Air Compressor CFM

[OldSkull]

Originally Posted by dodge trucker

I have a 5hp 80 gallon upright made by Emglo. 1987 model. I bought it out of the local classifieds, remember those? 2 stage 4 cylinder pump, 220 single phase. Rated for something like 19 CFM at 175 psi. I did rebuild it a year and a half ago, had a bad valve in one of the heads. Did new rings gaskets and all of the valves. Not quite the same as when I 1st got it but way better than running it when it had the stuck valve.... Still puts out the volume ok, but it seems like recovery was a little faster before the valve issue I had.... Tons better than while that issue was happening. Best$500 I ever spent, rebuild many years later cost me about 1/3 of what I bought it for.

As a backup I have a single stage Emglo with a 5hp Briggs for power.

I have the same Emglo "Y series" V4 pump producing 21.7cfm@ 125psi with a 5Hp motor ( Baldor L1410T), that's one of the best brand of pump out there they still sale them under the name Jenny now, my pump need a rebuild and the only place I found who carry parts is ACP if you have a better place let me know, Here a direct link: https://aircompressorpartsonline.com...&slave_id=3256

Originally Posted by DeltaCub

You should plenty of CFM's with that monster. However, a 5 hp motor, single phase....Yikes! Your electric bill must be astronomical.

All residential compressor are powered by single phase 120 or 230V, 3 phases power source his only available for commercial and industrial customers so all 5hp 220V residential compressor use around 20A from both line unless you have one of those overrated Chinese motor, I even seen one rated 7.5hp of "Peak" power.

[DeltaCub]

"All residential compressor are powered by single phase 120 or 230V, 3 phases power source is only available for commercial and industrial customers"

No, not necessarily...my late sister was an industrial electrician and had 3 phase brought into her house. One of the items she ran was a heat pump/air conditioner with it.

[twoton]

I got 3 phase at my place...

[OldSkull]

Originally Posted by DeltaCub

"All residential compressor are powered by single phase 120 or 230V, 3 phases power source is only available for commercial and industrial customers"

No, not necessarily...my late sister was an industrial electrician and had 3 phase brought into her house. One of the items she ran was a heat pump/air conditioner with it.

Both of my friends (first one Aurora Illinois, second one Columbus, Ohio) can't get 3 phases, maybe the part of America your sister lives have different requirements, here I can't unless I open a business and the cost to get it is like you said "Astromical"

Originally Posted by twoton

I got 3 phase at my place...

I knew someone may come with this exemple ( Rotophase or VFD) I have build and use few of them to power 3 phases lathe and milling but not welder or compressor and in the end the efficiency is so low you use more power. AKA $$$ electric bills. It's a good "Plan B".

[twoton]

Originally Posted by OldSkull

....and in the end the efficiency is so low you use more power. AKA $$$ electric bills....

You are right there Gilles. It's always a tradeoff. Around here you can pick up 3 phase equipment at scrap value as there is little to no market for it. So, for a piece of equipment that is not often used, the occasional, additional power consumption may have already been saved by the low initial investment.

[Oak]

I'm in the planning stages of building a new shop and I talked to my electrical company about 3 phase power. They said they could run it but I would need to pay around $1500 for the initial install and there would be an additional service charge every month to have it. I didn't check how much the monthly fee is yet because I'm not sure if it is worth paying the added fee upfront. They said there would be no charge to run a single phase service but I need to run the pipe with a pull string.

We use a lot of VFD's at work and the cost has come down so much on them that they are like TV's now. When they fail you toss them out and replace with new. I'm not sure how well they would work on a air compressor unless you wanted it for a soft start. I think for a lathe or similar it would work well + you can single phase a vfd to get 3 phase but you need to derate it around 40%.

I worked at Emglo back in the 80's and they build a fine compressor. They are Jenny now.

[dodge trucker]

Originally Posted by OldSkull

I have the same Emglo "Y series" V4 pump producing 21.7cfm@ 125psi with a 5Hp motor ( Baldor L1410T), that's one of the best brand of pump out there they still sale them under the name Jenny now, my pump need a rebuild and the only place I found who carry parts is ACP if you have a better place let me know, Here a direct link: https://aircompressorpartsonline.com...&slave_id=3256

Yeah, Emglo/Jenny has several different versions of the V4 pumps,some are even single stage.... almost bought one brand new from Craigslist when mine 1st started giving me trouble, until I saw it was single stage. (that was "just" the compressor pump itself) but for the price it still wouldn't have been that bad of a buy and probably would have been "enough" air for 90% of what I do...
but I have noticed in their catalogs that they ran the same pump as I have with anywhere from a 3hp to a 7.5hp motor, plus you could get a gas engine powered compressor with (I forget the exact number) alot more HP than the 5 that mine has.... I think the one I saw had either 11 or 12hp Kohler.

I used to have it outside in my shed next to the garage before I built my detached garage on the opposite side of the house, I had run the 220 from the attached garage which is ~6' from the shed and piped the air back into the old garage.... for a couple of years I ran an air hose across the front yard into the detached garage whenever I needed air over there, until I got the compressor moved over to the new garage.
My son and I have talked about building what would look like an "outhouse" right behind the new garage with like a 42"X42" concrete pad just to house the compressor.... put louvers on it for cooling and air intake. but only 1000 other things I gotta do before I get to that one. Also on that list is an air cooler/water separator.
My new garage is on the opposite side of the house than where wanted it but due to zoning and "setback from property lines" that was the only place the county would let me build it/issue a building permit. (I live on a corner lot)

It was nice having it in the shed when I was working out of the attached garage for noise and space considerations, and it had clean air for the intake instead of taking in dust that I created by my work...

It was weird, as when I had my shed doors open, and was out at the furthest point in my yard away from it, when my compressor would run,and my neighbor 2 doors behind me also had his aluminum block 2 cyl 2 stage Campbell Housefield compressor running, I could hear his over mine...
as fara s parts I have a local guy that handles all sorts of commercial garage equipment that treated me pretty good/ until he retired, haven't needed much since the new guy started working there, still have to see if he's "as good as"the guy I knew, or not. I have also bought such parts from Ebay before.

[OldSkull]

Originally Posted by Oak

I'm in the planning stages of building a new shop and I talked to my electrical company about 3 phase power. They said they could run it but I would need to pay around $1500 for the initial install and there would be an additional service charge every month to have it. I didn't check how much the monthly fee is yet because I'm not sure if it is worth paying the added fee upfront. They said there would be no charge to run a single phase service but I need to run the pipe with a pull string.

We use a lot of VFD's at work and the cost has come down so much on them that they are like TV's now. When they fail you toss them out and replace with new. I'm not sure how well they would work on a air compressor unless you wanted it for a soft start. I think for a lathe or similar it would work well + you can single phase a vfd to get 3 phase but you need to derate it around 40%.

I worked at Emglo back in the 80's and they build a fine compressor. They are Jenny now.

Your right Todd, my Logan lathe was powered by a 3 phases 1hp 550V, I swap a 3 phases 230V 1.5hp Teco motor powered by a Teco FM50 2hp rated VFD to compensate for the loss of power.
To power a compressor or welder you need a rotophase (Rotary phase converter), They are easy to build but pretty noisy, you constantly ear that 3 phases motor spinning all day long so you need it has far from your working space as possible.

[DieselDoctor]

I just retired from a large electric and gas utility in upstate NY. Here in our community, 3ph power is not available everywhere just by design of the distribution system. Main trunk lines are 3 ph, residential and rural distribution are single phase. Where available, 3ph power is only available to a commercial account (non-residential) and yes there is a monthly premium on top of the normal usage bill.

[dodge trucker]

On another note, even though I now have to listen to the compressor banging away, having moved it into the garage, I miss say that it gets drained much more often than it did when it was hooked up in the back of the shed with mowers and bikes in front of it....