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Im about to buy a compressor and put it in my toolbox, anyone done this before and have any advice/suggestions? Also im open to suggestions on how to get power to it (thinking an inverter is going to be involved) thanks in advance.
Here is a pic of the one one im looking at:
Im about to buy a compressor and put it in my toolbox, anyone done this before and have any advice/suggestions? Also im open to suggestions on how to get power to it (thinking an inverter is going to be involved) thanks in advance. Here is a pic of the one one im looking at:
I know some folks use an older York A/C condenser and bolt it up under the hood. It's something I was looking into doing at one point. Be sure to upgrade your alternator either way.
If you're just going to put one into the toolbox maybe you could look into a gas one.
volts x amps = watts.
The compressor wattage should be posted. Divide that by 110 volts and that will tell you how many amps an invertor has to be good for.
For instance - a hair dryer that's rated at 1400 watts plugged into a 110 volt outlet will draw 12.7 amps.
Typically you need a pretty big (pricey) invertor to run a compressor and as mr breeze said you will want to upgrade your alternator.
A gas compressor might be a better idea for occasional use
The compressor on our bucket truck (old lineman truck) for the air brakes has several quick-connects on the truck to hook up to, it has an 8 gallon tank and runs about 200psi. We can hook up a impact driver on one side, and an air nozzle on the other and never loose pressure. It would seem to me that you would be better off getting a hold of a compressor off something with air brakes along with the tank. It would only take an Alt upgrade and new wiring (which has to be done anyway).
A "good" inverter can be very pricey, the best ones are usually found on ambulances, but they are often one of the first things scavenged.
We took this 139.00 air compressor and mounted it under the hood of my buddy's truck along with a 3gal air tank under the frame with 6 npt ports and a 120psi switch and ran lines to the front and rear bumpers where we installed quick connect fittings mounted in the bumpers. We deleted the pumps factory hose and ran a new hose to the tank. He keeps two 25ft hoses in the tool box and this little compressor has been amazing and quiet. It's made by Q industries and their customer service is great as well for less than half the cost of Viair. All said and done, we went all in for around $250. These pumps are sold as Masterflow, Superflow and No Name on Ebay. They also make the MV90 single cylinder which we mounted under the hood of another truck with very similar results. Great reviews and lots of youtube vids.
What about something that would be driven off the pulley system? Perhaps in the location of the smog pump. Then have some tanks under the bed for storage. That would be ideal in my book. Only problem being the truck needs to be idling to fill up the tanks.
