New home for the 60 Gallon compressor

[slow-poke]

Our garage has a set of stairs leading to the basement so I decided to take advantage of the space under the stairs to "hide" the compressor and free up a bit if space. I had to add an extension to the shop crane to reach over the edge of the stair case. I picked up a NOS ASCO solenoid valve that will be plumbed to the drain port on the bottom, so press a switch and any moisture in the tank gets drained.

So now a question for all you handy guys. The "hot" top of the compressor head is only about 2" below the second tread from top. Seems like I should put some form of insulation to protect that tread.

I suppose I could make a thin sandwich of metal/fiberglass or some other non combustible material.

Suggestions welcome?

 

[Doggggboy]

Foil bubble wrap maybe? Unless your sandblasting cars I don't think the compressor head will get hot enough to cause a problem.

 

[Susquatch]

Furnace duct insulation? Has Foil on one side and a bat of insulation attached. But I'm with @Doggggboy - I can't imagine needing it. If your compressor gets hot enough to start a fire, it's already shot and you need a new compressor!

 

[jorogi]

Sheet metal shield on stand offs.

 

[slow-poke]

If your compressor gets hot enough to start a fire, it's already shot and you need a new compressor!

Compressor is near new.

According to JCDammeyer's compressor temperature testing (152deg C ). Blowing really hot air at old dry wood seems like a bad idea. 150deg C is very close to the combustion temperature of wood. I expect it will get pretty hot in that area on a hot summer day.

 

[Susquatch]

Compressor is near new.

According to JCDammeyer's compressor temperature testing (152deg C ). Blowing really hot air at old dry wood seems like a bad idea. 150deg C is very close to the combustion temperature of wood. I expect it will get pretty hot in that area on a hot summer day.

Several searches show wood charring can start at 300, and combustion at 600°C. Wood is also an inherently good insulator. But I hear you. Always better safe than sorry. I still like the duct insulation idea. Cheap and easy. I think it even comes with a peel off glue surface. Maybe also a piece of an old welding blanket?

 

[TorontoBuilder]

Compressor is near new.

According to JCDammeyer's compressor temperature testing (152deg C ). Blowing really hot air at old dry wood seems like a bad idea. 150deg C is very close to the combustion temperature of wood. I expect it will get pretty hot in that area on a hot summer day.

The ignition temp of wood is high enough to never be an issue, but I'd still go with sheet metal on stand offs as jorogi recommended

 

[djberta]

If you have no kick plates on the stairs it should be fine, it will have lots of air travel. If you do have kick plates, cut large spaced holes to allow for air travel. If you want extra protection add tin to the bottom of the stairs above the compressor. If your really worried about temperatures you can get a temp cut off switch, make one, but I don't think you would need it.

Do you have an auto drain on the compressor? Also make a loop down in the space with your pressure line and put an auto drain on this as well. That would negate having to go down and drain any water from the tank or have water coming up from the compressor - not completely but it would help.

Just my opinion of what I would do.

 

[Susquatch]

FWIW, I'm not a big fan of the sheet metal shield. I don't think it will work as well as instinct would suggest.

Unless, I am misunderstanding the situation, the heat source is not convective. It is mostly radiant heat. If so, a thin metal shield will reach the radiation density very quickly and then once stabilized, it will simply radiate the same energy from the backside of the shield to the wooden stairway. Of course, a fan would solve that problem by converting the radiation to convective but that's not a lot different than just adding a fan without the shield.

I think insulation is a better solution because it stops the heat transfer process cold! Lol!

 

[slow-poke]

The ignition temp of wood is high enough to never be an issue, but I'd still go with sheet metal on stand offs as jorogi recommended

First google hit on wood combustion temperature states 320F or 160C, I imagine it would depend on the type of wood.

I like the sheet metal and standoff idea, the air gap should probably do the trick. I will poke around HomeDepot and see what else they have.

I have plenty of Fluke thermocouples so I can "trust but verify"

 

[YotaBota]

If you have no kick plates on the stairs it should be fine, it will have lots of air travel. If you do have kick plates, cut large spaced holes to allow for air travel

+1, If you cut holes in the risers (kickplates) cover with metal venting to keep any critters out.

 

[slow-poke]

If you have no kick plates on the stairs it should be fine, it will have lots of air travel. If you do have kick plates, cut large spaced holes to allow for air travel. If you want extra protection add tin to the bottom of the stairs above the compressor. If your really worried about temperatures you can get a temp cut off switch, make one, but I don't think you would need it.

Do you have an auto drain on the compressor? Also make a loop down in the space with your pressure line and put an auto drain on this as well. That would negate having to go down and drain any water from the tank or have water coming up from the compressor - not completely but it would help.

Just my opinion of what I would do.

No kick plates.

For the drain in will be remote solenoid controlled. There is a guy on eBay in Thunder Bay that seems to have an endless supply of old but unused quality ASCO solenoid valves for a good price. Valve is here now.


On the coldest days of winter in Ottawa, and that stairwell being the low spot it might freeze in that area. I have several meters of resistance wire, so I'm going to rig up a 12V transformer and a 5 deg C inline thermostat on the drain line and solenoid. Wrap the line , solinoid and heating wire in that plumbing foam for 1/2" copper. So it will automatically prevent freezing of the drain. When I want to drain, just flip the switch.

Amazon sells cheap offshore solenoid valves, but from what I read they work great for about a year and then fail leaky. People who use these ASCO valves say they work trouble free for decades.

 

[Tom O]

If it was me I’d put some Rockwool insulation it’s good for fireproofing and sound deadening.

 

[djberta]

I have used dozens of those valves very well made. We used them on our cooling systems for the 5000 to 20000 amp scr systems.

 

[jorogi]

FWIW, I'm not a big fan of the sheet metal shield. I don't think it will work as well as instinct would suggest.

Thousands of aircraft mufflers would disagree

 

[slow-poke]

I have used dozens of those valves very well made. We used them on our cooling systems for the 5000 to 20000 amp scr systems.

Interesting, what are those SCR's being used for?

Early in my career I worked on some VERY large AC-DC-AC converters.

 

[Susquatch]

Thousands of aircraft mufflers would disagree

And millions of cars too.

The difference is a lot of moving air. Which I referenced by saying it would work with a fan.

I actually did a little of that kind of work when I was working in engine design in the auto industry. Exhaust manifolds, pipes, and catalysts get a lot hotter than an air compressor and its a much bigger problem - especially when parked in a grass field.

It doesn't take much moving air to make a huge difference. For some situations, even the geometry matters simply because hot air rises.

I remain convinced that a little bit of insulation would be more effective and also totally certain. Cars and planes are exhaustively tested before certification. @slow-poke does not have that luxury; he needs a quick effective solution so he can forget about the problem.

Which reminds me...... @slow-poke is a car nut. Which means he prolly has access to firewall matting. An absolutely awesome solution purpose made. Does sound deadening too......

 

[djberta]

Interesting, what are those SCR's being used for?

Early in my career I worked on some VERY large AC-DC-AC converters.

The units were used for plating, modded them for a water treatment system. They can go from 0-20v, I think they can go higher but we only tested them ramp to 20v 20000amps then they ramp down past 0 and back up to -20v at 20000amps. The idea was that as you pass current through water the contaminates will be drawn to the plates that are acting as cathodes and anodes. The scr's are about the size of big can of shoe polish and there is I think 300 or more in the unit. Split between the two sides. Mounted on a busbar system with cooling flags and temp switch's between the scr's. There are a dozen loops that use valves to switch as they heat and cool. The idea is to make sure the temperature of all the scr's is equal as the unit runs and switch's polarity. A large cooler in the middle. So multiple loops in the unit running in to the cool. 2 units running together making 40000 amps. I have also been directly involved in building small 100 watt VFD systems up to multi megawatt VFD inverter drive systems.

 

[mbond]

When you say no kick plates, do you mean that there are treads only with open air between? In that case, put some aluminum foil on the bottom of the tread and forget about it.

If there is a need to do something, sheet metal with an air gap on top. But make sure that the metal is on an angle and not horizontal. By rule of thumb, the metal section should be about 3x longer than the 'area of direct heat', and if so, and the angle (with any sort of lumps and bumps) is generally 20 degrees or more, it will create the air flow itself

 

[slow-poke]

Treads only at the moment, but I might add some kick plates for improved sound control.

There is fairly good air flow from the fan on the far side of the head. I dropped into the re-use center and lucky me they had a couple of rolls of the double sided aluminum with bubble-wrap in between. So for $2 I'm going to give it a try, I will rig up a thermocouple, activate the drain so it runs continuously for say 20-30 minutes and see how warm things get. Assuming temperatures < say 50C, I will add kick plates until the temperature starts to rise more than desired.