Thanks Robotstar, I'll do that. Yes Bigbeefy my nearest store is King's Lynn and they had 3 out on display, obviously down to 1 now
Didn't know they weren't supposed to be on sale yet, thank god it wasn't a wasted journey!
Netto always seem to put their offers out on display early. If there is ever anything that takes my fancy I'll always go down to the store the day before.
The best bet would be the filt/reg/lub for your air tools and a good filter /regulator for your spray gun, if you were to go with one only go with a good filter /reg and a dedicated air line just for your gun and one line for your air tools just in case, and add oil to the tools directly before connecting them up.
Its difficult to clarify for you as you haven't told us what is the air requirement of your gun. those compressors also doesn't state what their cfm/fad is. The 2hp MM ones claim 7.8 cfm which means more likely about 5.3 fad. Remember you want it to spray LWB high roof panel vans, not just a one off mini
In your case thats the way I would go, have done it myself for years on a budget and its a PITA having to wait for the comp to catch up, masking bits off etc
Many thanks to irondarren, stormin, robotstar and eil. I've just finished rigging up my new compressors and have to say the result is awesome! I've just run my spray gun for what seemed like an eternity without the motors kicking in all the time, but when they do, the speed the regulator gets up to pressure is superb. Ran my windy gun no problem too.
Might not suit everyone but for me, this set-up is miles better than I expected.
Big thanks all round guys, superb advice!!
In an ideal world, im sure a much bigger unit would be better etc etc. If you do find yourself pushed for air on occasions, see if you can get a broken compressor for nowt. remove the pump unit and motor and keep the tank. 'wire' it up so the new compressor fills the spare tank. gives extra air reserve. In theory you can add as many tanks to the system as you have space for.
Absolutely, I'm sure it would. Unfortunately for me, budget just wouldn't stretch that far, so to get this performance for less than £150 is such a bonus! I spent ages looking for bigger second hand units, but found that prices were starting at £250 for the more tired looking items.
Will definately keep my eye open for a 'broken' unit though, extra capacity for nowt can't hurt. Cheers for the help, really happy with the result so far!
OMG! Bigbeefy, don't do this on just my say so, I would hate for you to go ahead and buy all this gear and find out it doesn't work for you, even though it does for me! The way I look at it is, there is no way I'm ever going to be able to afford the thick end of a grand to get kit decent enough to spray large areas and run air tools with ease, won't even be able to afford it second hand, I've spent ages trying!! This to me is a brilliant compromise -
4hp of power, which you won't get unless you go 3 phase, and 100 litres of receiver, possibly not enough but like irondarren says a dead compressor can be bought cheaply or even free later on to add capacity.
Anyway here is my new set-up.
I removed the bung in the end of each cylinder and attached a male 1/2" thread quick release coupling to each, ran airline hose from both compressors to a 'Y' adapter and a single airline from this to the inlet base port of a Clarke filter/regulator. As this had a 1/2" male thread I used a female compression coupling attached to a short length of copper pipe, then another female compression coupling with a reducing bush 1/2" - 1/4" inserted into it to attach my hose. The filter/regulator I chose has 2 outlet ports, the one on the right goes into a seperate clarke lubricator, the airline exiting this is to feed my air tools. The outlet on the left of the filter/regulator goes direct to my spray gun. I bought another airline just for this as stormin suggested to keep it free of oil.
That's about it, let me know what you think. If I've messed up in any way, constructive criticism is most welcome
hi thats an interesting set up you have there , the filter /reg the bottom connection should be the drain , the water collects in the bowl .
The two side connection should in inlet and outlet there should be an arrow showing the direction of flow ....
well that is unless you have a very strange filter /reg
Let me add a little extra info to the set up lol. Almost all compressors have a red button on a small black box. Its a push pull switch which is your on off. Now bear in mind a motor can draw over 3 times its run power at start. So i think your little beasts are 2 hp which is around 1500watts. 3 x 1500watts is 4500watts or 4.5kw. now 4.5kw x 2 compressors is 9kw draw if both compressors start at the same time. Admittedly this is only for a second or so, but it can offten be enough to trip the fuse on a garage supply.
I said about the black box with the red button, well if you take the cover off you should find some electrics and a large spring with a bolt head on it. This is the pressure switch, the one that tells the compressor when to stop and when to restart, based on the pressure in the tank. give the bolt a slight turn (i cant remember which way), this will make the compressor turn off with a higher or lower tank pressure than before.
on one compressor only you need to lower the pressure switch on. so if they are set at switch off 125psi, switch on might be 90 psi, lower one compressor so switch on pressure is around say 80 (it varies from compressor to compressor as to what there working pressures are).
If you can get the set up right, you should be able to switch on both compressors let them fill to capacity, one will switch off a few seconds before the other. Then when you drain down the air with you heaviest air useage tool one compressor will fire and about 5 seconds later the second one will fire.
Now if you are using light air consumption say a pop rivet gun, its unlikely the second compressor will actually fire up. If those compressors give around 6cfm and you are draining on 4cfm, the second unit will never start, because the first one will always be able to produce more air than your using.
A word of warning (if i dont say it i am sure Malcolm will). Do not increase the shut off pressure only lower it. The temptation now i have told people how to mess with the shut off pressure is to attempt to make there compressor switch off later so as to effectively gain more air volume. Dont do it, those tanks have a maximum pressure rating and it should never be exceeded, or it may exploded. Switch off the compressor via the mains when adjusting or you risk electric shock. Dont do it if you do not understand what i have written and the safety risks involved.
That should be malcolm and the forum covered for liability for when some bright spark has the idea of turning there compressor up to 300psi.
Thanks Mikey, eil is right, the drain nut and hole is round the back so you can't see it.
I have done as irondarren says, reduced the pressure on one compressor rather than increase it. Only thing is, I think I've slightly overdone it, I was blasting away with my impact wrench tonight and the second compressor took ages to fire up, I really don't think one compressor would keep up with an impact wrench would it?