Compressive…

Air pressure at sea level is roughly 14.7 pounds per square inch (psi). At this ambient pressure, a 60 gallon container would hold roughly 8 cubic feet of air. At double ambient pressure (29.5 psi), that same 60 gallon container would hold 16 cubic feet of air.

Now consider what would happen if you doubled it again. And then double it once more. You’d end up with about 120 psi:

…and roughly 64 cubic feet of ambient-pressure air being held in this:

I wired up my new compressor this week. Can you tell?

The compressor came with a cord, but I decided I wanted to have it hard-wired. This was actually fairly easy to do. The shop already has 220 volts to the sub panel, so all I had to do was drop in a 220 volt, 20 amp circuit breaker into the panel:

…and run some armored cable directly from there into the compressor:

It was my pleasure to have my daughter help me with the wiring this week. She learned that the 220 volt circuit breakers are as big as they are because they have to attach to both phase buses in the sub panel to produce that voltage. She also learned how to measure voltages with a multi-meter, strip wire and how to be safe around electricity.

She also got the privilege when we were finished of turning the breaker to the shop on – turning the compressor on for the first time. It was cool watching her smile and fist-pump when it worked the first time.

Along the way, I also installed some rubber pads for the compressor to sit on and an extended drain valve with hose so I wouldn’t have to reach under the unit and disturb the bugs, spiders and other insects that will inevitably live there:

Once everything was working, I showed my daughter the pressure regulator that allows the tank pressure to remain constant, but the pressure in the hose to be set to whatever is needed at the moment. This pressure regulator is also part of the water trap system that helps collect condensed water that may escape into the lines:

With a little bit of clean up, I am delighted to say my new compressor is fully operational and looks right at home in its spot in the shop:

Next week I get to play with my new media blasters…