Craftsman air compressor

[phidelt85]

Ok, Has anyone tried using a craftsman oil less (keyword is oil less) air compressor as their source for central air in their fishroom. I ask because I have one and I was thinking that with dropping the pressure with a regulator and then passing it through perhaps an activated carbon reservoir, it would be a good source of air.

[gta333]

We tried it many years ago. They are not made for continous running. You would be better off with a gast 1/8 hp blower. Plus the noise from the compressor wold be a lot louder than the gast blower. Just my opinion. Gary

[Polar_Bear]

I've often thought about doing this, what has always stopped me is what Gary just said, it would be very noisy, very often. As far as the continually running, I take it this is a tankless compressor? I would also have to agree with Gary on that too. However a compressor with a tank might be able to go a rather long time between cycling on and off, especially since you would be running it at such a low output pressure.

[Kindredspirit]

it would be a good source of air.

I agree, Jose! A good source of air ~ but, as the boys pointed out...very noisy indeed. And since I have absolutely no clue whatesoever what you are talking about I shall go now!


( couldn't resist )

[Don Trinko]

You would have to set it up with a tank and pressure switch. It would turn on only when the prressure in the tank was low and then off when it got high. It would surely turn on in the middle of the night and scare the #$%@^%& out of you and the fish. Don T.

[phidelt85]

Sorry guys I should have given more detail. I have a 40gal Craftsman professional compressor. It comes with the pressure switch shutoff at 150psi. There is a large enough tank to mitigate continuous running or frequent starts and stops. I figure adding a "T" on the discharge with a regulator to know the pressure down to say about 5-10psi into the air loop for the tanks. How does that sound. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try; I can always place a blower in its place if it isn't an efficient remedy.

What is a good size pipe for the air header? 3/4" or 1"?

[phidelt85]

You would have to set it up with a tank and pressure switch. It would turn on only when the prressure in the tank was low and then off when it got high. It would surely turn on in the middle of the night and scare the #$%@^%& out of you and the fish. Don T.

LOL! Don this has happened to me already. I've got the compressor always plugged in so I have air on demand in my garage for whatever project I may be working on. It was about 2am a few nights ago, and I'm at my workbench scraping the silicone of some glass for a tank I'm resealing. The damn thing kicked on right behind me. It scared the #$#$$#@# out of me and I actually screamed like a little girl.

[2sybs]

Hmmm.... I might try this one myself.
I have a compressor with a 35gal tank, also have my old 25 gal tank with a dead compressor, (saved it as a spare tank)
Thinking that I could just set them up inline for the added volume and to take care of the 2AM noise the compressor could be set up on a timer (would probably have to use a relay to handle the load.)
a few hours during the day should be able to top them off and with that much volume they should put out quite a bit of regulated air.
Also using a larger diameter header would add even more. (like a small tank in itself.)
Shouldn't even need much filtering, maybe a fair size chunk of cotton kinda like what my air pump uses.
This could save me a few bucks airating my holding/aging tank project I am starting soon.

[Don Trinko]

Most air pumps only put out a few pounds of pressure. I think 5 psi would be plenty unless you have some very deep tanks. (I think 15psi is abought 33 feet of water.) Don T.

[Apistomaster]

Linear compressors expressly designed for aquarium use are very efficient in power consumption and are quiet. I don't recommend going with the cheapest makers. If you have very large numbers of aquariums then blowers are better.
You might like to check out the specs of the pumps sold by www.jehmco.com and www.aquaticeco.com and compare their options to the compressor you have. Both companies only carry good equipment. I have become really power consumption conscious these days.

[phidelt85]

Thanks for the info, Larry!!

I have set this up with the craftsman compressor in the meantime until I can get an air pump ordered. I wanted to get the air system going and give it a go. I've had it up a week now and works pretty good. With One 5" disc in my storage tank and 5 sponges it was cycling every 45 minutes and would run for about 3-5minutes. This will work for now, I suppose.