:: Air Compressor Parts ::

An air compressor is used to power air tools such as spray guns, air sanders, air wrenches, air hammers, and much more. While not as widely used, air tools are more powerful than traditional electric power tools. Air tools offer more torque and RPM than electric tools not to mention that they are significantly lighter (since they do not have their own individual electric motors) which makes them much easier to handle. Air tools are also less expensive, more versatile, and longer lasting. Overall, an air tool accomplishes a task more rapidly and effectively.

When selecting an air compressor, it is important to understand the needs of your air tool. These are some characteristics of air compressors that you should look at in order to select one that will work best for your air tool needs.

Amount of Power Needed

One of the most important factors that must be decided is the amount or power needed for your air tool. While this power can be measured in several different types of units, the most useful is the CFM (cubic feet per minute). The more common household air tools require 0-5 CFM while larger air tools such as sanders or polishers may need 10 CFM or more. The air compressor you choose depends on the type or air tool you will be using.

Gasoline vs. Electrical Air Compressor

One of the first things you have to do is decide whether you want a gasoline driven-engine or an electrical driven-engine air compressor to run your air tool. I would recommend the natural gas air compressor. Natural gas air compressors are very reliable (at the 99.9 percent reliability level), cost effective, and reduce electric energy consumption. These are all very important characteristics if you are planning on using your air compressor frequently. However, an electric air compressor can be a nice alternative if you are using it in an enclosed area where fumes are intolerable.

Size of the Tank

Think of your air compressor tank as an air tank that you would use to go SCUBA diving. The longer periods of time you are using it the larger the tank you will need. Air Tools that are for shorter use (air hammers, impact wrenches, etc.) will not need as big of a tank as air tools that need a continuous flow of air (grinders, sanders, etc.).

Type of Pump

There are two main types of pumps to choose from: a direct-drive pump and a belt-driven pump. The direct-drive pump is lightweight and is meant to last for five hundred hours. This type of air compressor is not for heavy use but more for around the house projects. The belt-driven pump lasts three times longer, has less vibration and is quieter than the direct drive model. The belt-driven pump requires an oil change every now and then, but do not let this discourage you from it since these occasional oil changes are really not that much of a hassle.

Vertical vs. Horizontal Air Compressors

A vertical air compressor usually is stationary and takes less storage. A horizontal air compressor is more portable and can be moved from project to project. The style you choose from is dependent on what your needs are with your air tools and different projects.

When selecting an air compressor you should keep these different attributes in mind. The two main things you should remember are what type of air tools you will be using and the frequency that you will be using them. If you keep those two things in mind, you should be able to distinguish what features you need in an air compressor and pick the right one for you.

Kaitlin Carruth is a client account specialist with 10x Marketing. For more information about an air compressors or air tools, please visit Tool America.

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Water. This drives every compressed air user nuts!!! Every time they use an air tool, blow-off gun, or even fill the inflatable air mattress, water appears along with the compressed air.

The water is a problem if the compressed air is moving through a tool that can rust or be negatively affected by airborne particles, and, given enough ‘fill-ups and empties’ a significant amount of water will appear in anything which you inflate or run with compressed air.

Why?

Well, we know that relative humidity is the measure of water moisture in the air expressed as a percentage. At a relative humidity of 90% for example (really hot and sticky) the atmosphere is holding 90% of the total amount of water vapour it can hold. When the relative humidity in the air exceeds 100%, it usually rains.

That, unfortunately, seems to happen mostly on weekends!

Now, let’s take some of that atmosphere with it’s 90% relative humidity and compress it. What do we want the final air pressure to be; 30 PSI, perhaps 45 Pounds per Square Inch? We will use 45 PSI as an example.

Free air, the atmosphere we breathe, has a normal PSI of 14.7 (or 15 PSI to make it easier math). So, we’re going to take free air at 15 PSI and make it 45 PSI by compressing it. We will take three cubic feet of air at 15 PSI, and cram all three into the space of one to make one cubic foot of compressed air, now at 45 PSI.

If the relative in the atmosphere humidity is 90%, and we are cramming three cubic feet of atmosphere into one cubic foot, then the relative humidity of the compressed air will almost instantly exceed 100%. As a result, as long as the relative humidity of the air in the compressor tank is over 100%, it will rain in your compressor’s receiver. That water will gather on the bottom of the receiver, and will ultimately fill it unless it’s drained.

Then, every time compressed air is drawn from the compressor tank to your application, free water will follow it down your lines to your air tools, your workplace, your air mattress etc.

To make matters worse, compressing air generates heat. Air that would normally be saturated and not be able to hold any more water vapour at one temperature, can actually hold more than 100% humidity when it gets hotter. When the air inside the tank is hot, the compressed air that is flowing out of your compressor tank has a higher than normal humidity level.

What happens to air as it flows? It cools! What happens to the water vapour in the air as the air cools? It converts (condenses) back into free water.

More water!

The water generated by your air compressor, along with the water vapour carried along in the compressed air itself, both contribute to the water problem for the compressed air user.

And that’s why you have water with the compressed air, streaming out of your air line every time you open the air line valve.

Bill Wade’s experience in compressed air and other industries spans decades; from field sales positions through to the corporate presidential office. His sales agency represents a select group of industrial firms. Mr. Wade writes about all facets of compressed air at http://www.about-air-compressors.com

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