48/120 should arrive this week!
I am wondering what the minimum size air compressor would be so that it is not constantly running when the spindle is working. These are the specs of what I currently have. This unit does take a fair amount of time to refill. At this time I do not have an ATC, hoping to upgrade in the future. Any suggestions are greatly appreciatedā¦.Thx
Answer is right here: System Requirements - Plug and Play Spindle / VFD System Manual
(we have tech manuals for just about everything)
Thanks Eric, I did see that. My question is more along the lines of whether this air compressor will be constantly running when the spindle is operating? If you have any thoughts on that it would be greatly appreciated. I can also wait and see how well it performs.
Hard to say exactly, but probably not very much. The spindle (when running) uses ācase pressureā to pressurize the internals. That pressure intentionally leaks out very slowly.
When you change a tool thereās a big hit to air pressure to run the drawbar.
Your compressor is more than 2x the flow requirements so I think it will be fine.
I run a 60 gallon myself and it barely ever turns on once itās full.
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Thank you, sounds good. I will wait and see if it runs more than I like!
I have a 10 gallon compressor (Amazon.com: California Air Tools 10020C 2.0 HP Ultra Quiet and Oil-Free Air Compressor, 10 Gallon Steel Tank with Wheels, 70 dBA Noise Level : Tools & Home Improvement) It runs every few minutes when I am carving. Your pump is pretty reasonably sized.
If you find yours running to often, you could consider what I am contemplating doing - I am considering reducing the cycles of the compressor via adding an expansion tank under my CNC. Maybe another 10-20 gallons. That would probably cut the frequency of running by 2x-4x less often compared to stock.
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Hereās the math, tooā¦ the Avid docs say 2 CFM minimum. If your compressor is rated at 10 CFM, thatās 5x the need, so it should run 1/5 of the time. The closer your compressor is to 2 CFM, the larger the fraction of time it will be running - the duty cycle.
A larger tank doesnāt change the duty cycle, it just changes the cycle time - a bigger tank means it will START less often, but it still still run for the same percent of time. Mine has a big tank and starts so infrequently it usually startles me.
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Yes, it would start less frequently, but run longer to fill the extra volume. A unit that comes with a larger tank usually has a larger compressor to match to keep the duty cycle reasonable.
Thanks to all who replied. This is helpful and I may consider a different compressor down the road. Planning new shop build probably in 2027, so will probably be better to limp along so that I do not have to move another heavy piece of equipment.
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Could always slap an extra compressor on the expansion tank.
If youāre concerned about noise of a running compressor, there are some small and inexpensive compressors that are pretty quiet (60db or so) - hereās one example: JC10PLUS Hand Carry Air Compressors - Rolair Systems
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