Enclosing an air compressor

[jaybee]

I'm building an enclosure for my air compressor, a sort of "dog house" that can sit outside the garage.  How much ventilation do I need to provide?  I have an 8"x16" louvered soffit vent that I'm going to put low on the back side so that it can get as much weather protection as possible.  Do I need more?  I'm planning to do a "high side overhang" to minimize the chances of water getting to the back of the unit, I could also put some screen wire in the bottom of that overhang so that it has ventilation both low and high.  FYI it's a 2 cylinder compressor with a 3hp, 220v continuous duty motor.  I have no idea what that equates to in compressor rating, but it's a big, honkin unit that's hard for one person to lift.  It's a fair bet to make some noticeable heat.

[enjenjo]

You should be ok with cross ventilation. the high vent should be bigger than the low vent. the low vent should be on the pulley/fan side of the compressor.

[jaybee]

Thanks, I wondered if I should do it that way and think I know just how to duct air from low on the unit up to the compressor fan.

[C9]

They have one at the Visalia airport that housed a commercial compressor in an about 4'x4' shed with corrugated aluminum roof and standard 2x4 type construction for the rest.

The bottom 3/5 or so was sheathed in corrugated aluminum.

There was a fair amount of overhang to the roof and it was about 7' high or so.

The top 2/5 was cyclone fencing and it had excellent ventilation.

Had a door at the front that was a few inches less than the 4' so access was good.
It also backed up to a hangar wall.


I'm tempted to do similar for my 60 gallon 6HP compressor that's now in a corner of the garage.
Probably won't, the gain in space wouldn't be worth the work.


Incidentally, this compressor is a Campbell-Hausfeld and has mufflers.
Runs very quiet.

My last one - also a C-H 60 gallon with 5 HP motor didn't have mufflers and was a bit noisier.
It's still in California and probably still going strong.


Fwiw - my pal bought a 16 gallon Sears oil-less compressor.

Geez Louise, I can't believe how noisy it is.

Every time it runs I have to leave the garage....

[jaybee]

I feel like I'm making progress on it now and am happy about that.  The corrugated siding reminded me that I have a piece of fiberglass skylight material that I really ought to use for the roof.  Don't know why I didn't think of it except that it's stashed where I rarely run across it, so it didn't come to mind.  The simple solutions are always the best.

My current compressor is a 5hp, 20gal Ingersoll-Rand oilless.  Good grief what a racket it makes.  I can't wait to get the new one up and running so that I don't have to listen to all that noise.  My tank is horizontal so it takes a fair amount of space, and since nothing is plumbed it makes sense to start out with it outside.

Thanks to all for the feedback, it's helping me get everything straight in my head and I'll have a better solution as a result.

[jaybee]

Just about finished now.  I need to run the wiring and I'm in business.  I have a weather tight, flexible conduit into the garage, just ran out of time this weekend.  My "dog house" is made with the same 11" exposure masonite siding as the garage, and the same shingles on the roof.  The fiberglass wasn't big enough to cover.  I built a little duct from low on the unit to help it draw air at the flywheel/fan.  Partly that was to practice a little metalwork.  Simple stuff, a couple of bends on each side to form a trough with a flange and close the bottom, and I did a wired edge at the top.  I'm concerned about snow blowing in, this seemed like a good way to help with that.  No pics at this time, maybe I can go back and get some, but I needed my son's help to carry the thing and get it set up before taking him back to college today so I was really pressed for time.

[Okiedokie]

"Incidentally, this compressor is a Campbell-Hausfeld and has mufflers.
Runs very quiet. "

C9, any pictures of these mufflers? Got me curious. Joe

[wvcab]

the problem with wire mesh, at least around here, the small birds (starlings,wrens) and squirrels get in, and build nest......

[jaybee]

Last night I was working on wiring the motor stop/start box and attached receptacle, and something just didn't look right.  After a quick refresher on 220v I realized it was because...no ground!  This is a 3 wire outlet, no common, the twist lock style, so the ground contact just wasn't wired.  You don't always need a ground, but when you do you need it pretty badly!

Anyway, I picked up a ganged breaker after work tonight.  Just a few wires to hook together, grounds to connect and I should be making some pressure.

[jaybee]

Now that I have this project just about wrapped up it's time for some pics.  Here is my piping inside the shop.  The red button shuts off the outlet.  Two of my leaks are in this pic.  The regulator gauge leaks but I have another.  The back side of this assembly incorporates a pop off valve and it also leaks.  Since the compressor and tank already have pop off valves I'll just block this one.  The third leak is naturally in the ONLY pipe thread connection I didn't take apart and reassemble with fresh Teflon.  A couple of little details; the regulator assembly is tipped out from the wall just enough so that the regulator can be removed if necessary.  Also, this regulator isn't far enough from the compressor to provide cool air so that all the moisture can drop out, but I'll fix that a little later by cutting the cap off the top of the tubing and adding another drop farther from the tank.

Second is what the finished product looks like sitting outside the garage.  I'm really pleased, it's very quiet inside, pretty not very loud outside, and builds air quickly in spite of a couple of leaks I still need to fix.

Last is the meat and potatoes of this thing as I was getting started on the wiring.  You can see the weatherproof, flexible conduit that runs the 220 out to the unit.  Wiring is 8ga, 10ga is required for a 30a circuit.