$500 Compressor Kit

[joebob24]

How many people would be interested in a $500 kit that you could assemble with basic tools that would produce a compressor capable of something like 3-4 SCFM at 3500 PSI? Motor, filtration and mounting not included. Just trying to gauge interest at this point.

 

[Boarderguy]

How many people would be interested in a $500 kit that you could assemble with basic tools that would produce a compressor capable of something like 3-4 SCFM at 3500 PSI? Motor, filtration and mounting not included. Just trying to gauge interest at this point.

4k psi so HP steel tanks aren't topped off at peak pressure of the system would be more intriguing.

 

[joebob24]

4k psi so HP steel tanks aren't topped off at peak pressure of the system would be more intriguing.

The 3500psi number was intended to cover HP tanks. It's a hypothetical compressor at this point though, so we could call it 4k. Just reduces cfm slightly.

 

[-JD-]

Oil lube or "dry"?
Service interval?
Duty cycle?
Inter-stage water separation included? Practicality of automation?
Ease of integration/packaging?

A $500 3-4 SCFM pump certainly sounds great! Devil, details ...

 

[Robert H. Diver]

Of course

 

[joebob24]

Oil lube or "dry"?
Service interval?
Duty cycle?
Inter-stage water separation included? Practicality of automation?
Ease of integration/packaging?

A $500 3-4 SCFM pump certainly sounds great! Devil, details ...

Oil lube
Realistically probably needs something every few hundred hours. Parts would be cheap though.
No water separation at all. That would have to be provided alongside whatever filtration the user wanted.

Mount it to a flat surface and drive it with a V belt. How easy you make that is up to you.

 

[Rollin Bonz]

 

[Degenerate]

How many people would be interested in a $500 kit that you could assemble with basic tools that would produce a compressor capable of something like 3-4 SCFM at 3500 PSI? Motor, filtration and mounting not included. Just trying to gauge interest at this point.

What would your estimate be at the cost of obtaining the motor, filtration and mounting etc on top of your $500 kit?

If that exceeds or equals current options (including buying used and refurbishing) I think you would have an extremely hard time trying to push your way into a very niche market unfortunately.

 

[Tracy]

Oil lube
Realistically probably needs something every few hundred hours. Parts would be cheap though.
No water separation at all. That would have to be provided alongside whatever filtration the user wanted.

Mount it to a flat surface and drive it with a V belt. How easy you make that is up to you.

So to sum it up. You plan to build a compressor that will

A. Pump water instead of just air
B. Exceed the service intervals of most major compressor makers by two to four fold
C. Do it for $500

Yeah, this seems plausible. You build it, I would buy one.

 

[joebob24]

What would your estimate be at the cost of obtaining the motor, filtration and mounting etc on top of your $500 kit?

For me, the answer is almost zero in terms of actual money. I have several motors laying around that would work, I already have a filter system and I have access to a full weld shop and machine shop.

I don't know how many other people like me there are in the world though, which is what I was curious about. If you didn't see the post and almost immediately know what you would need to finish out the system, it probably wouldn't be your thing, but here is a stab at it:

Harbor freight has a 3hp motor for $190.

Filtration for breathing air is a giant can of worms that I don't want to open. It is the most important part and everyone seems to have their own idea of what is required. I am going to throw $500 out there based on what it would cost for a replacement housing and parts for some of the commercially available small compressors. You could spend way more than this though.

I am going to assume it and the motor are just screwed to a 2x6 with some #8 sheetrock screws and not include any cost for mounting or piping or fittings. If you can't figure out a way to mount it and get the air from one place to another, again not for you.

Total cost: $1190

I am planning on building a prototype that I will machine all of the parts for. I was originally planning on just releasing the prints as just an open source kind of thing, but then I realized that the part cost would be really high if you just ordered one set of parts at a time. I would probably have to make at least 10-15 to make it cost effective for someone ordering the parts through a machine shop.

A. Pump water instead of just air
B. Exceed the service intervals of most major compressor makers by two to four fold
C. Do it for $500

A. Yes. Several of the smaller commercially available compressors do not have interstage water removal.
B. No. The recommended maintenance sheets for compressors I looked at had the first major service around 500 hours. (stuff before that were just checks and oil) I am saying you might have to do things like valves after 100 hours.
C. I haven't quoted any parts yet, but yes that would be the idea.