questions about air compressor

[lazydays]

I just bought a nice dewalt air compressor http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HZJ...ss_product and I have some questions. 1) is it ok to leave the tank full all the time or should i bleed it when not in use? 2) when airing up a bike tire or basketball what pressure (wrong term) should it be set at? I don't want to push the air too fast and blow up the tubes etc. Thanks.

[Dick Moore]

OK to leave filled, but it should be drained of water that collects from time to time -- i do mine once a year. As to pressure for tires etc, around 50% more than you intend to fill to should give a good, yet safer result.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

Agree about bleeding the water condensation. It might not collect much water if it is not used in a moist/humid area. I would start with a setting about 20 psi over whatever you are trying to inflate until you get comfortable with it.

Road bike tires fill fast. I know someone that blew out a tire in a few seconds when a gas station set their air at 150 psig.

Edit: to be safe, start out at 10 psi over whatever you are trying to fill, so 20 psi on the tank to fill a basketball with a target pressure of 8 to 9 psi.

[davester]

This would have served you better IMHO. No worries, no maintenance, no complication, cheaper, and faster to pump up a bike tire (or probably a ball) than an air compressor:



Now, if you want to blow up air beds, inflatable boats, car tires, etc, or to operate pneumatic nailers or other tools, then a compressor is a better choice. However, for your tasks a hand pump is the better choice. I have both a compressor and a hand pump. I never use the compressor for balls or bike tires.

[lazydays]

Thanks for all the info! I'm very excited to give it a try.

[freeradical]

Have you tried spinning bearings with it yet?

:-)

From what I'm told, this is dangerous. Make sure you've got a full face shield and other protective gear on if you try this.

[lafinfil]

I'll be the decenter on blowing out the tank - I clear it after every use, and yes there is moisture every time.

It may be overkill but why leave it to chance ? It is just good maintenance practice to me.
My smaller everyday compressor (a Porter Cable pancake) just takes a minute or two to fully fill.
The big compressor has a 20 gallon tank and is 25+ years old and not a speck of rust in the water
when it gets cleared. If you are planning on using it with air tools it's not worth risking damage
to those either IMHO

The compressor in my old darkroom sat in a remote utility room where the air handling, water filters, etc ...
and the compressed air was piped to various locations (it fed print stations and processing & slide mounting equipment)
I installed an auto valve on it which cleared the tank every 24 hours - never had to think about it which was nice
because it got used 8-10 hrs per day.

[OWC Jamie]

Do not trust the regulator gauge to deliver an exact pressure, especially 8 pounds for a basketball or less for kids toys and pool toys.

You should be able to dial your pressure down to be safe and get used to the amounts of air it can deliver.

I have a safety blow gun that directs a good portion of air to the side , with a ball needle attached that is a lot safer for even toys like beach balls that pop real easy.


Get a good hand held pressure gauge to test and give short burst of air from the compressor. Especialy even with bike tires and riding mower tires.

[RonT]

I've got an emglo twin tank compressor that I purchased for my cabinet shop 15 years ago. I set the gauge on it at 100psi when I purchased it and haven't changed it since then. I've used it with nail guns of all types. Inflated basket balls, footballs, auto and truck tires and with an air nozzle on it to blow the dust out of countless computers with nary a problem.

If you use the compressor frequently, drain the condensation off the tank(s) frequently, i.e.- weekly. If you seldom use the compressor then drain the tank of condensation after using it.

It's not rocket science.