What to look for in an air compressor.

[Swarfing]

Martin you can hook a compressor up to a vfd so they are not out of the question.

[martin54]

Martin you can hook a compressor up to a vfd so they are not out of the question.

Did think about a vfd same as the spindle on the router but are you not limited to 3 or 4KW doing it that way? Most of the industrial screw compressors I've seen that sell reasonably cheaply are bigger than that, the smaller ones & single phase compressors seem to sell for a lot more money, I'm guessing because there is far more demand for them from people like ourselves lol.

[m_c]

Big VFDs are available, but once you go past 2.2/3kw, the price increases quite a bit.

You could run it from a phase converter, however once you get past a few kw you're into quite substantial wiring and current requirements on 240V. Most common screw compressors start around 7kw, which would need 30A from 240V and that's before you consider the startup surge from the motor.
They are alot quieter, but you need to make sure they've been reguarly maintained, as any issues lead to efficiency dropping of quickly, and they're definetly not cheap to fix!

[martin54]

thanks for the pointers people, definitely need to do a lot more research before making any sort of decision on what's the best way forward.

[Swarfing]

Also think about the larger the screw compressor (not always the same as a hydrovane) get noisier. Think about the medium to use as well. Checkout soda blasting

[martin54]

Also think about the larger the screw compressor (not always the same as a hydrovane) get noisier. Think about the medium to use as well. Checkout soda blasting

Still be a lot quieter than the cheap compressor I have at the moment lol.
Soda blasting requires very similar pressures & flow rates although it does work slightly differently. Already got a bag of soda to experiment with along with the glass beads & aluminium oxide. Might be able to borrow a compressor from someone I know to run along side mine for the time being which will at least let me start experimenting. Should help give me a better idea of what I really need to do the job properly.

[Swarfing]

LOL! I have an old compressor which i very rarely use these days because of the noise. Hope you sort it soon Martin.