There seams to be a bit of a riot going on in the comments so please allow me to clear a couple of points up. The system is protected by the pressure safety valve on the compressor itself. The pressure in the aux tank can not exceed the pressure delivered by the compressor so the existing safety valve is sufficient. As a secondary point the pressure rating on the aux tank exceeds that of the tank fitted to the compressor itself. It isn't going to go pop. Aux Tank Test Pressure 350PSI - Max operating pressure 150PSI. Obviously different tanks have different ratings depending on their application and where you are in the world. But this is the one I used. The pipe work is also rated at significantly higher working pressure than the system will ever operate at. 15 mm copper pipe here has a burst pressure rating at over 600PSI in its annealed state. (higher in the as drawn state) Please consider when stating 'codes and rules' that RUclips is an international forum. The rules where you are in the world are not global and may not apply in other areas of the world. Governing bodies and regulators are different all over the globe. It would be great if we all had one set of rules but that simply is not the case. I hope this clears up a few concerns I am seeing in the comments and reduces the amount of unpleasant responses I am reading to people who are at the end of the day, just asking a question. Lets try to be nice to each other shall we. All the best.
My understanding of our regulations is that there is a requirement for a gauge and PRV to be fitted to tanks that are manufactured for sale and tanks that are used for commercial purposes. In the case of the former the responsibility for compliance falls on the tank manufacturer. In the latter, the employer. As this system is manufactured for my own personal use in my private personal workshop then it falls outside of the scope of the regulations. The idea of the regulations here is to prevent a 3rd party from getting injured. IE someone who buys a tank that is not fir for purpose or an employee using unsuitable equipment provided to them by their employer at their place of work. As I am neither selling a product nor employing staff that use this equipment (it is just for my personal use) Then the rules don't apply. Hope that helps to clear up any confusion. Thanks for the question and thanks for watching.
this isn't always about pressure, but feed. if you have a big building, you can put a buffer tank far away from the compressor, and you're getting nominal power without the lag of having to wait for air to travel that far, and compensate for line loss. this is how underground mines work their air drills for example.
I have a compressor that needs a new tank and I came up with the same idea of flipping an LP tank over for drainage and affixing legs to the non-pressurized bumpers, it's great to see that someone already has proved the concept. Good idea modifying the original LP valve, I was thinking modifying a plug, but the valve is "free" with the tank and already has the right thread.
I've been using an old gas bottle as a second tank for about 15 years now, no issues, no problems... however I would state that's good advice about having it up side down to self regulate water intake, mine was on its side for a couple of years and built up a fair amount of H2O inside, even though I would drain the main tank weekly. Now my aux tank is upside down and no problems, I use a 47kg Calor bottle.
I saw this build of yours a few years ago. Now when searching about adding extra tanks I can definitely say this is one of the best build in my opinion. I really like that you put it upside down and mostly that you didn’t grind or welded around the pressure vessel. No extra heating that caused the metal of the pressure vessel to change its original hardness.
I've got a 150ltr comperssor that is great for most jobs around the shop, with the exeption of my sandblasting cabinet, which is air hungry. I've been looking at the auxiliary tank option for some time and this would seem like a great solution. I've been in the fabrication game a long time and see no safety concerns with this design, in fact it's slightly over engineered. Thanks for the upload, I will be stealing most of the design features for my own tank.
See my other comment. With a blaster you need a dam sight more air than a piston can put out Unless its a three phase on a big 500/1000 ltr tank. The blast cab should tell you what CFM is needed to work this should also be on the compressor
Sandblasting uses a lot of air, between 15-25 SCFM. Just getting a second tank you might be blasting for say 20 seconds, then waiting for over a minute for the tanks to fill again. You'd be better off getting a second air compressor. Build your setup to both compressors run at the same time feeding the shop air lines, then you have the advantage of higher SCFM and more storage. Standard shop compressors are in the 3-5 SCFM range. Large home shop compressors are 9-15 SCFM.
People underestimate how much better a compressed air system can be with additional tanks. Awesome thing is, they can be put anywhere. In the ceiling, out back, in a crawl space, anywhere and as many as you like.
The extra volume is nice for the greedy tools (grinders, sanders, sand blasters, paint sprayers) but you have to figure that although the compressor now runs less / fewer times, it has to run twice as long to fill BOTH tanks. I like the shut off valve for the storage tank / accumulator so you can isolate it from the system when not required.
Yes, however I have seen done something similar using a MASSIVE tank and a little pancake compressor… by massive it was somewhere around 250 gallon…. That pancake could run for days to fill that tank (there was a specific use case here, where it was legitimately used once every 2 weeks). What they did is set it up with a one way valve out of the massive tank and a VERY restricted inlet (with another one way valve). It would SLOWLY fill the tank allowing the compressor to cycle on for 5, off for 5. The compressor eventually did die, but they still didn’t get a big compressor… they just got a 2 gallon compressor! The savings of a small compressor vs a big one needed is insane (the tank dumps its entire load of compressed air in ~4 minutes… it has a big pipe coming out to power one piece of equipment that’s sole purpose is resetting another after it has had a wear part replaced). Was fun to see it and talk with them. Again a very niche use case, but it worked for what is needed. I personally have 2 30lb propane tanks hooked up at home. Here it is just 3/4 NPT, so just a few fittings needed. I use them for a few hungry air tools that has probably left my compressor near dead now.
Nice! I've been wondering about using an LPG tank as an aux tank for a while now. We get fleeced for purpose made aux tanks here, so this should be a much more cost effective option, thanks for verifying!
If you blunt the cutting edge on the drill bit it avoids snatching when drilling brass and similar materials. I was taught that thirty plus years ago in a machine shop. Great video 👌
The key is not to blunt them, but to "brass them off" - add a small grind along to the cutting edge parallel to the axis of the drill. The problem is that the drill's spiral flutes create a positive rake cutting geometry that tries to "dig in", and brassing off the drill effectively makes the flutes straight just at the tip.
My shop is a little small for the amount of tools, so I put a 100lb propane tank in my attic 30 years ago. Was nice having that extra volume when I was using 3/4" impacts.
Thanks, we all call them solder ring fittings in the UK not sure what they are known as in the rest of the world. They are very handy and don't require as much skill to do a good job.
I'm over 90. I will share one my observations from over the years. Whenever somebody works above the capacity of others with limited capacity. The haters emerge.
@@710Craig Being an ASME certified welder don't mean anything.All that means is that your welds comply with their codes and standards for a particular test and procedure.Engineers determine the test,not the welders.
Not if they bring proof to the table I don't trust these old tank without an hydro pressure test its like living next to a pin out grenade painting the outside shiny blue won't protect you from its bottom inners now only 1/8 inches thick due to rust ! ruclips.net/video/sm_FJ6Pat4I/видео.html&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR3z_ji_bh9fZkMdMj9b-5gsL4Csvu20Ppe9Bvt9d4V2iq89-QM54koC0mU
Spot on with inverting the tank. Viewed 1,000,000 of these RUclips and you win the unique award. I am in the middle of my project and it involves a 100 lb propane tank. I am using the "ole refrigerator compressor". think I will re-think the design incorporating your idea and inverting he tank .... thought I'd give you the credit. Oh and great video. Will be borrowing the term "piddly".
This is similar to a build I have wanted to do for a while. Tanks for CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) for vehicles are typically rated for 5,000 psi (340 bar) and actually filled to 3,600 psi (250 bar), and their certifications (in the US, at least), expire after 10 or 15 years, so there are quite a few very high pressure tanks coming available as they age out. They're large, often composite, and even the steel ones are typically epoxy coated on the inside, so little bits of moisture shouldn't cause problems. (You still need to drain your tanks, people).
Great vid. Did something similar about with an old gas bottle about 10 years ago, minus the complex water separation pipes. But I just put a simple lever valve on the end of the bottle to drain the water build up and installed an old compressor regulator for air flow control. This was handy on our farm for inflating tractor, combine and trailer tyres in the fields so we didn't have to bring them back to the yard. Just charged the tank up and put it in the back of the Landy. Found electric pumps took forever and just didn't have the sudden blast of air to inflate big tyres. Its still going today and as you said the gas tank has a waaaay higher PSI rating than the compressor so never got near to maxing it out.
For a while now I am contemplating of adding buffer tanks to various places in the house to have good compressed air everywhere I need it... someone invited me to see their solution to that problem, and for the cases where you have the space and material, their idea is genious. They got some really big pipes for it, maybe 100mm in diameter or thereabouts, and they use it for routing the compressed air through the workshop etc. and in the end he has some 250 liters of compressed air in it, with the added advantage of not losing pressure through long runs of thin hoses.
Never seen a 2 head direct drive compressor lol and nice work wish my stuff looked so good :) The real world problem is when your compressor can't put enough air out to keep the tanks fill. Keep up the great work
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it. It had a good test today running the plasma cutter for a while this afternoon. Worked really well, compressor was fine as well. Happy days. Thanks for the support.
Having a extra tank doubles the load on the compressor. It’s only worth it if you have the compressor far away from the machine you use and you require a high cfm. Not worth doing so.
Brilliant video & well explained to detail . I have a spare 88 litre / 45 kg gas bottle I've been wanting to use for the same purpose . Would be great if end of video had a parts list , listing pipe grade ...& size , compression fittings types , gate Valve type , flux used & thread sizes etc . Great video mate & thank you .
Personally I think it was a great idea and well done. I have used a LPG tank (propane) for other purposes (a boiler tank for steaming wood so pressure was not a concern) and found threads (USA) in the tank inlet/outlet were standard pipe threads. I never thought of inverting the tank and a separate condensate collector, I think that is genius, and wish there was some way to incorporate that into my horizonal compressors. The only change I, repeat I, would make is a 30 degree slope from the tank to the condensate tube for better drainage and that could be wrong also. As far as codes, my community differs greatly from another on the opposite side of my county so suggest a idea or opinion, not order it. Maybe my codes are better, maybe not, but they are what have to live with.
I've done this with a 50 gallon retired propane tank. I like what you've done with the copper pipes! I wasn't as fancy, as I used plain old iron pipe lying around along with flex hose. I will have to mount it upside down like yours someday. Ignore the keyboard warriors. They don't understand physics well enough to understand that this perfectly safe. Air tanks don't just "blow up"... they discharge rapidly.
Well this certainly answered cleared up my thoughts on using an extra tank at my place. Also i have seen people use oil coolers plumbed in before water trap. Ive opted for the simpler method of running 20 meters of hose along full length of garage and into a water butt before my water trap. I need it this way for spraying my car.
@@Handmadeextreme Rob aka Xynudu made a nice drier that takes up almost no floor space, rather it runs up the wall and back down. Go to his channel "xynudu" and look for the video titled "Make a compressed air drier from junk water pipe". You could probably stick it on the wall in the space between your compressor and new aux tank.
I like your quality of work, wish there were more guys around with your eye for detail and patience to work with. I install and build machines for the manufacturing Industry...we could use people like you.
Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hope that my videos help to inspire people to go and make things as we have a real shortage of grafters in this day and age.
That was brilliant, thanks. Really enjoyed the build and explanation. I need to do something similar as my compressor is loud. I use air tools a fair bit so it's often kicking in. Thanks for posting, hope you are well.
Cheers Carl. Thanks for the continued support. We are doing well here thanks, things slowly getting back to normal. Got some actual work coming in at last. Hope you are well. Glad you enjoyed the video.
Have you ever thought about perhaps putting your compressor outside in a covered cage? This reduces the noise in the shop considerably and also gives higher safety since the compressor is in a cage and opens space indoors for a milling machine perhaps? In my setup I have a horizontal 200l 3hp air compressor and will be adding an auxiliary tank soon, so because my compressor is outside it's just a quick job without worrying about space.
Neat. My Dad built himself a compressor using a unit from an old Bedford truck, a 1/2 hp electric motor and a propane tank on its side. Because it fit under the lathe. He tipped it down towards the valve and fed it from there with a bleed valve from the shoulder (lowest point) brazed in. Ran it at 100PSI with an auto shut off. Has worked a treat for 20 years.
Very well put together video 🍻 fellow Brit too, good to see. You deserve far more subscribers than you have. Count me in. I'm an engineer (marine engineer, so deal with HP air often 300bar+) and I was nodding along to this, my first thought was about moisture/condensation and you addressed that. One thing that would be an improvement is a cross fitting on the bottle top and an added relief valve. But then again in a personal setup it's not really needed as you know the system :) Have a good one.
Exactly what I wanted to see thanks! Just built a CNC plasma machine and now I’ve solved the noise and earth problems, air is the next issue! A 40L tank does t cut it (ahem) so need lots more capacity. A friend has just donated a 70L car lpg tank so that will do nicely. Thank you!
Great project. I built my own 2 stage compressor from bits and pieces (new pump and motor, all else used) 35 years ago. I hung 3 100# (US) bottles upside down on the wall. Connected with salvaged hose from work and added a relief valve at the bottles for safety. I run at 160 psi and has served me well with nary a problem.
That homemade two stage compressor is such a good idea! Right now I just bought a few used compressors and connected the air hoses together with a manifold. Once I get my shop in a permanent shape, definitely going to keep this idea in mind! Should just have to get beefy tanks and regulators and should be able to keep pressures of 200psi+.
@@wozzlebaby5313 Just an FYI, a 2 stage compressor does not have anything to do with storage volume, it has to do with a primary stage of air pressure/volume being supplied to a second round of compression and with that more volume of compressed air, this can be repeated as many times (stages) as you choose either by adding subsequent progressive changes in cylinder volume by adding cylinders to a common crankshaft or by adding separate compressors. ruclips.net/video/yLWzBuk5lRs/видео.html
I just "inherited" a system using a large propane tank but the previous "builder" made it the other way up with the condensation filling the tank. I have dismantled it all last night and I am copying your far safer and more practical solution.
Thank you. You are correct about the PRV. The way I use the system with the two tanks linked if there is an over pressure situation the PRV in the main compressor will vent any excess from both tanks. Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the support.
@@nigeleharis5886 Sure you can do whatever you want for yourself. Years ago, I built something similar and included a PRV as auxiliary air tanks, that I'd studied at the time, had one and, anyway, I felt safer with a, tank specific, pneumatic fuse.
Interesting video as this is exactly what I need to do, however I have question about turning the tank upside so the water/condensation can drain out. With all the different propane and butane tanks I have (calor, flogas, BP etc) they all have quite a deep lip on the inside of the tank where the gas valve thread is, so its a natural liquid collection point when turned upside down, so are you not just creating a water reservoir in your tank to constantly keep moisture in your air system? Would it not be better to drill into the bottom and weld a nut or pipe fixing on for your drain and raise the tank off the floor for clearance? I didn't realise there was such a lip on them until I purged them with water as you did, then it's a right bitch to dry them out, ive tried heating them up, that gets rid of alot but all the steam condenses on the inside and just when you think it's dry you find another pool of water in the bottom which isn't a problem when cutting them open but not the case when using them as you have.
Glad to see you gave a good explanation of purging the old propane cylinder. I’ve seen too many videos of people using old propane cylinders for projects that include cutting them open and they quite often don’t mention anything about the need to purge the cylinder.
To purge the tank of air you can flip it upside down and use your compressor and a blowpipe to clear out the propane. Or let it sit open for a week. If you ever want complete unrestricted flow without trying to rebuild the old brass valve, you can use a 3/4mpt nipple with a standard 3/4 ball valve. I have used a few of these from time to time.
A compressor pump , motor and tank are matched for optimum performance. If you add a bigger tank you really need a bigger compressor pump .Yes you will have more volume of air from full to empty but if you are using air tools the compressor will run longer to fill and switch off if at all.
It depends on your use case so it cannot be optimized for everything. If you are using tools that require a lot of air but not for that long like opening big bolts, smaller compressor and extra tank is just fine. If you are using a lot of air for long time, like when sand blasting, then you need big compressor you might not even need a lot tank capacity. Also big tank also cools the air quite well. For example when painting big tank is nice as it keeps the pressure steady and output airflow is cool. So it really depends on what you are usually doing.
Nah, you'll see the same compressor on various sizes tanks, with the specs saying the time difference to fill. The longer rest cycle that the bigger tank allows outweighs the on cycle needed to fill it. Everything is a trade off, but unless he's emptying the bigger tank every day, you won't see a big change in the compressors life span.
That’s exactly point, as I was thinking, too. Installing tanks upside is a no brainer - I got 2 tanks probably 100-150l. That should make a really nice reserve; did not get to fabricate the frame yet. Well done.
This reminds me ... Some years ago, when they were building the new opera house here in Oslo, I got a look around the place with an engineer who worked there. They used compressed air to move the HUGE rotating stage, sliding stages and other mobile set pieces (right word ?) -- because air was quiet, was the explanation. To get enough volume they had an array of bigly big repurposed gas tanks. There ain't arf been some clever bastards.
Enjoyed the video and see there has as always been discussions about pressure ratings and operating pressures and various codes etc. yes in an industrial application you would at the design stage have ensured the design pressures of the tank and fittings have a higher rating than your operating pressure and that you have done. However as you have modified fittings you should then basically do a strength test of your own. One thing to ensure is that the strength test is a hydro test rather than a gas test in which you would normally carry out at a pressure say 10% higher than the operating pressure but within the design pressure of the lowest rated component. I will not bore you with the details of hydro testing but worth noting is once this has been done if you need to uncouple fittings at a later stage you only have to carry out just an operational leak check. Another consideration is that in fitting a safety relief valve you carry out testing to see that it functions as intended and one should be used that can release more air than the rated volumetric output than your compressor. The relief valve must always be fitted in a manner that it can never be isolated from the pressure vessel. Without boring people further with my comments of industrial practices the one thing I would like people to take away is please if you are designing your own air pressure systems especially using recycled components is never make your first test a gas test always carry out a hydro test it is far safer as gas free water is basically non compressible and will not store the energy of a pressure test and it is far easier to detect an issue. Trust me once you have seen and heard your first failure of a gas component at high pressure you may need a change of underwear or in my case my colleague standing next to me got such a fright it sorted his sore back but that’s another story.
Given that you mentioned in one reply about having and using a plasma cutter you might want to look at installing a micro pore paper air filter to get the air really dry for the plasma cutter to use. The standard air regulator/filter Does Not filter enough condensed moisture out of the system for a plasma cutter and failing to dry the air sufficiently will lead to increased premature wear of the plasma torch consumables. The major brands of plasma cutters will have detailed information about this on their websites.
Thanks for sharing, & did an excellent job. I just believe that you have had preformed more work than necessary... If you had utilized a (used) water heater, could have the same results without special parts & tooling.
Great idea and I like the design. I wouldn’t have wasted my time with the LP valve body as a pipe elbow would have had less resistance and it would have saved time. You wouldn’t have needed to modify the old regulator assembly either. Sometimes spending a little can save a lot of time. The upside down tank design is perfect as well as the plumbing. I think I’ll search for a good tank to try this one myself!
Its not really any different for compressor, than using some air tool that uses air for longer time, like when sanding or sand blasting something. If you use some tool at 7 bars for an hour or let the bigger tank to fill up to 8 bars it is a lot less stress just to fill the tank.
Nice job. My dad and I did something similar, however the gas reservoir was mounted on a dolly so that we could unplug from the compressor and take the compressed air to the work without needing hundreds of feet of hose.
My only critique is the use of copper plumbing. Eventually you'll get cracking because of the torsional load on the long run between the POL fitting going into the tank and the regulator (2 fixed points, and the u-bolt "racked" the run when you snugged it up). That long run should be steel pipe from valves to regulator, with a flexible section from POL fitting to the valve (nylon, gas line, vinyl reinforced, etc). Longevity of your existing assembly would be markedly increased by replacing the solid POL to valve run with flexible, thus removing existing torsional stress (single fixed point, at the regulator), and allowing thermal "creep" of the assembly without added stresses.
The trick to drilling bronze or brass matrical is to grind 90 degree flats at the drill bits cutting edges. You only need a small amount like a 1/32 inch flats or less. Works perfect. Nice work fella too.
If anyone is considering using plastic pipe make sure it's safe to use with compressed air. Some plastics become brittle and can burst projecting shards of sharp plastic into the air.
Use high speed steel spiral point taps and you can tap all day with a drill. Dont use cheap carbon steel hand taps, there is a better chance you'll snap those.
I find it's fine using a normal hand tap as long as you engage the jaws of the drill chuck on the round shank rather than the square drive, that way if it bites it just slips in the chuck rather than breaking the tap. That being said i have broken some taps 😁.
Love your new air tank. Very good idea. i made myself a portable air tank from a 7 gallon propane tank used from RV's it was over 10 years old but in lovely shape and i just fill it at mechanic shops with dry air at 150psi. For me it works for 4 months just filling up bike tires and topping up truck tires once every two months. I do have a 100 lb propane tank which is about 2x as big as yours and that one i would like to make a stationary tank so i can dust of my work bench maybe. I have 5 lb 11lb and 20lb propane tanks that i will make more portable tanks out of.
You should not have retained the valve body. Those left-hand threads are there to prevent accidental interconnection of fuel and other gases, and you now have a compressed-air system with fuel-gas fittings.
Hey man. I'm going to give you a handy tip. Im a welder and I make a ton of wood burners from gas bottles. Don't bother filling with water, instead remove the valve and use your plasma cutter to perform a "controlled explosion". Simply aim your plasma into the hole from the valve. Press the button a couple of times to flush air into it. If there's any gas in there, it'll ignite with a big whoosh. Once this has happened, if at all, the cylinder is safe to work on. Obviously don't have your hand or face in the path of the whoosh! I've done this literally hundreds of times and saved myself a ton of water. Also, even after filling with water, you can have some flammable residue remaining which can whoosh when cutting and burn your hand, I've got a scar to prove it 😉
6:16 "The propane tank has got a slightly unusual thread on its outlet". Yeah cos they don't want you doing crap like this. 😅Just kidding, great job man. anyway, I don't have a spare propane tank handy, can I use an old milk churn instead?
Hahahaha, yep... that would be why... The nice thing about a propane tanks is that it is designed as a pressure vessel to handle pressures higher than experienced than in my compressed air system. I have no idea how strong a milk churn would be... could be very dangerous if it's not up to the job. I'd want to hydrostatically test it before using it I think. Thanks for the support. Glad you enjoyed the video.
@@Handmadeextreme Question how do you keep the compressor from running longer than normal? Maybe I missed a step. Everyone I have talked to about adding another tank. Says the compressor will run to long and burn up the electric motor.
@@benniedonald it's not really that big a deal also if it is something your concerned about you can run the compresser turn it off after a few mins and then back on. The electric motor will be more then fine running continuously to full up 3-4x the original tank size
@@Handmadeextreme the ASME designation is UM and the thin, lightweight design is the result of NO corrosion allowance. 55 years of inspecting and rating pressure vessels in USA and Europe TUV also.
Looks great. I did this same thing however I used an old 100# (US) tank and placed reducer bung,1/2X3/4, into the valve bung,with T fitting and a couple hose connect fittings. Hook hose from compressor to one side of T and hose to tool. 2nd version included a water collection pipe with drain petcock and additional port to add a second compressor to reduce recovery time. 1st unit turns on at 125 PSI, off at 150 and 2nd unit turns on at 100 PS,I off at 125. Have about 45 gallon capacity with ability to add more holding tanks as I get them.
I too used a 3/4 pipe bushing on my first tank. My second one I left the valve and used that tank as a large bubble tank for use out in the field for farm equipment.
There's a reason why the compressor tank is the size it is. Let's say it takes 5 minutes to fill, it needs to sit for 5 minutes. Some compressors use the same pump unit from 50 ltr up to 200 ltr BUT the pully on the pump and motor are different sizes. So in reality all you have done is made the compressor run longer than its designed for. Yes you have a bigger volume of air but again once the pressure drops its running longer to replace the air.
The tank needs to sit for five minutes? What? What do you mean? Receiver size should correlate to pump CFM output. To say a compressor tank needs to “sit” makes no sense. Please explain.
@@nigeleharis5886 piston compressors are designed to run at 50% duty . So 5 minutes to fill 5 minutes to sit. Lets say you're doing a job and the piston comp is Basically running all the time without sitting then its too small and will soon brake. If on the other hand what ever your doing only needs a bit of air and the thing once full will last hours or the fill time then thats OK. The 5 minutes was just an example, some will fill in in less time ,BUT whatever that time is it then needs to not run again. Single phase are the worst type for flat out running as the capacitors in the motor get to hot , the trip on the motor will keep popping out first off, then the capacitors will start to melt. The pully on the pump itself is designed in such away it acts as a fan to help the pump keep cool!!. But as I said this won't do a thing if its non stop running. If you need to run all the time then you need vane or screw compressor.
@@michaelwalker1145 you are absolutely wrong; they are meant to run at 100% duty cycle until they reach desired pressure set point. At that point, the compressor either unloads or shuts off. This is true for ALL compressors of all types, with the exception of VFD compressors which actually can run at 50%, as well as compressors (big industrial compressors) have a 0/50%/100% load option, but nothing that a little garage compressor will be capable of. If you’d like more knowledge and to fill in some gaps you may have with air compressor information, I can help you!
@@michaelwalker1145 you have not enough CFM from your pump and therefore need a bigger compressor for your air demand. People seem to think more storage will solve their problems, but don’t realize the problem is Lack of CFM How exactly do you plan to “run your machine at 50%?” You can’t. My good man I do this for a living lol. Part of my job is to correctly size compressors depending on customers intended use. You have no idea how big reciprocating compressors can be and how much air they can make. You said it yourself. Running a compressor when it is too small, it will break. Correct. The type of compressor you have is determined by your air demand.
@@michaelwalker1145 you have an elementary level education on compressors, good job. However you are incorrect about 50% duty. So let’s stop spreading inaccurate information please.
Years ago a buddy of mine had a big commercial compressor that he loved to brag about how fast it pumped up. After I drained about 60 - 70 gallons of water out of its 100-gallon tank. it wasn't so bragworthy anymore. 😋
@@deborahchesser7375 if the compressor can't keep pace with the air consumption then no matter how big the storage of air it's a pointless exercise . The cheap 3kw 14cfm generic chinese unit he's using will soon go pop keep filling the oversized tanks by having to run longer and hotter creating more condensate air at the same time .
There are still reasons to need to add a tank to a system other then low total capacity like if you add a plasma cutter or plasma table in you might need a tank next to it to deal with line lag if it is a long distance from the compressor.
If those are US 3.8 litre gallons then you have the same volume of air I have across my compressor (70l) and receiver (160l) and I concur, it's ample for almost every need, though I'd still go bigger at low cost if I could. For now, it's ample and I'm more than happy. Much better than the 70l compressor alone for various reasons.
Ideally yes haha. It was a bit of a case of having most of the bits on hand and having the machines available and the local DIY store not having one in stock haha. Made the project a bit more interesting though. Got to play with the Big blow lamp after all..
Fantastic job. that was a excellent video. Im going to save this, so if or when I need to make one I will copy yours. Also if you don't mind, give your fur baby some extra love. LOL
Is it needed as the pressure regulator and safety valve on the main compressor should cover this, as the entire system should be at the same pressure? Or am I showing my ignorance?
@@loydsa No you are right, but extra safety valves never hurt though. Never heard someone die from having too many safety valves but have heard a few people die of not having any.
@@nigeleharis5886 What would the max pressure release safety valve do if there is already 2 in the open loop between the tanks? It makes literally no difference as the only thing those safety valves do is to stop over pressurization which the auxiliary tank won't get to because of how the air flows from main tank to auxiliary. The motor is mounted on the main tank thus the only tank mechanisms that matter is the main since if the receiver fails from the auxiliary tank it still wouldn't matter because of the open loop concept.
Jeezsh, Why not simply put a proper fittings, instead of modifying originals? Also it's quite poor practice to not have over pressure valve on pressurized air containers. I'd also definitely add automatic water removal valve. That short piece of pipe doesn't hold too much water in heavy usage.
Simply because I didn't have one that was the right size. I also like to try and reuse things rather than throwing them away and replacing them. I like the idea of the automatic drain valve. I may add one at some point, great idea, thank you. There is a PRV on the main tank which will vent both tanks in the event of an over over pressure situation. Thanks for the support.
There seams to be a bit of a riot going on in the comments so please allow me to clear a couple of points up.
The system is protected by the pressure safety valve on the compressor itself. The pressure in the aux tank can not exceed the pressure delivered by the compressor so the existing safety valve is sufficient.
As a secondary point the pressure rating on the aux tank exceeds that of the tank fitted to the compressor itself. It isn't going to go pop.
Aux Tank Test Pressure 350PSI - Max operating pressure 150PSI. Obviously different tanks have different ratings depending on their application and where you are in the world. But this is the one I used.
The pipe work is also rated at significantly higher working pressure than the system will ever operate at. 15 mm copper pipe here has a burst pressure rating at over 600PSI in its annealed state. (higher in the as drawn state)
Please consider when stating 'codes and rules' that RUclips is an international forum. The rules where you are in the world are not global and may not apply in other areas of the world.
Governing bodies and regulators are different all over the globe. It would be great if we all had one set of rules but that simply is not the case.
I hope this clears up a few concerns I am seeing in the comments and reduces the amount of unpleasant responses I am reading to people who are at the end of the day, just asking a question. Lets try to be nice to each other shall we.
All the best.
Good reply. I was concerned because I have witnessed what can happen if a receiver lets go.
It's OK with me, do as you want. I wasn't trying to offend you. Take care and have a good one.
Mate, does your country’s codes state you do not need a safety valve or pressure gauge for your auxiliary tank? That’s all the information I need.
Looking forward to your reply bruv. Interested to see what the rules and codes are where you’re performing your work at! Aloha.
My understanding of our regulations is that there is a requirement for a gauge and PRV to be fitted to tanks that are manufactured for sale and tanks that are used for commercial purposes. In the case of the former the responsibility for compliance falls on the tank manufacturer. In the latter, the employer. As this system is manufactured for my own personal use in my private personal workshop then it falls outside of the scope of the regulations. The idea of the regulations here is to prevent a 3rd party from getting injured. IE someone who buys a tank that is not fir for purpose or an employee using unsuitable equipment provided to them by their employer at their place of work. As I am neither selling a product nor employing staff that use this equipment (it is just for my personal use) Then the rules don't apply.
Hope that helps to clear up any confusion. Thanks for the question and thanks for watching.
this isn't always about pressure, but feed. if you have a big building, you can put a buffer tank far away from the compressor, and you're getting nominal power without the lag of having to wait for air to travel that far, and compensate for line loss. this is how underground mines work their air drills for example.
The system you describe gives the best performance with the most simple system as practical, the concept is the same one an electric power grid uses.
EXCELLENT how-to. The fact the air comes in/goes out the bottom means there is no water accumulation. Awesome!
That's really fantastic work! I love seeing old stuff get put back to work. Nice job!
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it.
I have a compressor that needs a new tank and I came up with the same idea of flipping an LP tank over for drainage and affixing legs to the non-pressurized bumpers, it's great to see that someone already has proved the concept. Good idea modifying the original LP valve, I was thinking modifying a plug, but the valve is "free" with the tank and already has the right thread.
I've been using an old gas bottle as a second tank for about 15 years now, no issues, no problems... however I would state that's good advice about having it up side down to self regulate water intake, mine was on its side for a couple of years and built up a fair amount of H2O inside, even though I would drain the main tank weekly. Now my aux tank is upside down and no problems, I use a 47kg Calor bottle.
I saw this build of yours a few years ago. Now when searching about adding extra tanks I can definitely say this is one of the best build in my opinion. I really like that you put it upside down and mostly that you didn’t grind or welded around the pressure vessel. No extra heating that caused the metal of the pressure vessel to change its original hardness.
cool build ...I am going to add this to my ever growing list of side jobs...I have several old tanks to choose from. Thanks for sharing.
I've got a 150ltr comperssor that is great for most jobs around the shop, with the exeption of my sandblasting cabinet, which is air hungry. I've been looking at the auxiliary tank option for some time and this would seem like a great solution. I've been in the fabrication game a long time and see no safety concerns with this design, in fact it's slightly over engineered. Thanks for the upload, I will be stealing most of the design features for my own tank.
Awesome, glad you enjoyed it and good luck with your own project.
See my other comment. With a blaster you need a dam sight more air than a piston can put out
Unless its a three phase on a big 500/1000 ltr tank.
The blast cab should tell you what CFM is needed to work this should also be on the compressor
Thanks Michael, I'll work out what I need for it to run correctly.
Sandblasting uses a lot of air, between 15-25 SCFM. Just getting a second tank you might be blasting for say 20 seconds, then waiting for over a minute for the tanks to fill again.
You'd be better off getting a second air compressor. Build your setup to both compressors run at the same time feeding the shop air lines, then you have the advantage of higher SCFM and more storage. Standard shop compressors are in the 3-5 SCFM range. Large home shop compressors are 9-15 SCFM.
People underestimate how much better a compressed air system can be with additional tanks. Awesome thing is, they can be put anywhere. In the ceiling, out back, in a crawl space, anywhere and as many as you like.
It has certainly made a difference. Especially when I'm using the plasma cutter.
Cute sign! Excellent presentation. B.T.D.T., the water is most important part of the entire job thank you for showing it.
The extra volume is nice for the greedy tools (grinders, sanders, sand blasters, paint sprayers) but you have to figure that although the compressor now runs less / fewer times, it has to run twice as long to fill BOTH tanks. I like the shut off valve for the storage tank / accumulator so you can isolate it from the system when not required.
Yes, however I have seen done something similar using a MASSIVE tank and a little pancake compressor… by massive it was somewhere around 250 gallon….
That pancake could run for days to fill that tank (there was a specific use case here, where it was legitimately used once every 2 weeks). What they did is set it up with a one way valve out of the massive tank and a VERY restricted inlet (with another one way valve). It would SLOWLY fill the tank allowing the compressor to cycle on for 5, off for 5. The compressor eventually did die, but they still didn’t get a big compressor… they just got a 2 gallon compressor! The savings of a small compressor vs a big one needed is insane (the tank dumps its entire load of compressed air in ~4 minutes… it has a big pipe coming out to power one piece of equipment that’s sole purpose is resetting another after it has had a wear part replaced). Was fun to see it and talk with them. Again a very niche use case, but it worked for what is needed. I personally have 2 30lb propane tanks hooked up at home. Here it is just 3/4 NPT, so just a few fittings needed. I use them for a few hungry air tools that has probably left my compressor near dead now.
Assuming proper cooling, most of the wear on a compressor comes from turning on and off. .
I like how this is the pneumatic equivalent of adding a capacitor to the circuit. Great stuff! 🫡🙂
Nice! I've been wondering about using an LPG tank as an aux tank for a while now. We get fleeced for purpose made aux tanks here, so this should be a much more cost effective option, thanks for verifying!
Glad you enjoyed it and good luck with your own project.
There's a reason tanks designed for compressed air cost more. Compressed air will cause severe corrosion in tanks not designed for the purpose.
If you blunt the cutting edge on the drill bit it avoids snatching when drilling brass and similar materials.
I was taught that thirty plus years ago in a machine shop.
Great video 👌
Great tip. Thanks for sharing.
The key is not to blunt them, but to "brass them off" - add a small grind along to the cutting edge parallel to the axis of the drill. The problem is that the drill's spiral flutes create a positive rake cutting geometry that tries to "dig in", and brassing off the drill effectively makes the flutes straight just at the tip.
Damn, I wish my english was better to fully understand what you guys mean. Sounds like a very useful tip.
@@cooperised 0 or negative rake
@@TomiLynch me too, and English is my native tongue! Ughh cooperised’s method rings true, but it’s been decades in memory from, not applied.
I’ve done a lot of stupid things in the shop, but welding to a pressure vessel wasn’t one of them. Very wise man you are.
My shop is a little small for the amount of tools, so I put a 100lb propane tank in my attic 30 years ago. Was nice having that extra volume when I was using 3/4" impacts.
its nice to watch a youtube video with just the work and not the usual look at me show.
Excellent job. Exactly the job I have in mind and the video I was looking for to do the job. And no annoying music!
Pre-leaded Tee's? Very interesting!
Cracking build! Love the transition from 5mm tapping to the blue painted support!
Thanks, we all call them solder ring fittings in the UK not sure what they are known as in the rest of the world. They are very handy and don't require as much skill to do a good job.
@Constant Projects
Had to watch that three times to realize he was simply pulling off tape!
@@Handmadeextreme Nah, mate. Called Yorkshire fittings, 'round here! 🤣Nice build.👍
You did a great job making this aux air tank. Very innovative and safe approach.
I'm over 90. I will share one my observations from over the years.
Whenever somebody works above the capacity of others with limited capacity.
The haters emerge.
This is not capacity above others this is pure danger! there is a reason it is not allowed. Are you a ASME certified welder?
@@710Craig Being an ASME certified welder don't mean anything.All that means is that your welds comply with their codes and standards for a particular test and procedure.Engineers determine the test,not the welders.
Not if they bring proof to the table I don't trust these old tank without an hydro pressure test its like living next to a pin out grenade painting the outside shiny blue won't protect you from its bottom inners now only 1/8 inches thick due to rust ! ruclips.net/video/sm_FJ6Pat4I/видео.html&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR3z_ji_bh9fZkMdMj9b-5gsL4Csvu20Ppe9Bvt9d4V2iq89-QM54koC0mU
@@1badpete999 True.Not many people drain their tanks to let moisture out.No different than a car rotting from the inside out.
@@710Craig im a certified welder and who gives a flying fuck throwing around certs and shit
The best part is how you plumbed it all up with that drain valve. Genius.
Love the shiny copper! Nice project, thanks for sharing.
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it.
Spot on with inverting the tank. Viewed 1,000,000 of these RUclips and you win the unique award. I am in the middle of my project and it involves a 100 lb propane tank. I am using the "ole refrigerator compressor". think I will re-think the design incorporating your idea and inverting he tank .... thought I'd give you the credit. Oh and great video. Will be borrowing the term "piddly".
This is similar to a build I have wanted to do for a while. Tanks for CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) for vehicles are typically rated for 5,000 psi (340 bar) and actually filled to 3,600 psi (250 bar), and their certifications (in the US, at least), expire after 10 or 15 years, so there are quite a few very high pressure tanks coming available as they age out. They're large, often composite, and even the steel ones are typically epoxy coated on the inside, so little bits of moisture shouldn't cause problems. (You still need to drain your tanks, people).
propane tanks can be re certified at certain fill stations.if approved can last 10 to 15 years more.
Great vid. Did something similar about with an old gas bottle about 10 years ago, minus the complex water separation pipes. But I just put a simple lever valve on the end of the bottle to drain the water build up and installed an old compressor regulator for air flow control. This was handy on our farm for inflating tractor, combine and trailer tyres in the fields so we didn't have to bring them back to the yard. Just charged the tank up and put it in the back of the Landy. Found electric pumps took forever and just didn't have the sudden blast of air to inflate big tyres. Its still going today and as you said the gas tank has a waaaay higher PSI rating than the compressor so never got near to maxing it out.
'Gave the area a good clean with a wire brush" ... how i start every morning.
Hahaha, Nice..
And Detol?
...and the perfect way to end a day full of regretful drunken decisions.
good stuff haha
For a while now I am contemplating of adding buffer tanks to various places in the house to have good compressed air everywhere I need it... someone invited me to see their solution to that problem, and for the cases where you have the space and material, their idea is genious. They got some really big pipes for it, maybe 100mm in diameter or thereabouts, and they use it for routing the compressed air through the workshop etc. and in the end he has some 250 liters of compressed air in it, with the added advantage of not losing pressure through long runs of thin hoses.
Never seen a 2 head direct drive compressor lol and nice work wish my stuff looked so good :)
The real world problem is when your compressor can't put enough air out to keep the tanks fill.
Keep up the great work
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it. It had a good test today running the plasma cutter for a while this afternoon. Worked really well, compressor was fine as well. Happy days. Thanks for the support.
Having a extra tank doubles the load on the compressor. It’s only worth it if you have the compressor far away from the machine you use and you require a high cfm. Not worth doing so.
@@64772679 Doubles the time to get up to pressure from zero, sure. But it adds no load to the compressor in the steady state, for any given air usage.
Brilliant video & well explained to detail . I have a spare 88 litre / 45 kg gas bottle I've been wanting to use for the same purpose . Would be great if end of video had a parts list , listing pipe grade ...& size , compression fittings types , gate Valve type , flux used & thread sizes etc .
Great video mate & thank you .
Personally I think it was a great idea and well done. I have used a LPG tank (propane) for other purposes (a boiler tank for steaming wood so pressure was not a concern) and found threads (USA) in the tank inlet/outlet were standard pipe threads. I never thought of inverting the tank and a separate condensate collector, I think that is genius, and wish there was some way to incorporate that into my horizonal compressors. The only change I, repeat I, would make is a 30 degree slope from the tank to the condensate tube for better drainage and that could be wrong also. As far as codes, my community differs greatly from another on the opposite side of my county so suggest a idea or opinion, not order it. Maybe my codes are better, maybe not, but they are what have to live with.
I've done this with a 50 gallon retired propane tank. I like what you've done with the copper pipes! I wasn't as fancy, as I used plain old iron pipe lying around along with flex hose. I will have to mount it upside down like yours someday. Ignore the keyboard warriors. They don't understand physics well enough to understand that this perfectly safe. Air tanks don't just "blow up"... they discharge rapidly.
yes my sentiments to too many experts on you tube !!!!!!!!!!
Well this certainly answered cleared up my thoughts on using an extra tank at my place.
Also i have seen people use oil coolers plumbed in before water trap. Ive opted for the simpler method of running 20 meters of hose along full length of garage and into a water butt before my water trap. I need it this way for spraying my car.
Nice idea. I wish I had a shop big enough to do that. Good luck with your project.
@@Handmadeextreme Rob aka Xynudu made a nice drier that takes up almost no floor space, rather it runs up the wall and back down. Go to his channel "xynudu" and look for the video titled "Make a compressed air drier from junk water pipe". You could probably stick it on the wall in the space between your compressor and new aux tank.
I have a 400 gallon tank outside of my studio and have drop air lines throughout the perimeter. No problems for decades of use.
I love your accent man. And your work is good fits your needs that’s it . Keep up the good work
Thank you. Glad you are enjoying the videos.
I like your quality of work, wish there were more guys around with your eye for detail and patience to work with. I install and build machines for the manufacturing Industry...we could use people like you.
Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hope that my videos help to inspire people to go and make things as we have a real shortage of grafters in this day and age.
That was brilliant, thanks. Really enjoyed the build and explanation. I need to do something similar as my compressor is loud. I use air tools a fair bit so it's often kicking in. Thanks for posting, hope you are well.
Cheers Carl. Thanks for the continued support. We are doing well here thanks, things slowly getting back to normal. Got some actual work coming in at last. Hope you are well. Glad you enjoyed the video.
@@Handmadeextreme No problem. I really enjoy your videos. I am glad to know things are getting back to something like normality for you.
Have you ever thought about perhaps putting your compressor outside in a covered cage? This reduces the noise in the shop considerably and also gives higher safety since the compressor is in a cage and opens space indoors for a milling machine perhaps? In my setup I have a horizontal 200l 3hp air compressor and will be adding an auxiliary tank soon, so because my compressor is outside it's just a quick job without worrying about space.
Mayb you can make a little research about " sound enclosure " if " loud " your concern. and also need a little effort to make that happend.
Neat. My Dad built himself a compressor using a unit from an old Bedford truck, a 1/2 hp electric motor and a propane tank on its side. Because it fit under the lathe. He tipped it down towards the valve and fed it from there with a bleed valve from the shoulder (lowest point) brazed in. Ran it at 100PSI with an auto shut off. Has worked a treat for 20 years.
An obviously well thought out assembly. I came here looking for ideas and I have found many. Nice job thanks for posting.
Really helped me out don't need a new air compressor now thanks champion
Very well put together video 🍻 fellow Brit too, good to see. You deserve far more subscribers than you have. Count me in.
I'm an engineer (marine engineer, so deal with HP air often 300bar+) and I was nodding along to this, my first thought was about moisture/condensation and you addressed that. One thing that would be an improvement is a cross fitting on the bottle top and an added relief valve. But then again in a personal setup it's not really needed as you know the system :)
Have a good one.
Did you nod to the use of an old date expired cylinder being used as receiver WITHOUT HAVING IT HYDROSTATICLY TESTED and that test date restamped?
@@BTW... he could hydro test it with a pressure washer
Exactly what I wanted to see thanks! Just built a CNC plasma machine and now I’ve solved the noise and earth problems, air is the next issue! A 40L tank does t cut it (ahem) so need lots more capacity. A friend has just donated a 70L car lpg tank so that will do nicely. Thank you!
Great project. I built my own 2 stage compressor from bits and pieces (new pump and motor, all else used) 35 years ago. I hung 3 100# (US) bottles upside down on the wall. Connected with salvaged hose from work and added a relief valve at the bottles for safety. I run at 160 psi and has served me well with nary a problem.
That homemade two stage compressor is such a good idea! Right now I just bought a few used compressors and connected the air hoses together with a manifold. Once I get my shop in a permanent shape, definitely going to keep this idea in mind! Should just have to get beefy tanks and regulators and should be able to keep pressures of 200psi+.
@@wozzlebaby5313 Just an FYI, a 2 stage compressor does not have anything to do with storage volume, it has to do with a primary stage of air pressure/volume being supplied to a second round of compression and with that more volume of compressed air, this can be repeated as many times (stages) as you choose either by adding subsequent progressive changes in cylinder volume by adding cylinders to a common crankshaft or by adding separate compressors.
ruclips.net/video/yLWzBuk5lRs/видео.html
I just "inherited" a system using a large propane tank but the previous "builder" made it the other way up with the condensation filling the tank. I have dismantled it all last night and I am copying your far safer and more practical solution.
Great video. Unless i missed something, I didn't notice a pressure release, safety valve on your auxiliary tank.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you. You are correct about the PRV. The way I use the system with the two tanks linked if there is an over pressure situation the PRV in the main compressor will vent any excess from both tanks. Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the support.
Since original poster is in a personal workspace he can construct his system in that manner. Anywhere else, that won’t fly.
@@Handmadeextreme please include the fact that there technically SHOULD be one there.
@@nigeleharis5886 Sure you can do whatever you want for yourself.
Years ago, I built something similar and included a PRV as auxiliary air tanks, that I'd studied at the time, had one and, anyway, I felt safer with a, tank specific, pneumatic fuse.
@@petertyrrell6690 I’m all about the safest legitimate method, certainly.
Looks good mate . As a plumber myself I recommend using gas jointing compound on your compression joints.
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the advice. 👍
@@Handmadeextreme no worries . you can buy it from screwfix for about £5 lasts me years
Interesting video as this is exactly what I need to do, however I have question about turning the tank upside so the water/condensation can drain out.
With all the different propane and butane tanks I have (calor, flogas, BP etc) they all have quite a deep lip on the inside of the tank where the gas valve thread is, so its a natural liquid collection point when turned upside down, so are you not just creating a water reservoir in your tank to constantly keep moisture in your air system?
Would it not be better to drill into the bottom and weld a nut or pipe fixing on for your drain and raise the tank off the floor for clearance?
I didn't realise there was such a lip on them until I purged them with water as you did, then it's a right bitch to dry them out, ive tried heating them up, that gets rid of alot but all the steam condenses on the inside and just when you think it's dry you find another pool of water in the bottom which isn't a problem when cutting them open but not the case when using them as you have.
Glad to see you gave a good explanation of purging the old propane cylinder.
I’ve seen too many videos of people using old propane cylinders for projects that include cutting them open and they quite often don’t mention anything about the need to purge the cylinder.
a tip for brass and bronze drilling is to backoff the cutting edge of your drill with a little bit of 90 degree grinding
Excellent tip. Thanks for the advice and support.
great detailed video, just what i needed to start this myself, my compressor is too small when im spraying in my workshop so this is great. thanks
To purge the tank of air you can flip it upside down and use your compressor and a blowpipe to clear out the propane. Or let it sit open for a week. If you ever want complete unrestricted flow without trying to rebuild the old brass valve, you can use a 3/4mpt nipple with a standard 3/4 ball valve. I have used a few of these from time to time.
I did the same thing with an old air compressor tank hooked up to my new compressor.
This work is the most precise i have ever seen in my life) Looks amazing! Thanks!
Thank you .I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Try watching MrCrispin videos. Precision on another level.
@@millomweb Mr Crispin is great. But for the real precision stuff how about Robin Renzetti or Stefan Gotteswinter?
@@cooperised That sounds like more people I need to watch ;)
@@millomweb Sorry :-D
Hey friend two thumbs up now I can use my less demanding air tools maybe even my sander do do my metal painting! Thanks! 😁
Wonderful flow and explanations. I need one of these.
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks for the information on how you made the 2nd tank very helpful
nice touch - shining all the piping up!!! - looks like a well kept steam engine!!! 😊😊😊
I cheated and used the 30 gallon tank off of a dead compressor.
Good job! I like seeing things repurposed like this.
A compressor pump , motor and tank are matched for optimum performance. If you add a bigger tank you really need a bigger compressor pump .Yes you will have more volume of air from full to empty but if you are using air tools the compressor will run longer to fill and switch off if at all.
Uh oh, nobody arguing, so this leads me to believe you are onto something here.
It depends on your use case so it cannot be optimized for everything. If you are using tools that require a lot of air but not for that long like opening big bolts, smaller compressor and extra tank is just fine. If you are using a lot of air for long time, like when sand blasting, then you need big compressor you might not even need a lot tank capacity.
Also big tank also cools the air quite well. For example when painting big tank is nice as it keeps the pressure steady and output airflow is cool. So it really depends on what you are usually doing.
Nah, you'll see the same compressor on various sizes tanks, with the specs saying the time difference to fill. The longer rest cycle that the bigger tank allows outweighs the on cycle needed to fill it. Everything is a trade off, but unless he's emptying the bigger tank every day, you won't see a big change in the compressors life span.
That’s exactly point, as I was thinking, too. Installing tanks upside is a no brainer - I got 2 tanks probably 100-150l. That should make a really nice reserve; did not get to fabricate the frame yet. Well done.
Really good video, out of interest have you learnt what you know about milling and turning etc. from your profession or just as a hobby
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. Bit of both to be honest, I worked for a while in machining and fabrication when I left school.
I admire you’re clean and professional work. Thank you for posting.
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.
This reminds me ...
Some years ago, when they were building the new opera house here in Oslo, I got a look around the place with an engineer who worked there. They used compressed air to move the HUGE rotating stage, sliding stages and other mobile set pieces (right word ?) -- because air was quiet, was the explanation. To get enough volume they had an array of bigly big repurposed gas tanks.
There ain't arf been some clever bastards.
That sounds like a spectacular job. Would have been great to see. Thanks for sharing.
Nice work....neat and tidy
Air is fairly quiet - depends where the outlet is...ptchoooooooo
Hydraulics away from the power source is quiet and more powerful !
Enjoyed the video and see there has as always been discussions about pressure ratings and operating pressures and various codes etc. yes in an industrial application you would at the design stage have ensured the design pressures of the tank and fittings have a higher rating than your operating pressure and that you have done. However as you have modified fittings you should then basically do a strength test of your own. One thing to ensure is that the strength test is a hydro test rather than a gas test in which you would normally carry out at a pressure say 10% higher than the operating pressure but within the design pressure of the lowest rated component. I will not bore you with the details of hydro testing but worth noting is once this has been done if you need to uncouple fittings at a later stage you only have to carry out just an operational leak check. Another consideration is that in fitting a safety relief valve you carry out testing to see that it functions as intended and one should be used that can release more air than the rated volumetric output than your compressor. The relief valve must always be fitted in a manner that it can never be isolated from the pressure vessel. Without boring people further with my comments of industrial practices the one thing I would like people to take away is please if you are designing your own air pressure systems especially using recycled components is never make your first test a gas test always carry out a hydro test it is far safer as gas free water is basically non compressible and will not store the energy of a pressure test and it is far easier to detect an issue. Trust me once you have seen and heard your first failure of a gas component at high pressure you may need a change of underwear or in my case my colleague standing next to me got such a fright it sorted his sore back but that’s another story.
Given that you mentioned in one reply about having and using a plasma cutter you might want to look at installing a micro pore paper air filter to get the air really dry for the plasma cutter to use. The standard air regulator/filter Does Not filter enough condensed moisture out of the system for a plasma cutter and failing to dry the air sufficiently will lead to increased premature wear of the plasma torch consumables. The major brands of plasma cutters will have detailed information about this on their websites.
Great advice, thank you. I'll look into it.
See these are the kind of comments we need Thank you!
Thanks for sharing,
& did an excellent job.
I just believe that you have
had preformed more work
than necessary...
If you had utilized a (used)
water heater, could have the
same results without special
parts & tooling.
👍
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it.
@@Handmadeextreme Very good video very informative.
Great idea and I like the design. I wouldn’t have wasted my time with the LP valve body as a pipe elbow would have had less resistance and it would have saved time. You wouldn’t have needed to modify the old regulator assembly either. Sometimes spending a little can save a lot of time. The upside down tank design is perfect as well as the plumbing. I think I’ll search for a good tank to try this one myself!
Have you had any ill effects from overheating due to the increased duty cycle time? Good project.
Nothing so far. Glad you enjoyed it.
Its not really any different for compressor, than using some air tool that uses air for longer time, like when sanding or sand blasting something. If you use some tool at 7 bars for an hour or let the bigger tank to fill up to 8 bars it is a lot less stress just to fill the tank.
Nice job. My dad and I did something similar, however the gas reservoir was mounted on a dolly so that we could unplug from the compressor and take the compressed air to the work without needing hundreds of feet of hose.
My only critique is the use of copper plumbing. Eventually you'll get cracking because of the torsional load on the long run between the POL fitting going into the tank and the regulator (2 fixed points, and the u-bolt "racked" the run when you snugged it up). That long run should be steel pipe from valves to regulator, with a flexible section from POL fitting to the valve (nylon, gas line, vinyl reinforced, etc). Longevity of your existing assembly would be markedly increased by replacing the solid POL to valve run with flexible, thus removing existing torsional stress (single fixed point, at the regulator), and allowing thermal "creep" of the assembly without added stresses.
I was always under the impression when utilizing pipe fittings for a gas, that a flared fitting should be used.
The trick to drilling bronze or brass matrical is to grind 90 degree flats at the drill bits cutting edges. You only need a small amount like a 1/32 inch flats or less. Works perfect. Nice work fella too.
If anyone is considering using plastic pipe make sure it's safe to use with compressed air. Some plastics become brittle and can burst projecting shards of sharp plastic into the air.
pex is good as well as heavy wall polyethylene .
I have that same thought because high volume air compressors are expensive....I don't have a lathe so on...Great Video.. Loved it
Great engineering skills. Thanks for this interesting and educational video
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it.
I enjoyed watching you polish your pipe.
The tap you used in the drill, is that a tap made to be used in a drill or just a standard tap bit?
Just a standard tap. Takes a bit of practice but fairly easy to do on thin ish material once you get the hang of it.
Use high speed steel spiral point taps and you can tap all day with a drill. Dont use cheap carbon steel hand taps, there is a better chance you'll snap those.
I find it's fine using a normal hand tap as long as you engage the jaws of the drill chuck on the round shank rather than the square drive, that way if it bites it just slips in the chuck rather than breaking the tap. That being said i have broken some taps 😁.
Love your new air tank. Very good idea. i made myself a portable air tank from a 7 gallon propane tank used from RV's it was over 10 years old but in lovely shape and i just fill it at mechanic shops with dry air at 150psi. For me it works for 4 months just filling up bike tires and topping up truck tires once every two months. I do have a 100 lb propane tank which is about 2x as big as yours and that one i would like to make a stationary tank so i can dust of my work bench maybe. I have 5 lb 11lb and 20lb propane tanks that i will make more portable tanks out of.
You should not have retained the valve body. Those left-hand threads are there to prevent accidental interconnection of fuel and other gases, and you now have a compressed-air system with fuel-gas fittings.
Great comment, that's a very good point. Thankfully this is just for use in my home workshop. Thanks for the feedback 👍
He also welded the threads and drilled out the inside so now it a brass L and nothing more
@@markc7933 which is just so so so cringe lol
Professional👍🏽. I admire and want to be like you!
Hey man. I'm going to give you a handy tip. Im a welder and I make a ton of wood burners from gas bottles. Don't bother filling with water, instead remove the valve and use your plasma cutter to perform a "controlled explosion". Simply aim your plasma into the hole from the valve. Press the button a couple of times to flush air into it. If there's any gas in there, it'll ignite with a big whoosh. Once this has happened, if at all, the cylinder is safe to work on. Obviously don't have your hand or face in the path of the whoosh! I've done this literally hundreds of times and saved myself a ton of water. Also, even after filling with water, you can have some flammable residue remaining which can whoosh when cutting and burn your hand, I've got a scar to prove it 😉
Interesting idea. I did wonder about trying a 'controlled woosh' haha
Thanks for the support.
@@Handmadeextreme Do it. You'll save a lot of time and water. And you won't have stinky water to deal with afterwards either 😊
Loved your video very informative. Very well explained and easy to understand you above all to the point
6:16 "The propane tank has got a slightly unusual thread on its outlet". Yeah cos they don't want you doing crap like this. 😅Just kidding, great job man. anyway, I don't have a spare propane tank handy, can I use an old milk churn instead?
butter is better
Hahahaha, yep... that would be why...
The nice thing about a propane tanks is that it is designed as a pressure vessel to handle pressures higher than experienced than in my compressed air system. I have no idea how strong a milk churn would be... could be very dangerous if it's not up to the job. I'd want to hydrostatically test it before using it I think.
Thanks for the support. Glad you enjoyed the video.
@@Handmadeextreme Question how do you keep the compressor from running longer than normal? Maybe I missed a step. Everyone I have talked to about adding another tank. Says the compressor will run to long and burn up the electric motor.
@@benniedonald it's not really that big a deal also if it is something your concerned about you can run the compresser turn it off after a few mins and then back on. The electric motor will be more then fine running continuously to full up 3-4x the original tank size
@@Handmadeextreme the ASME designation is UM and the thin, lightweight design is the result of NO corrosion allowance. 55 years of inspecting and rating pressure vessels in USA and Europe TUV also.
Looks great. I did this same thing however I used an old 100# (US) tank and placed reducer bung,1/2X3/4, into the valve bung,with T fitting and a couple hose connect fittings. Hook hose from compressor to one side of T and hose to tool. 2nd version included a water collection pipe with drain petcock and additional port to add a second compressor to reduce recovery time. 1st unit turns on at 125 PSI, off at 150 and 2nd unit turns on at 100 PS,I off at 125. Have about 45 gallon capacity with ability to add more holding tanks as I get them.
That sounds awesome. I'd love a system with that much capacity. Thanks for the support.
I too used a 3/4 pipe bushing on my first tank. My second one I left the valve and used that tank as a large bubble tank for use out in the field for farm equipment.
There's a reason why the compressor tank is the size it is. Let's say it takes 5 minutes to fill, it needs to sit for 5 minutes.
Some compressors use the same pump unit from 50 ltr up to 200 ltr BUT the pully on the pump and motor are different sizes.
So in reality all you have done is made the compressor run longer than its designed for.
Yes you have a bigger volume of air but again once the pressure drops its running longer to replace the air.
The tank needs to sit for five minutes? What? What do you mean? Receiver size should correlate to pump CFM output. To say a compressor tank needs to “sit” makes no sense. Please explain.
@@nigeleharis5886 piston compressors are designed to run at 50% duty . So 5 minutes to fill 5 minutes to sit. Lets say you're doing a job and the piston comp is Basically running all the time without sitting then its too small and will soon brake. If on the other hand what ever your doing only needs a bit of air and the thing once full will last hours or the fill time then thats OK.
The 5 minutes was just an example, some will fill in in less time ,BUT whatever that time is it then needs to not run again.
Single phase are the worst type for flat out running as the capacitors in the motor get to hot , the trip on the motor will keep popping out first off, then the capacitors will start to melt.
The pully on the pump itself is designed in such away it acts as a fan to help the pump keep cool!!. But as I said this won't do a thing if its non stop running.
If you need to run all the time then you need vane or screw compressor.
@@michaelwalker1145 you are absolutely wrong; they are meant to run at 100% duty cycle until they reach desired pressure set point. At that point, the compressor either unloads or shuts off. This is true for ALL compressors of all types, with the exception of VFD compressors which actually can run at 50%, as well as compressors (big industrial compressors) have a 0/50%/100% load option, but nothing that a little garage compressor will be capable of.
If you’d like more knowledge and to fill in some gaps you may have with air compressor information, I can help you!
@@michaelwalker1145 you have not enough CFM from your pump and therefore need a bigger compressor for your air demand. People seem to think more storage will solve their problems, but don’t realize the problem is Lack of CFM
How exactly do you plan to “run your machine at 50%?” You can’t. My good man I do this for a living lol. Part of my job is to correctly size compressors depending on customers intended use. You have no idea how big reciprocating compressors can be and how much air they can make.
You said it yourself. Running a compressor when it is too small, it will break. Correct. The type of compressor you have is determined by your air demand.
@@michaelwalker1145 you have an elementary level education on compressors, good job. However you are incorrect about 50% duty. So let’s stop spreading inaccurate information please.
Sweet solder job on that valve.
Years ago a buddy of mine had a big commercial compressor that he loved to brag about how fast it pumped up.
After I drained about 60 - 70 gallons of water out of its 100-gallon tank. it wasn't so bragworthy anymore. 😋
LOL sorry but that was funny. 😂😂😂😂😂😂
An auxiliary tank certainly helps a a lot; I like the propane tank idea, have a couple and will make use of one. Thanks.
Good luck with your project.
This is exactly what I’ve been telling my buddy, he has a smaller compressor head, all ya need it volume, add some tanks.
You have more storage, but now your fill rate goes wayyyyyyyy down. CFM output of the compressor does not increase with the addition of another tank.
@@nigeleharis5886 no but with more volume, you have more air available and the head runs the same.
@@deborahchesser7375 yes, as long as you are within the spec of your compressors CFM output.
@@deborahchesser7375 if the compressor can't keep pace with the air consumption then no matter how big the storage of air it's a pointless exercise . The cheap 3kw 14cfm generic chinese unit he's using will soon go pop keep filling the oversized tanks by having to run longer and hotter creating more condensate air at the same time .
@@LifesAbe-ach I don’t like the scroll type anyway they don’t live long and make a hell of a racket
Very nice I did that to a 100 lb tank , lots of air.
I have a 60gal air compressor. If I need more air, I'm in trouble.
That's a monster, I'm jealous. Thanks for the support.
There are still reasons to need to add a tank to a system other then low total capacity like if you add a plasma cutter or plasma table in you might need a tank next to it to deal with line lag if it is a long distance from the compressor.
If those are US 3.8 litre gallons then you have the same volume of air I have across my compressor (70l) and receiver (160l) and I concur, it's ample for almost every need, though I'd still go bigger at low cost if I could. For now, it's ample and I'm more than happy. Much better than the 70l compressor alone for various reasons.
Taps in a drill... I see you also like to live dangerously :)
What's life without a bit of risk..
Smashing idea and the price is right.
Thats has to be the most difficult way to go about it that I've ever seen. Shouldve just pulled the original valve out of it and bought new fittings.
Ideally yes haha. It was a bit of a case of having most of the bits on hand and having the machines available and the local DIY store not having one in stock haha. Made the project a bit more interesting though. Got to play with the Big blow lamp after all..
Fantastic job. that was a excellent video. Im going to save this, so if or when I need to make one I will copy yours. Also if you don't mind, give your fur baby some extra love. LOL
Nice but I think you forgot to install a pressure safety valve to your new air tank.
Is it needed as the pressure regulator and safety valve on the main compressor should cover this, as the entire system should be at the same pressure? Or am I showing my ignorance?
@@loydsa No you are right, but extra safety valves never hurt though. Never heard someone die from having too many safety valves but have heard a few people die of not having any.
Any air receiver needs a pressure safety valve.
Sarah you are wrong.
@@nigeleharis5886 What would the max pressure release safety valve do if there is already 2 in the open loop between the tanks? It makes literally no difference as the only thing those safety valves do is to stop over pressurization which the auxiliary tank won't get to because of how the air flows from main tank to auxiliary. The motor is mounted on the main tank thus the only tank mechanisms that matter is the main since if the receiver fails from the auxiliary tank it still wouldn't matter because of the open loop concept.
Fantastic how-to video. Excellent fit and finish.
Jeezsh, Why not simply put a proper fittings, instead of modifying originals? Also it's quite poor practice to not have over pressure valve on pressurized air containers. I'd also definitely add automatic water removal valve. That short piece of pipe doesn't hold too much water in heavy usage.
Simply because I didn't have one that was the right size. I also like to try and reuse things rather than throwing them away and replacing them. I like the idea of the automatic drain valve. I may add one at some point, great idea, thank you. There is a PRV on the main tank which will vent both tanks in the event of an over over pressure situation. Thanks for the support.