[mtmtnman]

Just curious if some of the stuff i'm seeing around here is happening around the country. Are you using gas or electric and why? How many gallons?? How many CFM?? After a few responses i will post my thoughts.......

 

[Ninjaframer]

I have gas and electric, big and small but my favorite is a little makita with the big bore piston.

 

[BPWY]

The more CFM your compressor turns the better of a job it'll do.

Very important in colder areas that get a lot of cold.
Possibly less important in not so cold areas if not all the water is gotten out of the lines.

 

[RichR]

The more CFM your compressor turns the better of a job it'll do.

I will agree the more CFM the better. However most of my winterizations are completed during the initial secure so time is not an issue as I pressurize while doing other tasks. With that being said I use my 6 gallon pancake electric compressor because it’s small and lite weight. It can also run on my small Honda generator if no power is available so it makes it very user friendly to tote around and takes up less space in the truck. While the more CFM is better for good long blasts of air to remove the water, if your filling the hot water tank up with air during the winterization this becomes a giant holding tank for the air and basically eliminates the need for the big CFM compressor. If I’m only there to complete a winterization, then this compressor can be on the slow side but it does the job just fine. Just my thoughts, but you know what they say. Opinion's are like Butt holes, everyone's got one and they all stink. :thumbsup:

 

[Robs660]

I have the max power lite 400 and it's all you ever need. I can run 3 framing guns at the same time, a whole bunch of finish guns and with the inverter it will run on small generator or really bad commercial power. Yes it's pricey but it works in 100 degree or 5 degree temps and as long as you don't park it in a puddle it's built to run forever

 

[BPWY]

I have the max power lite 400 and it's all you ever need. I can run 3 framing guns at the same time, a whole bunch of finish guns and with the inverter it will run on small generator or really bad commercial power. Yes it's pricey but it works in 100 degree or 5 degree temps and as long as you don't park it in a puddle it's built to run forever

Thats too small and slow for what we're talking about here.

PSI to run framing nailers versus the CFM needed to properly blow plumbing line are two different animals.

Heres an example of what I run (different brand).
And it'll run below 0. Long as the heat is on in the house so the plumbing isn't froze you're good to go.

 

[P3+]

I try to run 2 compressors when doing a wint. Rather than carry a generator and compressor separately, I carry a gen/compressor combo that runs on gas. The generator is 10K output, but the compressor output is only 3.4cfm @ 90psi, so I then plug in my Rigid 4.4cfm @ 90psi and run it as well.
Typically I will run one hose to the water heater (after it's drained of course), and another right to the main branch line....blow from the bottom up. Or sometimes rather than the water heater I will go through the washing machine bibs if they are more conveniently located.
I know many "training resources" recommend you run from the top down, but I simply find this asinine when blowing lines. You can't effectively charge the system through a faucet...not to mention it just takes too dang long.

 

[mtmtnman]

OK, here's my take. As mentioned above, opinions are like azzholes but i have quite a bit of experience here. This will be a two fold discussion. CFM and pressure. I run one of these:

I have used one from the start as i want to get in and get out NOW not 2 hours from now. I have picked 2 of them up new at local pawn shops for $400 each. It sits in the bed of my truck and i carry 200' of hose. It pushes 12.4 CFM @ 100psi. I regulate it down to 60 PSI. FWIW, 35 psi is what everyone recommends and that is worthless. Most wells and city pressures are around 60 psi.

Just the other night i thawed a house. Found one break that i would not have located with a little electric compressor as the pipe was wide open in a wall and hardly made a sound with 12.4 CFM pushing through it, fixed it and went on to do my pressure test. Charged system to 60 psi and went about other work. Took a look a few minutes later and the gauge was down to 40 PSI. Got a leak somewhere! Finished up packing my heaters and tools and went back down in the basement. Still at 40 PSI! Charged it up to 60 PSI again and could watch the gauge drop to 40 in a few minutes and stay at 40. Now if i would have done a 35 PSI pressure check as required, who would have been liable for the leak when the well was kicked back on pushing 60 PSI??????????? Yup ME! Something for y'all using baby compressors to think about.

I have a rigid twin tank electric and to charge a house to 60 PSI would take 20 minutes! I do it in 5 minutes.I know a company running around up here using one of these:

I would venture to guess nearly half of their houses i get on the REO side have some sort of freeze damage even though they have a passed pressure test on file. :whistling:whistling

Oh, during sprinkler wint season i hook both of mine in series to blow sprinkler lines. Works great!


FWIW, the most common freeze damage i find is an expensive one. Frozen shower valves. Little compressors don't have enough UMPF to push out water in 32" of stand pipe on top of the valve. The water settles back on top of the valve and busts it. Most people are in too much of a rush to remember to open the shower valve up after the pressure test to let any existing water out into the horizontal plumbing.......

 

[mt4closure]

I have the max power lite 400 and it's all you ever need. I can run 3 framing guns at the same time, a whole bunch of finish guns and with the inverter it will run on small generator or really bad commercial power. Yes it's pricey but it works in 100 degree or 5 degree temps and as long as you don't park it in a puddle it's built to run forever

YOU WIN!
That thing is arguably the best portable air compressor known to man!
BPWY, do some research on the Max compressor, you'll find that it will blow away our compressors, combined!

I only use gas powered "wheelbarrow" type compressors (w/ Honda motors), 100% synthetic Amsoil in pumps & motors. They always start and work, 1st or 2nd pull, regardless of tempature (used one at 20 below to pressure test a winterized house in eastern Montana (West Dakota).
Flexeel air hose is all you'll find on my truck as well (250' of it).

 

[mtmtnman]

YOU WIN!
That thing is arguably the best portable air compressor known to man!

I only use gas powered "wheelbarrow" type compressors (w/ Honda motors).

It damn well better be good for the price of 2 BRAND NEW gas powered compressors!!!!!

 

[BPWY]

It only has PSI on its side, not CFM.


I'll blow out a house with a pull behind compressor before I use one of those. Like Matt says, I want it done today, not 2 or 3 hrs from now waiting on it to fill the water heater with pressure.
Regulate the pressure to 50/60 and its a real slam bam thank you ma'm operation!
Last fall while I was winterizing sprinkler systems with my rental unit I got two house wints. I did it with the pull behind just to prove a point.
Talk about a quickie!

 

[david]

from my understanding i dont know of any company wanting you to use electric air compressors,they just dont do the job,i also use the wheelbarrow type gas compressor

 

[mbobbish734]

from my understanding i dont know of any company wanting you to use electric air compressors,they just dont do the job,i also use the wheelbarrow type gas compressor

Most of them don't specify, they usually say 4cfm or more. I've seen guys use a little pancake, hooked it up ran for 15min.

 

[GaryArf]

I agree with the bigger the better. While we are on this subject of gas compressors verses electric I had an issue today with my military gas compressor. Since it's gas and needs to run outside, AND being in MN. in the winter, it was 10 degree today and my hose froze up :sad: luck had it that the job was heated and three stories (including the basement) I was able to bring one end up to the top floor and dangle the rest into the basement and reverse my shop vac after it thawed and blow it out... I would have been screwed if this job wasn't heated. An electric compressor could have been inside...
What have you done to get the water out? ( I haven't a heated garage.) :sad:

 

[mtmtnman]

I agree with the bigger the better. While we are on this subject of gas compressors verses electric I had an issue today with my military gas compressor. Since it's gas and needs to run outside, AND being in MN. in the winter, it was 10 degree today and my hose froze up :sad: luck had it that the job was heated and three stories (including the basement) I was able to bring one end up to the top floor and dangle the rest into the basement and reverse my shop vac after it thawed and blow it out... I would have been screwed if this job wasn't heated. An electric compressor could have been inside...
What have you done to get the water out? ( I haven't a heated garage.) :sad:

I drain my tanks every evening after i back the truck in the garage. My compressor has not been out of the back of my truck in many years. Sits right behind the cab where it's hard for anyone to get to. Never had an issue with it freezing up in 4 years. You could add a petcock on your manifold to pour Alcohol in the tanks. Just like a semi truck then. If it's military, it should have something of the sort anyways. Military don't have a heated garage in the winter either.......

 

[BPWY]

I drain my tanks a couple times a year.

No humidity to speak of where I live.
It doesn't add much ice in the tank.

 

[SwiftRes]

Thoughts on this one? Looking to get a different compressor.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200377763_200377763

 

[SwiftRes]

If CFM is the most important factor, I may get this:
http://www.amazon.com/Metro-Vacuum-...ZOAW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1328293634&sr=8-3

 

[mtmtnman]

Thoughts on this one? Looking to get a different compressor.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200377763_200377763

Shouldn't be bad. I like the V style compressor heads better though. They stay cooler when it's hot out. Don't know where your at in Iowa but i have 2 of these Titans. They are a GREAT compressor. Never an issue with them. One is 4 yrs old and has done over 600 wints without any issues. The other i just broke in this week. It is in my new truck after sitting under the bench in the shop for 16 months. Started 1st pull!!

http://desmoines.craigslist.org/tls/2827757143.html

http://desmoines.craigslist.org/tls/2794749627.html

http://omaha.craigslist.org/tls/2830111492.html

http://sd.craigslist.org/tls/2752130317.html

 

[SwiftRes]

Thank you much. Just made an offer on the one for 475 in Des Moines, we will see if he takes it.