping it as short and straight as possible between the pump and the blast pot. A 3/4" hard line with no more than 2 90* bends and a 3/8" flex line no longer than 15' and as straight as possible should be the minimum specs.
The Sam's club in Durham has an 80 gal 2 stage shop compressor for about 700.00 that looks to have good specs.

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SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.