Infrastucture

Jon of Skeans Pneumatic and Automation has a new heavy duty and high volume compressor to donate to Kamloops Makerspace!

I just met up with him this after noon to take a look at it and help him unload it. They will be doing a quick quality check on the unit to make sure everything works perfectly, then we can bring it down.

Skeans supplies pneumatic equipment for industry as well as carrying some really interesting other products like Universal Robots, we did a demo of one of the UR3 robot arms at Tech Fest a few years back.

The compressor has a 60 gallon tank, 3.7 HP motor and can output 11.5 CFM @ 90 PSI. This will be able to take care of all the air tools at Makerspace, you can run a die grinder with this no problem.

The plan will be to hook up air lines to both the wood and fab shop at a few points so all a person will need to do is hook up an air line to a quick connect fitting and use the tool. This means no more loud air compressor in each shop, and it will let the Makerspace get that Sand Blaster in the fabrication shop up and running.

How fast can we build hut in the pigeon cage?

Will throw ideas around in the meeting tonight. I see several options:

1. Pigeon alley, use the door in the fab shop hall and frame out an insulated, sealed hut. By far the most expensive and time consuming option.
2. Slap it in the downstairs washroom in front of the urinal where the old air compressor tank is. Ugly and noisy, but fast and easy.
3. Stick it in the shower in DS washroom, frame out some kind of elevated enclosure. Involves work, and would need to make sure it stays dry and inlet air is dry.
4. Stick it in the basement. It's a mess in many parts down there and hauling it down the stairs would be no fun for anyone.
5. Stick it in the entrance where that old Kiln has been stored for the past eon. Not the best solution should that entrance ever become a real entrance, also the longest run of piping required.

You really want to have access to both sides of this since the drive belt is on the back and the gauge and other things of interest are on the front.

Any sort of outdoor winter temperatures would be asking for problems, making the outdoor option more complicated.

Ok new idea: a small enclosure under the woodshop fire escape stairs. Basically a closet, put the compressor on a few casters so it can be wheeled out for service.

Build it to the side and move it into place.

Pigeon alley is a hard no from me. I swung by there again tonight to look and it is just too tight in there for anyone to do much for service, building an enclosure in place would be very hard since there isn't room on the sides and fastening to the siding is a no go. The door in the hallway is boarded over with plywood on the exterior. I just can't see it working without modifying the building envelope. It's a possible project but just far too much effort.

The original idea was to build a garbage enclosure there, but I like the idea of putting the compressor there. I have a cart for it and may have some more ceder to match the dust extractor shed.

The pressure gauges can be moved. Its a matter of plumbing them to the location you want. We can even place it inside the building. Compressors are a set and forget machine. We don't need to keep fiddling with it once its set up. We don't need access to both sides. We need to change a belt from time to time and we need to be able to drain the water. I don't see the drain on the gauge side so its probably on the belt side. I don't like the idea of moving the compressor because that means disconnecting the lines to do it.

We should consider making the air distribution system with threaded steel pipe. Use shorter hoses off of that.

Is anyone able to help me unload this beast Wednesday evening?

Would be looking to do so at around 430.

I can be there

The air compressor was unloaded tonight. Thanks to Grant, Dave and Masa for the hand in getting it down and off the truck.

Currently the compressor is sitting in the fab shop. It was pretty large and unwieldy sitting on a palley and not much fun to move for a single person. I hastily mounted some caster wheels to the pallet with some scrap wood. The compressor is now an easily moved by a single person, albeit large and unwieldy item.

The wheels are pretty janky, but will do for now.

Beside the compressor are a few spare belts, hose and oil.

The oil was just changed by Skeans but they recommended we change it again after it has ran for a while.

Reading the meeting minutes and it sounds like an install can't happen until the enclosure can be built?

It seems a shame to have this stalled out due to the complications of outdoor storage, which would take a lot of volunteer time and resources. Unfortunately building an enclosure isn't something I will have to to assist with for a while.

Could we just install this in the shower with the hope of moving it elsewhere at a later date?

Alternatively could it be installed in the furnace room downstairs? I've inquired on if this would be allowable with the landlord and he would have no problem with that. Warm, dry air and its out of the way, just has the added cost of some longer lines.

I still feel storing the compressor outdoors will cause issues in the long run, it's really not recommended unless the enclosure can be kept above freezing:

http://compressors.matteicomp.com/blog/best-practices-for-running-air-compressors-in-winter

https://cedcompressedair.ca/should-you-install-your-compressor-outside/

https://www.cp.com/en-us/compressors/expert-corner/blog/can-my-air-compressor-be-outside

I should have indicated that in the minutes. The previous conversations were that if nothing was done in a reasonable time it could be moved to the shower until a permanent solution could be found. The last two meeting the outside solution was discussed but it does not seem there is volunteer availability to make it happen. One of the original places considered was also the bathroom in the basement. I think it is welcome to go anywhere anyone is interested in putting it. It is a matter of volunteer availability more than anything.

I did a walk through with a tape measure. The Air Compressor is a maximum 24" wide which will fit down the stairs. The pallet it's bolted to is too wide. We need it on a platform to be able to fit a hand cart under it. Maximum 24".

Once its strapped to the hand cart we can make it most of the way to its destination. There is not enough room between the toilet and the wall. The toilet will have to be removed and replaced.

The location also has a heat detector directly above it. I doubt the compressor will get nearly warm enough to trip it. The heat detector is a very old device and may not appreciate the vibration. We should talk to the fire alarm company about moving it. At the very least we need to be careful to not hit it.

In case you missed it above the landlord is A-ok with the compressor going in the furnace room - just a hop skip and a jump from that bathroom in the basement.

The air compressor only measures 2 feet square. We could upcycle some pallet wood to make an enclosure. It won't be as spiffy as the vacuum enclosure. If you squint it's mint.

This spot in the furnace room looks good to me, theres a wall penetration/pipe run that is about 8' from where it would go in that basement bathroom only it doesn't require any removal of anything.

It meets 2 out of 3 bullet points.

1) Its easy to install. No construction required.

2) Its eays to wire. Right near the panel.

3) It would take another 360 degrees in bends and an extra 100' of piping to bring the air to the shops. I have never designed a air distribution system. Perhaps we have someone who knows how to design the system to work with the longer distance.

I have some experience with high pressure compressors from my time as a scuba diving technician. Depending on the size and type of compressor the Issue is less about the plumbing as the pipes effectively become part of the pressure storage/air tank. The trick is to use a good air drying system to prevent moisture buildup in the pipes, which can freeze and cause damage. This is installed at the compressor, then the addition of an air shut off valve in each room to prevent the compressor from unnecessarily losing pressure from a leaking fitting.

Bends and long runs are problems when moving higher volumes or in any system with potential leaks. Nothing like the challenges of a vacuum system like the dust collector though where air velocity is critical.

For continuous flow and high demand yes but there are some easy fixes. Use a larger pipe, or add a small accumulator in the different work spaces. Like Travis says below a portion of the line will act as an accumulator for intermittent flow.

Dry air is the bigger thing and we should have the lowest moisture content in the whole building down in that room, that's a pretty big plus in my books.

100% agree with Garrett, at home we used to use old propane tanks as accumulators, one way check valve on the input side and a gas shut off on the output side, they also acted as an impromptu water collection point and helped compensate for temperature changes. I am not suggesting this for the makerspace, as spent propane cylinders are not exactly meant for this, but there are other options for accumulators.

My online shopping skills aren't working for this task. Does anyone know where to source the materials for putting this together? I managed to find out that Princess Auto carries a manual pipe threader. We need pipe, elbows, tees, and air chucks. I was thinking the pipe could go under the crawlspace to the Fab shop, elbow up along the west wall, and form a loop along the west wall in the wood shop and fab shop. We need a budget and a fundraiser.

I have a pipe threader and may have some pipe and parts. There are air dryers and filters etc in the Fab Shop. I would agree with Grants routing. If we run at least 1 inch to both shops then split off with smaller stuff we should have no problems with flow.

I would suggest we try and reach out to someone in industry to help put this together or go after a donation.

Right at the moment I can't think of who that would be, but will try and think on it.

I see that some industrious people have moved the compressor to the shower room. I just stopped by to see if we have a hand cart that can move it. We do. Was this a plan or was this about not wanting to look at it anymore?

I thought it was heading to the basement. I dont know who moved it.

I would like to move the compressor to the basement on Sunday. I need two helpers.

1) remove compressor from shower

2) remove wheels from base

3) strap compressor to hand cart

4) attach a rope to the hand cart so 2 people can assist with lowering.

Please reply if you can help. I'm thinking noon is a good time.

I have to be there in a few hours anyway, so count me in

Success. We have moved the air compressor to the basement. Everything went according to plan. Thank you to John and Jeanie for the assist. I know we talked about building a manifold but I have a feeling we will just end up running flex lines everywhere.

Next steps.

1) clear out the corner where the compressor will be installed.

2) use anchor bolts to fasten the compressor to the floor and make it level.

3) build up a base with concrete.

4) apply power

5) remove air

I'm working really long days so if someone could deal with step 1 that would be appreciated.

Awesome to hear! Too bad I didn't see this post or I would have been there to help!

I have a few bags of quickrete I could donate as well as some mixing and pouring tools.

I'd also be happy to help running the lines. I've got some plumbing experience, especially with PEX (which I assume is the same as flex(?)). My phone number is 604-999-1475 if you want to arrange a time for the steps past number 1.

That would be awesome. I thought pex wasn't rated for air compressors but pex-al-pex could work. https://www.about-air-compressors.com/pex-pipe/

The air compressor is bolted to the floor. I used plywood spacers to level the machine. No grout required. The cable is set aside and the breaker is on order.

Next is a plan for the air lines. Do we get supplies from https://www.new-line.com/ and build a system or do we patch together pre-made lines from Princessauto.com ?

I would say newline is the best bet.

Anybody know a good way to access the crawl space?

It plays like a mystery plot but:

Remove the fake wood panel behind the toilet. The crawlspace is dark and ominous.

It's a tight fit under there but if you want to know what it looks like before actually going in yourself, look here - https://youtu.be/K_XE3xyeCqo?t=119

I have all the parts and time off from Thursday to Sunday. Who's up for installing an air system? We also need to locate any air driers and regulators. Hopefully beforehand.

Air dryiers and regulators are in the Fabshop up on the shelf

We have progress. There is air supplied to the basement and fab shop. There are 2 ports in the fab shop and one in the paint booth. Ran out of parts before I could do the wood shop.

Edit: if someone could figure out how to check for a filter cartridge that'd be great. We have a large and an enormous filter cartridge to use. I was trying to open the mearly large one but couldn't. It's probably 1/4 turn or press and turn but I couldn't budge it.

We now have air at the woodshop. No need for the compressor that makes you jump. I swapped out the 3/8 couplings that I mistakenly installed for 1/4 couplings. Maybe next week I'll tackle the air for the laser cutter.

John and I did the air for the laser cutter today in preperation of setting up the new laser.

Can we expedite installing the air dryers?

I'm already getting visible jets of water out of the dusting nozzle.

I couldn't figure out how to open the base of the air dryer to put the filter in. If someone else can solve that problem we can use it.

I put it in the vice wrapped in a towel and turned. It's really stiff in the threads but here is already a cartridge inside. We need a filter wrench, or something like a filter wrench made out of wood. I was going to try and install it last night but we need a bunch of fittings and adapters to attach it to the tank and I can't really mount it until I know how it's being plumbed in. I've put two 3/4" ball valves in your box of air parts.

Edited: If you want to put the tank drain on a timer I dug into my storage and found a 24h 208-240v terminating defrost timer with 40A contacts. It was only installed for a year and is still pretty much brand new.

Cool. I've already got the chase nipple for the filter. I would like to see how that timer works.

Here.

https://www.robertshaw.com/Products/Refrigeration/Defrost-Timers/Commercial/8145-20/?cat=2147483735

I'll bring it in on Wednesday.

I picked up a ball valve. I'll meet you there on Wednesday.

The air filter is installed. Hopefully this will help with moisture problem.

Further to the moisture problem. We have some things that are moisture sensitive like paint sprayers and brad nailers. A solution that might work is a small desicant holder attached to the tool. I assume we still have a toaster oven used for plastics. We can use that to dry the pellets for reuse.

Canadian Tire

We now have an automatic valve to empty moisture from the tank. It will run for 5 seconds every 45 minutes.

Moved from the Lounge to Infrastucture for clarity

I've added another automatic valve for bleeding the air system. This one attaches to the air filter. If there is still a problem with moisture in one of the lines you may have to purge that hose.