Wayne,
Now that’s a good idea!
No air conditioning in the summer other than windows
Wayne. when using the ac compresor for onboard air do you use a tank and pressure switch or just use it as it is compressed. Do you know how many cf/m at a given pressure the will produce. Just looking for ballpark figures I am sure they will vary some by manufacture . Thanks,Jim
Good Morning and welcome to the site sir,
Back in the mid 70s I built a shop and need a way to make compressed air. I was broke and couldn’t afford a real air compressor . I visited a junk yard and was able to buy ( actually was given because he owed me some favors) AC compressors . They were only worth their weight.
I used 6-8 and powered them with small washing machine motors and plumbed to a tank with pressure switches. The pressure switches were set were all the motors wouldn’t come on at the same time but only if I were using a lot of air. I used these daily for a few years having to replace one now and then . They were the piston type with crankcase filled with light oil. ( Ford mid and early 60s )
The AC compressor I used on my work trucks was not plumbed to a tank and would make sure the end of the hose was always open. The attachment for airing tires was modified so it would always release the air to avoid busting the hose.
There wasn’t enough air for running air tools but great for airing flat tires.
Also the compressor without a crankcase like the one in the picture I would give a shot of WD40 or a few drops of oil at each use.
On the same note I have used power steering pumps with larger reservoirs to power light hydraulic applications and at one time had a small wood spliter power by a couple power steering pumps .
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yep, right you are wayne. i have an old high lift that uncouples the hydraulic pump from the motor with a lever ( for cold weather starts). i’ll bet we have plenty of members with the machine shop skills to fabricate a mount on the front of just about any motor. finding room at the radiator might be a consideration, but doable i bet. with a hearty pump and all that horsepower you could probably do more than just lite work.
carson
I have played with those big fat Harrisson compressors (any 80’s or early 90’s gm vehicle) they WILL put out 130lbs, and fill a 60 gallon tank VERY quickly. You would definitely want a pressure switch wired in the clutch power circuit or and an over-pressure release on the air line
I have never used one for an extended period of time as they are designed to have mineral oil (or similar) in them, not sure how long they’d last without it. Perhaps you could put an oiler on the inlet and a condensing trap on the outlet to lubricate it? It would be VERY useful to have on board air with a clutched compressor pulley.
For the hydraulics guys you can purchase implement pumps with clutched pulleys, they are used on commercial road plow trucks etc… last I checked they were in the $400 neighborhood.