New Compressor from Ex-Wife

[oldmansax]

Barn Owl - I have used the same setup in my shop before I could afford a store-bought compressor. They work fine but are somewhat inefficient since they are made to work at different pressure gradient. If you are going to use yours only in the bus, you may consider taking the tank off & just pipe the compressor directly into the bus tanks to save space. I did that on my truck with a similar setup. Make sure to use a check valve so the bus air doesn't leak back thru the auxiliary compressor when the auxiliary is not being used.

[Barn Owl]

Tom,

Thanks for the input. Could you go into more detail about "They work fine but are somewhat inefficient since they are made to work at different pressure gradient". I could use an education on it.

Thanks,

Laryn

[oldmansax]

Laryn,

I have a friend that says "I've already told you MORE than I know about it now!" 

That's almost where I am!

I do know that the A/C compressors are designed to work from about 30psi to about 300psi so the pressure differential is about 270 psi.  To do that, some of them are 2 stage and some of them use a very long stroke to get from 30 to 300. A regular single stage air compressor usually works from 0psi to about 125psi so the differential is about 125psi. The result of the design is you will get more air VOLUME from a regular air compressor assuming the same amount of energy input. You will get more PRESSURE from the A/C compressor. In our case, any pressure over about 150 will be wasted.

In the case of using an A/C compressor to pump up your air tanks, you are probably not worried about the amount of time it takes to air up the bus. You would notice a difference if you were using an air tool. Of course, you can always start the bus & use BOTH compressors if you were changing a tire roadside.

Hope that helps.

Now, don't you REAL engineers bust my chops over my maybe not quite accurate descriptions here!. Just because I use NeverSieze in ALL my compressors and nuts are not falling off........................   

[Barn Owl]

Tom,

The compressor I have is a single stage air compressor off of an old truck I think. So that would be OK, right? I see what you are saying about the use of two stage compressors.

Laryn

[oldmansax]

Laryn,

Sure! I misunderstood. I thought you had an old A/C compressor. I wonder how many more times I can stick my foot in my mouth?!

BTW, an A/C compressor WILL work also.