Financial planning, compressor

[2airishuman]

What I see is that the OP is having is an itch that won't go away until it has been properly scratched. I had the same (almost) itch and scratched it to satisfaction with a compressor from Jim Shelden (@frogman 62) and it may be exactly what the Doctor ordered for @formernuke http://www.sheldensportinggoods.com/

Jim Shelden has retired from the compressor business. Portions of his service business have been taken over by Elevate Systems. I have sent equipment to Elevate Systems for repair and did not find the results to be satisfactory.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Thats an idea, if I wanted to later could I add a auto drain?

I looked into auto drains. As others have said it wasn't worth it, plus I have read that you can catch signs of issues from what comes out of the drains, so better to have eyes on it.

 

[Couv]

Jim Shelden has retired from the compressor business.

True, but he still has a few compressors for sale at very good prices considering the filter system and fill whip comes with it. Basically a system ready to start pumping upon arrival.

Sorry to hear about Elevate Systems-that is a bit worrying.

c

 

[prid1279]

I have never regretted building my compressor system.

If you do your research, start small and buy carefully you can make it pay for itself.

According to my logs my first compressor paid for itself in the first two years.
This didn't include costs of driving back and forth to the fill station.

If you dive lots, all year round and buy carefully it can be a solid investment.

There are some things to watch out for.

It takes a lot of time to fill your own cylinders, ask my wife.
Filter science is important, you can easily die.
A mechanically minded disposition makes all the difference, if you have to pay someone to do all your problem solving the returns are much reduced.

i have spent a lot of time researching all the issues and for me this has been one of the greatest enjoyments of the whole exercise.
I know a lot more now than when I began.

 

[CuzzA]

I'm going to repeat this.

MORE TANKS WILL NOT HELP, I CANNOT FIT MORE TANKS ON MY CAR AND HAVE NO PLACE TO STORE THEM AT MY HOUSE.

I'm well aware of the maintenance of compressors and swore I would never get one. Things have changed.

What kind of car do you have? With the money you'd spend on a compressor system you could probably install a hitch receiver on your car and buy a small trailer set up to carry a dozen or so tanks and go to the shop when needed. Hitch would be about $150. Harbor Freight or Northern Tool sells a small 4x8 trailer with a load rating of 1k lbs. for $350. Add the cost of securing the tanks in the trailer. Maybe another $100. Plus the cost of the tanks. You'd be thousands ahead with the only ongoing expense being vips, hydros and trailer tires. You could even make a custom fill whip for your shop so you don't even need to take the tanks out of the trailer. Long hose out the door with branches to fill all of the tanks at once.

 

[grf88]

What kind of car do you have? With the money you'd spend on a compressor system you could probably install a hitch receiver on your car and buy a small trailer set up to carry a dozen or so tanks and go to the shop when needed. Hitch would be about $150. Harbor Freight or Northern Tool sells a small 4x8 trailer with a load rating of 1k lbs. for $350. Add the cost of securing the tanks in the trailer. Maybe another $100. Plus the cost of the tanks. You'd be thousands ahead with the only ongoing expense being vips, hydros and trailer tires. You could even make a custom fill whip for your shop so you don't even need to take the tanks out of the trailer. Long hose out the door with branches to fill all of the tanks at once.

Some people just want to have their own compressor, your choice is to have more tanks, mine, along with others is to have their own capability to fill their own.

 

[CuzzA]

Some people just want to have their own compressor, your choice is to have more tanks, mine, along with others is to have their own capability to fill their own.

That's fine, but my post was in regards to formernukes original post and solving the issue he has with travel time to get a fill for just a couple tanks. My post has nothing to do with what you want to do.

My suggestion, assuming he's not driving a Mini, solves his issue without the need for designing and financially planning for a fill system. Which as noted here many times before, unless you're consistently diving year round, which I doubt he is given where he lives, it's a poor investment.

If he stated in his original post that he's hell bent on setting up a fill system, then his feelings would mirror yours and I would not have made the suggestion.

 

[flymolo]

sorry for a potential thread hijack, but i noticed temperature was mentioned several times throughout this thread. would running a compressor and or booster out of a backyard shed become an issue if summer temperatures run well into the 90s at times?

 

[formernuke]

unless you're consistently diving year round, which I doubt he is given where he lives, it's a poor investment.

Winds permitting 2 or 3 times a week year around.

Storage of tanks is also an issue.

I drive a civic.

 

[Cio]

sorry for a potential thread hijack, but i noticed temperature was mentioned several times throughout this thread. would running a compressor and or booster out of a backyard shed become an issue if summer temperatures run well into the 90s at times?

Not an issue, most machines will run fine in that ambient as long as air flow is adequate. 100F max ambient is pretty standard.