By Saturday I should have my Leslie RS3L, so I am in need of upgrading my air system. I will be going with either two 5-gallon tanks or one 12-gallon tank probably running 120#, but definitely no more than 140#. So here’s my questions:
Number wise (volume & pwr), the 444C and 480C seem comparable, except the 444C Dual kit is $60 cheaper at HB than the 480C Dual kit. What’s the difference and is one better for my application than the other?
How well do the Viair compressor hold up?
Do the HB advertised dual kits include an unloader valve?
Air Zenith has an OB2 compressor that has a higher flow (3.8 vs 3.5) at a lower power draw (486 W vs 520 W). It’s also cheaper than either of the mentioned Viair dual kits, so any opinions on the AZ over the Viair?
I’ve had my dual 480c kit filling my 20-gallon tank for a year, and they still run like new. Since horns don’t really use that much air (compared to air tools) they should last a long time.
Have no doubt the Oasis is probably one of the best 12 / 24 VDC compressors available. But this is a hobby, which my wife thinks is insane, so I really can’t justify $1200 or more for just the compressor.
I’ll be going with the Viair as they are reasonably priced and seem to be reasonably reliable.
We typically rate each compressor to fill a 5 gallon air tank for nominal use. If you plan to use the air supply more often, then you may find that the fill times may take longer than you would like. Still, the 480C is rated for 200 PSI - so why not use it to its potential?
Two compressors = max 10 gallons (but its not going to set any speed records for fill time.)
Instead, fill your tank to 200 psi, and regulate the pressure to 140 PSI going to your horns. The pressure will last a lot longer, and the compressors will have an easier time filling 165 to 200 than trying to play with a smaller span of say 110-145 in such a large volume.
Thanks for the info on going with the 200# value in the tank.
My concern with keeping the tanks at 200# and regulating the air was loss of air flow / volume due to the restriction of the regulator. I’ll be feeding RS3Ls and everything says they are hungry.
Here is A regulator I use from grainger. I don’t think you need this much CFM but thats whats on my truck. 200 PSI regulated to 150 and works great and I get longer blasts without the trail-off from pressure drop until you get below about 110 PSI then you can hear A fade.If you honk that long, your gonna be hurtin. they also have A 60 cfm that works good too.
Another option would be to connect the regulator to a second tank (could be small, just with large ports) before the horn. This way the regulated tank would act as a buffer and give you some time at full volume. The bigger the secondary tank, the longer you can honk at full flow.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but by nature - a regulator is supposed to restrict air flow. Saying that it doesn’t restrict flow at all, isn’t possible. The only way to keep air flow from being restricted is to not have a regulator at all, and run the largest valves, connected to the largest tank ports possible.