Muffler for my 80 gallon air compressor...

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MitchelC

MitchelC

MGF, Master Grumble Framer
Joined
Sep 19, 2010
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Charleston, SC
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When i let the air out of my 80 gallon air compressor (releases air outside of my shop), i never got any complaints for any neighbors (the closest is about 200 ft. away). A couple of months ago, one of the neighbors sold their house to a young couple. We visited them and offered help in moving, which we did. Very nice couple. They kindly asked me if there was any way to limit the "high pitch" "squeal" created by the compress when i let out the air. They said there pets (1 dog, 1 cat) would go "crazy" when they heard squeal, especially the dog. So.... i searched the internet and the best price i could find was about $50 bucks, until i searched on eBay. I ordered TWO with 3/4" threads. When they came in, i attached ONE to the air drain and was very, very supprized how much it muffled down the squeal sound. Then, using a "T", I attached BOTH to the end of the air drain. I waited until my neighbors got home, told them i would release the air in my compressor, and asked them to let me know how their pets react. I went straight to the air drain and let the air out. I never heard from them until about 10 minutes later. They called and asked me when i was going to drain the tank because they were going to be leaving to go grocery shopping. I told them the air was release. The were very surprised, because the pets did not act crazy at all. The dog did not bark and the cat did not start running like crazy all over the house. Problem solved. :icon19:

Example, check these out:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190483196397&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260416309453&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
 
Even though we don't, I understand why some people choose to shut their compressor off when they're gone, but why would you throw all that energy away? If you have a tight system you should lose very little to no pressure even over a long weekend. My home compressor (40 gallon) still had 30 PSI after 5 weeks when I lost power to my garage...
 
I was told to always blow the air out of the compressor at least weekly to get rid of built-up moisture. In a humid climate you could have half a gallon of water sloshing around in your tank after a few months and eventually you will have a major corrosion problem.

It is also a good idea to periodically open the main lines and the individual lines for each machine and blast out any water which has collected there.
 
Bunk. Sorry.... but Dave is right. If you have moisture.... you will need moisture traps anyway.. drain those, not the 80 gallons of compressed air you worked hard to make.

I plugged mine in 12 years ago..... and other than when the power has been out... it's up 24/7.
 
artfolio said:
I was told to always blow the air out of the compressor at least weekly to get rid of built-up moisture. In a humid climate you could have half a gallon of water sloshing around in your tank after a few months and eventually you will have a major corrosion problem.
Click to expand...

I think this is good practice, but there shouldn't be any need to drain the tank until it's completely depressurized. Draining it until the air runs clear with no water coming out should be enough.
 
Yes, you should be draining your tank of water on a regular basis - daily or at least weekly. Or you can get an automatic drain and it will empty whenever it needs to. Also, if you don't have an air drier, any fixed piping should be configured with moisture traps and water separators that will need to be emptied periodically.
 
OK, aside from all the correct answers about water build up and draining, I have to say that I really like the muffler idea!

I put a carberater air filter set up on the intake side of the compressor and it really quieted the unit down. It did slightly restrict the air intake and it took longer, by a few seconds, to fill the tank. But the thing was so much quieter :) I could hear the phone ring and the door chime go off when I was near it.

Now with the grumblerapprovedquiettiny compressor I don't use that big behmoth, but my neighbor that inherited it still uses it and it is still very quiet. Compared to it's original level :)
 
Draining your tank is extremely important..and do it at least weekly. Even if you have a tight system and moisture traps to protect your equipment, nothing will protect your tank from rusting without getting rid of moisture from the bottom of it. If your tank rusts, the integrity will be compromised and it could rupture.

In 2003, I think, my brother Bill had an old air tank he'd had for YEARS. This was portable and at the time, he had been using it outside. He'd just been using it and walked to the front of his house and heard an explosion. The fire trucks and rescue squad came UNCALLED from two miles away because they heard it. It embedded shrapnel into everything and ripped an air conditioning unit nearly in half. There's no doubt he would've been killed standing just feet away from it.

Visibly, you can't tell when a tank is "going bad" and even maintained, the manufacturer recommends replacing it after so many years. You can help protect yourself by draining moisture on a regular basis. If you don't, its a time bomb.

Baer, PLEASE replace your tank. Never draining it is dangerous. Bleed it..and check out the rust. It'll tell you.
 
Yes, the tank should be drained. We use auto drains which pay for themselves in a very short time because of labor savings. Further, any commercial pressure vessel (including a compressor tank) is supposed to be examined at regular intervals by a qualified inspector and a certificate will be issued which must be displayed. Your insurance company may help you with this.
 
I drain my compressor tank every monday morning. If there is pressure left in it, I first use it up by cleaning out my v-nailer, CMC, and other work surfaces with the air gun.
:cool: Rick
 
ditto Dave on the auto bleeder. It has become a very nice feature..... I sleep at night and never worry. When I have bleed the belly of the beast by hand.... there is no rust. .... guess they were serious about a "lined tank".

But I still don't trust everything.... have a dryer in front of every whip, just in case.
 
Drain the 100% humidity air out of it at the end of each day. If you don't drain it 100%, humidity is still high.

Even better is to run the compressor with the valve open for a few seconds each time you restart the compressor to bring new dry air (no actual compressing going on) into the tank.
 
Mitchell, there is (thankfully) nothing dangerous about your approach, but you do have a misconception about compressed air. As long as the compressor is running, it is compressing air. The tank is a storage tank (technically it's actually called a "receiver", in other words, a place that receives the compressed air until needed) for the already compressed air. The reason it takes a while for it to build up pressure is that the 120 (or whatever) PSI air coming out of the compressor is being dumped into a container that has 0 PSI in it at the beginning. Those little bursts of 120 PSI air slowly add pressure until it gets to a point that it is actually useful. If you don't believe me, try leaving the compressor on with the valve open for 10 or 15 minutes and you will see that the compressor gets just as hot as if it were going into the tank. It does take a little while to heat up because some of that heat energy is being absorbed into the mass of the compressor.

As for the air in the tank being at 100% humidity, that's what they're designed for. There are literally thousands upon thousands of compressed air systems in industrial use that remain fully pressurized for the life of the system, which could be 20 or more years.
 
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