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bgaidan

bgaidan

Red Skull Member
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Jul 18, 2020
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2322
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Yep, another compressor thread....


So i stopped by one of my semi-local scrap yards on saturday looking for a material storage rack for all my random steel I have laying around. Right in the parking lot I noticed they had two IR compressors and a tank mounted refrigerated drier. I've been casually looking for a vertical tank to free up some floor space from my horizontal 80 gallon emglo so I asked about the drier because it had a nice looking tank. $100 bill and they were loading it in my truck. I didn't have my trailer so that was all I could grab.

The date on the tank was only like 2017, but I assumed that drier had to be toast for it to have been scrapped. Got it home and plugged it in and it actually powered up, but has some type of error code on the display. Not sure if it's because there's not pressure/flow on it or if there's something else wrong. CP doesn't put any owner's manuals online so I haven't been able to find out what the code. Still waiting for them to answer my e-mail request for a manual. This could be a good deal ($100 for a nice tank) or a killer deal ($100 for a $4k drier).

1620790089187.png


Or it could just have tripped a safety from the overly clogged filter/cooling fins.
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So then I started thinking about the IR compressors. It was obvious both motors had overheated, but I figured it was pretty likely that the pumps were OK. Definitely worth the gamble. So I shot back there first thing Monday morning and $300 later both of these were on my trailer.
1620790481116.png


The motors on both looked like this. Safe to say they got a little hot!
1620790543941.png



Looks like I can get singe phase 7hp motors on ebay for about $400. Figure I'll get one and test both heads. If both check out, I'll keep one and rebuild and flip the other. Hopefully I can use the old 3 phase starts on the single phase motors....then I'll just need to replace the missing covers on them.


Not a bad score for $400. Hell, there's probably $50 in scrap on the old motors!



Also go a couple racks that I'll modify in to material racks. Another $100 bill for the pair.

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Scrap yards get me in trouble! :laughing:
 
If the motors and compressors spin I would try to get them to a 3 phase source and see if they actually run. If they run at least you can CL them. What does the oil look like in the compressors? Great score as long as the compressors can be rebuilt if needed.
 
Am I remembering correctly that bgaidan you're in raleigh? If so, you've gotta tell me which scrap yard you go to, lol.

Those look like IR2475 compressors. I bought one for $50 at an auction and hooked it up with a 5hp 3ph motor (with pulley sizes to boot) and the thing cranks. You got a screaming deal.
 
Turns out the pallet under one of the compressors had the packing slip for the delivery to Discount Tire a couple towns away. It was dated 4/21/21....so just a week or two before these ended up at the yard. I'm guessing just just picked the old ones up and re-mounted them to the pallets form the new ones to make loading out easier.

I'm kind of now banking on the compressors taking a shit and corporate just sending them the whole package with the new drier and all. So hopefully the drier works once I get air in it.


ChiScouter said:
If the motors and compressors spin I would try to get them to a 3 phase source and see if they actually run. If they run at least you can CL them. What does the oil look like in the compressors? Great score as long as the compressors can be rebuilt if needed.
Click to expand...

Haven't had a chance to inspect them yet. I picked them up monday morning, came home and unloaded them and turned right around to load up my rig and hit the road.....1/2 a week of work out of town and then a wheeling trip for the rest of the week.

I'm kind of curious how both motors appear to have the same burn marks. Almost wondering if they had a power failure and lost a leg or something. Seems weird that they'd both fail the same way, presumably at the same time. I know the cheaper, consumer level IR units had problems with the motors burning out, but I didn't think that carried over the the commercial/3-phase stuff. I have a VFD that I can throw them on to see if they'll still spin....but it's not big enough to actually turn the pumps under load.

I figure the tanks alone are worth what I paid. Motors can be scrapped if they're shot and I can definitely use the intercoolers on them on my old compressor if all else fails. Can also salvage the auto drains off the tanks for my other unit.



GLTHFJ60 said:
Am I remembering correctly that bgaidan you're in raleigh? If so, you've gotta tell me which scrap yard you go to, lol.

Those look like IR2475 compressors. I bought one for $50 at an auction and hooked it up with a 5hp 3ph motor (with pulley sizes to boot) and the thing cranks. You got a screaming deal.
Click to expand...

Close....I'm in the triad. Previously greensboro but recently moved to Reidsville. There a few places nearby that are worth checking out if you're in the area....D.H. Griffin always has cool shit, but they're all hit or miss. Chances are you'll see something a dozen times that you don't need.....and then you'll need one of those and you'll never see one again. :laughing:


I'd be shocked if you didn't have places like that in the triangle. And scrap yard that isn't saving out the "good stuff" to sell is stupid. Most of them don't advertise so you just have to kind of pull in and see if they have a corner of the yard that looks a little organized.
 
bgaidan said:
Close....I'm in the triad. Previously greensboro but recently moved to Reidsville. There a few places nearby that are worth checking out if you're in the area....D.H. Griffin always has cool shit, but they're all hit or miss. Chances are you'll see something a dozen times that you don't need.....and then you'll need one of those and you'll never see one again. :laughing:


I'd be shocked if you didn't have places like that in the triangle. And scrap yard that isn't saving out the "good stuff" to sell is stupid. Most of them don't advertise so you just have to kind of pull in and see if they have a corner of the yard that looks a little organized.
Click to expand...

There just aren't that many metal scrap yards around here, and the auto scrap yards seem to be constantly combed over leaving not much behind.

Machine auctions like CLT and Iron Horse are good, but even there, many people are bidding up to nearly-new prices anyway.
 
Damn, those are some good finds!

We're kinda screwed for scrap yards around here. They are either small meth-head hangouts, or large corporate yards that don't really resell the good stuff. And it seems like everyone in the PNW has a side hustle to hock shit on Craigs/Offerup/Letgo/Facebook/etc so everyone thinks their used shit is worth way too much.
 
I got one of those compressors, the 1/8" brass fitting broke and they 'needed' to throw it away and get a new one at the place I used to work
it got thrown away right in my truck:laughing:
 
Well, good news and bad news. I started shopping around for single phase motors today and the best price I can find on a 1p 220v, 7.5hp, 3520rpm, 213t frame motor was about $750 after tax. Fuck that.

So tonight I came home and hooked up my little 3hp VFD that I have for whenever I finish my lathe and to my surprise both of them appear to work. Since the VFD is way undersized, I could only run them with the valve open and only at about 45hz or the VFD would give an overcurrent error and shut down, but they ran there just fine.

One seems to run just perfect and the other was shaking pretty bad - almost like the crank is unbalanced or has a bad bearing or something. Gonna have to pull that pump and see what's up. Fortunately it looks like you can do a full rebuild on the pump for about $400 so there's still hope. If not, I'm sure I can still get my $150 back out the tank, motor and other parts.

Plan now is to pick up a single phase 7.5hp rated vfd (or maybe 10hp to be safe) and run it off that. That's actually something I've thought about doing for a while as it opens up some options with the control - like using the low voltage control side to add a switch or timer or even tie it to my home automation stuff so it won't run when I'm not home. You could also run it slower under normal load and even overclock it a bit when you need a little extra volume.

Looks like I can get a 7.5kw vfd (10hp rated) for under $200 straight from china. It's the same model I use on my lathe and I've had good results with it and already now how to set it up.



My new theory is that one of the pumps started to take a shit so they ordered a new package and just scraped both compressors and the drier. I'm a little more confident that the drier will work once I plumb it up.


I degreased and scrubbed all the schmoo off the one that turned out to be good last night. Almost looks new. The other one will stay tucked in the corner of the shop until I get this one running.
1621471616006.png
 
That still doesn't explain why they're burnt the fuck up. :lmao:

I've done some bad shit to electric motor and never burned the paint off the case.
 
Yeah, I'm not sure about that. Guess I'll find out once I get one properly powered and put a load on it.

I guess it's possible that IR just used shitty paint and it just flaked off from normal heat. They sat outside for about a week and a half before I picked them up and likely got rained on enough to flash rust.


I know the lower model, consumer grade IR compressors were known for shitty motors that regularly burn up, but I wouldn't expect that to be an issue with this level of unit.

Worst case, I can get 3 phase 7.5 hp motors for $2-300 all day long so they'll still be easier to find replacements for if I have the VFD.
 
The blue one is my old 2 stage, 4 cylinder emglo that I picked up dirt cheap. Ended up rebuilding the head with new valves and re-ringed the pistons. When I got it it had a 3hp baldor, which should have been 5hp. I ran it like that for about a year and it finally gave up and actually kind of caught fire. I replaced it with the huge 5hp baldor that's on it now. It's been a workhorse and pretty much bullet proof.

The IR delivers about 25% more volume at 175psi, but it's also spinning the pump a hell of a lot faster. The emglo runs a 1700 rpm motor and the IR runs 3600.

1621473343966.png
 
Those are 2475 compressors right? They are rated for 5 and 7.5 HP motors, and each requires a different pulley on the motor. The compressors themselves are rated to spin ~1200rpm IIRC.

As for the motors being burnt, if they had a 5hp motor with a 7.5hp sized motor pulley, the motor would burn up. Or if the motor got wet, or if it plain wore out and stalled for a while before someone shut it off (improperly sized breakers maybe), etc. Lots of potential reasons.

I'm driving my 2475 with a 5hp 3ph 1750rpm motor, it runs smooth and quiet. I am using a 6" pulley on the motor this one specifically, and it works phenomenally well. McMaster-Carr

Pic of mine before I finished wiring/plumbing it. Motor is on the other side, but 3ph motors can spin either direction. The compressor is spinning the correct direction.

1621521092306.png
 
No, they're 2545 pumps. These are either 7.5 or 10hp. They're a little beefier than the 2475 - 26.6cfm vs. 24 cfm for 7.5hp versions of each. Your 5hp is rated a 16.8cfm, assuming you have the right motor and pulleys.

I'd have to way undersize the pulley to run a 5hp motor, which would really defeat the purpose of such a large pump. I'd be better off keeping my emglo at that point.


Come to think of it, I'm just assuming these are 7.5hp because that's what the shipping paperwork that was on the pallets for the new ones said. They don't have any data plates on them....for all I know, they could be 10hp. I can probably figure it out by looking at the starters and wiring though.



After looking closer last night, I'm pretty sure it's just shit paint that IR used because even the base plates on the motors are flaking off and rusting. No way any of that got hot enough to burn the paint without affecting wiring or the paint on the tank. And highly unlikely they'd still spin after getting that hot.


I'm stuck on my theory that the pump that is vibrating has an issue and they just retired the set and bought new ones. These were dated '04.


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Got my $175 7.5kw chinese special VFD in last night. Took a little tweaking as the setup is a little different from the other, similar models I have, but it's working...and working well. Still need to do some tweaking on some of the parameters. The one apparently requires a decent ramp up or it times out. It also needs a lower "minimum hz" set than my other ones. I don't like setting the minimum too low because if you have a variable speed knob set up you can spin it too slow and really heat up the windings.

I tried setting the minimum to 15hz and apparently it uses that as the startup frequency and would immediately show an error. Backed it down to 5 and it was happy. I'll speed up the ramp times a little so it doesn't spend too much time at the lower speeds. There might also be a torque compensation setting that I missed or something too.

I still need to play with the low voltage controls and set up the pressure switch to give the on/off command. Should be as easy as running the 12v out from the vfd, through the pressure switch and then back in to the Fwd signal port. I'd also like to see if I can wire in the oil level switch either in-line with the pressure switch or as a kill signal to the VFD, depending on what type of switch it is.


This was the cheapest 10hp rated vfd on ebay. The seller accepted my $175 offer on it. Ended up being $187.25 delivered with tax.
www.ebay.com

7.5KW 10HP 220V VFD SINGLE PHASETO 3 PHASE VARIABLE FREQUENCY DRIVE INVERTER VSD 607885243661 | eBay

The input for this VFD is 1 phase. 220V 7.5KW VFD. There is enough space for cooling between each component, and the product casing is designed with multiple holes, the above features can make this VFD have a longer service life.
www.ebay.com

1621942715771.png


So far I'm $337 in to the "good" one. I'll probably replace the pressure switch (cover is missing) and pressure gauges. Should still be under $400 for one kick ass compressor.
 
bgaidan said:
Got my $175 7.5kw chinese special VFD in last night. Took a little tweaking as the setup is a little different from the other, similar models I have, but it's working...and working well. Still need to do some tweaking on some of the parameters. The one apparently requires a decent ramp up or it times out. It also needs a lower "minimum hz" set than my other ones. I don't like setting the minimum too low because if you have a variable speed knob set up you can spin it too slow and really heat up the windings.

I tried setting the minimum to 15hz and apparently it uses that as the startup frequency and would immediately show an error. Backed it down to 5 and it was happy. I'll speed up the ramp times a little so it doesn't spend too much time at the lower speeds. There might also be a torque compensation setting that I missed or something too.

I still need to play with the low voltage controls and set up the pressure switch to give the on/off command. Should be as easy as running the 12v out from the vfd, through the pressure switch and then back in to the Fwd signal port. I'd also like to see if I can wire in the oil level switch either in-line with the pressure switch or as a kill signal to the VFD, depending on what type of switch it is.


This was the cheapest 10hp rated vfd on ebay. The seller accepted my $175 offer on it. Ended up being $187.25 delivered with tax.
www.ebay.com

7.5KW 10HP 220V VFD SINGLE PHASETO 3 PHASE VARIABLE FREQUENCY DRIVE INVERTER VSD 607885243661 | eBay

The input for this VFD is 1 phase. 220V 7.5KW VFD. There is enough space for cooling between each component, and the product casing is designed with multiple holes, the above features can make this VFD have a longer service life.
www.ebay.com

1621942715771.png


So far I'm $337 in to the "good" one. I'll probably replace the pressure switch (cover is missing) and pressure gauges. Should still be under $400 for one kick ass compressor.
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Did this come with instructions?

Im in the market for one but from what I understand some only come with wiring and not programming instructions.
 
bgaidan said:
I'm half retarded and figured it out. So judging by your post history so far, you don't stand a chance.






:flipoff2: kind of
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Its been said that god looks after drunks and retards.

Looks like Ill just have to settle for getting drunk when I hook it up.:flipoff2:
 
subybaja said:
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I approve of your space-clearing method! :laughing:
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:flipoff2::flipoff2:

That's just temporary storage!

I'm actually really hesitant to get rid of the Emglo until I give one of these a good flogging. That thing has been a work horse and is actually probably a better overall machine than these IR ones, but it puts out a tad less air.


I do have one of the IRs fully cleaned up and ready to go to its final place once I can move the truck off the lift....currently blocking that corner.

I fully disassembled it to clean all the oil and gunk off the tank and pump. Also painted the motor with a quick shot of flat black rattle can.

I need to rig up a couple lines so I can put some air to that drier and see if it actually works.
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