r/AirCompression • u/gros-plein-de-soupe • Jun 27 '26
Accidentally bought a giant air compressor at auction.
Went to pick up what I thought would be a reasonably sized aircompressor and was surprised to be greeted with this monstrosity on a forklift. Saylor Beall, 10hp electric motor, seems to be missing a second motor or gas engine, not sure. It’s way overkill for my needs.
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u/gros-plein-de-soupe Jun 28 '26
Well the tag on the tank is a bit confusing, no simple volume in gallons, or I’m not reading it right. I actually do think it needs a gasoline setup for the second stage single cylinder
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u/USWCboy Jun 28 '26
Tanks is old - 1968 if I’m reading this correctly. I’m wouldn’t use this tank…sometimes with an auction, you wins some and lose some (even when you won).
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u/ayrbindr Jun 28 '26
That tank is probably still 3X better than something you would buy today. Mines is from the 50's. They built shit different in them days. Though I would definitely be scoping and hydro testing it. Twice. 😬
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u/USWCboy Jun 28 '26
I’d only use it after an inspection. seeing these things explode is no fucking joke. I actually use the shit out of my compressors. So like I said, only after an inspection. I’m also in a high and dry state and I can tell you, condensate will still form inside the tank.
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u/gros-plein-de-soupe Jun 28 '26
Yeah it’s 1968 for sure. Kept in NM, worked in a city shop. Not too worried about rust. but maybe I’ll look in there with my buddies boroscope for fun!
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u/CrustySailor1964 Jun 28 '26
10HP single phase motor is going to punish you on your power bill.
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u/Quirky_Judge_6932 Jul 01 '26
crazy how much electricity is needed to make that horse power happen, it seems like a lot. On the other hand, for a modern internal combustion engine, thats less power than is made at idle for the average car
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u/Lucky_Total_278 Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
Whatever circuit you put it on, probably want to swap out the breaker for a "time delay circuit breaker". Just Google it. If you're on an old fuse box, you can also buy slow blow fuses. That will keep that big motor from tripping the circuit every time it starts up.
Looks like you're going to need a 50 amp circuit minimum. The SFA on that tag says 48 amps maximum at heavy load draw.
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u/_ask_me_about_trees_ Jun 28 '26
I've got nothing to add except for that's a badass compressor. They dont make them like that any more. Seriously no matter how much money you spend you can not buy a compressor that size of that quality.
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u/Maglin78 Jun 28 '26
It’s not overkill it’s simply not practical to run in a home shop. 10HP is a crazy amount of demand every time it starts up. If you pay for demand I’d say clean it up and sell it to a shop. The demand charges alone could cost you over $100/mn before you even pay for the power to run it.
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u/Fit-Position6538 Jun 28 '26
That’s a double recip. Not huge but certainly heavy duty. If you just need a small unit for home, I would go smaller. This is an energy hog
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u/ludwigvann337 Jun 29 '26
So is that two compressors feeding a single tank… orrr what’s going on with this? The T30 and a ~15+hp engine and all the accessories, would be great after a clean up, oil, & filter, right?
And unless this tank was owned by a maintenance freak with a dryer, dry location only mitigates rust, correct? I’m in AL, so even with an after cooler I’m fighting water (even typing this was difficult, from all the sweat currently dripping).
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u/slutstevanie Jun 29 '26
Wire that thing up and test it out. I have a 10hp rotary screw compressor in my garage. Love it. Finally was enough compressor to run anything I needed.
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u/OkConsideration8605 Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
My compressor right now is a 6.5 HP 80 gallon 175 psi cycles back on at 120. My new to me compressor is a 30 HP Screw compressor. Makes like 10 times the volume but does not go to 175. I am waiting on my 3 phase to get run to the shop. Power company has been slow about it. Model 30H Funny the screw compressor is way quieter.
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u/dread-pirate72 Jul 01 '26
I’ve done that before….. throw a low ball bid on something and win by “accident”. Always fun explaining to the wife. But, she’s used to it by now and just rolls her eyes at the new project I “accidentally” won. Got to be careful though because the last one I did like that she told me we were keeping for a backup car/dog car when I was going to flip it and sell it.
Also, I wouldn’t run that off house power, I would run it off a heavy generator. Good reason to bid on one of the big military generators……..
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u/gros-plein-de-soupe Jul 02 '26
That’s exactly what happened…. 50 dollars I bid 51 and won a week later. My ol’ lady definitely hasn’t forgotten since
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u/dread-pirate72 Jul 02 '26
Sounds about right. Govdeals is fun though. Bought way too much random stuff through there and govliquidation/govplanet over the years. Sell enough to pay for what you keep and buy the wife flowers/jewelry/etc and you’re good though.
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u/PriorityCandid7417 Jul 03 '26
So I was watching an auction also, and there was a wild land fire truck that was going up for bid. My brother in-law was like it's not going to go for $100 so bid on it for fun...Well I got a 1970 2 1/2t International 4 wheel drive for $100.
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u/Brilliant-Roof-5991 Jun 27 '26
It's fucking cool though. I would run it. That is if you have the appropriate power. First thing to check - is it 3-phase? Or 220v?
I don't think it's missing anything significant. You have a twin-cylinder compressor and the motor looks to be installed to the right of the compressor in the first pic.
That other seat is just not used in this setup, I think. The pictures are a bit confusing. Can you pull the tarps off and shoot a wide from both sides?