DIY Silent Compressor for an idiot. ??

[Compleks]

Hey peeps.
I am in need of silencing my air compressor, as I am moving to a shared studio space and don't want to annoy everyone.

I have read various guides, watched videos, and read all of the threads here. Just when I think it makes sense, someone mentions check valves, unloading valves, horsepower, CFM, wattage etc etc… and I'm confused again.
I do not understand anything electrical/mechanical.

This is my current compressor:
ec3d59e2-ded6-4a40-b7c5-4b33a80b2a73.jpg

It works well, but is very noisy!

I do some larger scale works, so I do use a fair bit of air sometimes. Fairly quickly as well at times.
Any decent size/quality silent air compressor is ridiculously expensive here in Australia (as far as I have found anyway).


From my understanding, this should be as simple as removing the current motor/compressor and replacing it with a fridge motor/compressor. Right?
So all I should have to do is find a way to mount the new motor and connect the wires so it has power?
The pressure switch from the existing setup should still do it's job?


I just spoke to a fridge repairman as I'm trying to track down a motor. He understood what I was planning, but wanted to know what sort of motor I would need.?
How many horsepower/watts and other things I don't understand.

This is a 24lt tank I'm trying to fill, and I do use the air probably quicker than most people at times.
He said the motor would basically need to run 50/50 on/off to allow sufficient cooling and avoid the unit overheating.

Can someone please help me out. I am not smart, so if you can dumb it down that would be great

Thanks everyone.

 

[wmlepage]

You are correct. Un plumb and un wire the existing compressor. Then just put a fridge compressor in its place. Plumb it, wire it, and done. Just make sure to get the starting capacitor with the fridge compressor or it won't run right.


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[WhiteKnight]

Just did exactly that today,used an old freezer compressor. It's like Wayne said rewire and re-plumb, I added an oil and water separator for dryer air. Here is a photo



The motor that was on there was almost identical to the one in your photo

 

[WhiteKnight]

Oh, forgot to say refrigerator motors even though they can give high pressure they do not push a lot of air so if you need a lot of cfm(cubic feet per minutes) maybe it's cubic meters per second in Australia, it might be better to put two refrigerator motors, if you use more air than the compressor can deliver you will have to stop to let it catch up

Maybe ask the repairman for a motor that could fill your 25 liter tank in two minutes or less would be about right to not heat up. I'm lucky I have a 30 liter tank, and it takes around 4 minutes to fill but the compressor stays cool (not all refrigerator motor generate the same amount of heat ), and with that much air I can almost paint all evening.

Hope it helps

 

[RebelAir]

Um I say this on every silent compressor or home build, but you beat me too it..No, idiots should not do this LOL..

Unless you have some kind of mechanical common sense I would suggest an easier way would be build a slilencer box..Basically just a big box with soundproofing material within, they can be built cheap and even idiots can build a box although you may have sore fingers if you cant swing a hammer LOL..

Do something wrong with the box the worst that will happen is it may vibrate apart..

Do something wrong with the compressor it may blow you apart...

Follow a good guide and you may be alright, but in that essence you are trusting the author with your well being..And personally I won't do that unless I know the qualifications of that person who wrote it..GL with whatever you go with...

 

[Immortal Concepts]

Well the worst that could happen with the box is fall apart isn't exactly true . You have to ventilate it or the compressor will overheat very quickly and could catch on fire, catch box on fire and yeah . With my luck lately it would burn the whole house down

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[WhiteKnight]

Do something wrong with the compressor it may blow you apart...

If he is only replacing the motor on an existing compressor, there is not a lot that can go wrong, commercial compressors are all equipped with safety valves that will kick open if the pressure becomes too much, before anything explodes.

 

[Immortal Concepts]

But explosions are fun!

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[WhiteKnight]

But explosions are fun!

I guess that would depend on how far you are from it LOL

 

[RebelAir]

Well the worst that could happen with the box is fall apart isn't exactly true . You have to ventilate it or the compressor will overheat very quickly and could catch on fire, catch box on fire and yeah . With my luck lately it would burn the whole house down

Nope LOL..This idiot did exactly that, even sat the compressor on an old pillow and surrounded it with flamable foam..(It did avoid a punch on with my neighbour) and never overheated to that point but yer I did keep an eye on it and eventuallt ventilated it better..Was just suggesting an alternative that does work well for quieting down compressors which is low cost and no mechanical apptitude is needed.. LOL

I am a fitter and turner by trade so have pulled down the odd compressor for rebuilds..and yes I have seen those that actually know what they're doing make simple mistakes that nearly blew up a refinery all due to a check valve and not paying attention..But the thread says "For an Idiot" and no idiots (And I am one across many diciplines) shld not tempt fate LOL..I know its not a hugely difficult thing to swap out the motor, thats not to say an idiot will get it right though LOL..Either way, GL m8 and don't cut the red wire LOL

 

[Compleks]

Alright, sorry for the delay I have been busy!

Just moved into a new shared studio space. So I had to cut out the compressor noise.

I picked up a 1/4hp fridge motor from a repair shop, cost me $60.
Probably could have found one cheaper, but I was tired of searching.

The conversion was pretty straight forward. Remove the old motor, re-wire the new one and re connect the air line.
I used some high pressure hose and a few clamps.

I have lowered the cut off pressure to 90psi on the cut off valve. The tank now takes about 6-7 minutes to fill (to 90psi).
The compressor kicks back in at about 60psi. I would like to lower this a bit, but couldn't figure out how.

With this setup I get about 3 minutes of constant air, spraying at 30psi, before the motor kicks back in.
It then takes about 2 minutes to fill back to 90psi.

It is obviously a fair bit slower than the original motor and I'm not filling the tank as much.
I'm hoping that overheating won't be an issue, as I can use air fairly quickly with some of my work.

My next job is to build a "spray booth". Which will really just be a plastic curtain and bathroom exhaust fan.
More so for aerosols than the airbrush though.

Thanks for all the guidance.

 

[kronek67]

Alright, sorry for the delay I have been busy!

Just moved into a new shared studio space. So I had to cut out the compressor noise.

I picked up a 1/4hp fridge motor from a repair shop, cost me $60.
Probably could have found one cheaper, but I was tired of searching.

The conversion was pretty straight forward. Remove the old motor, re-wire the new one and re connect the air line.
I used some high pressure hose and a few clamps.

I have lowered the cut off pressure to 90psi on the cut off valve. The tank now takes about 6-7 minutes to fill (to 90psi).
The compressor kicks back in at about 60psi. I would like to lower this a bit, but couldn't figure out how.

With this setup I get about 3 minutes of constant air, spraying at 30psi, before the motor kicks back in.
It then takes about 2 minutes to fill back to 90psi.

It is obviously a fair bit slower than the original motor and I'm not filling the tank as much.
I'm hoping that overheating won't be an issue, as I can use air fairly quickly with some of my work.

My next job is to build a "spray booth". Which will really just be a plastic curtain and bathroom exhaust fan.
More so for aerosols than the airbrush though.

Thanks for all the guidance.

What size tank do you have?