I recently bought a 3HP 50L compressor from Transtools (sp?), which i have not yet used in anger.

Anyway, a local garage has a 3 phase compressor with a 272L tank that they are scrapping, due to the pump being knackered. They want to keep the 3 phase motor, but are willing to give me the tank for free.

I am considering disconnecting the little tank from my compressor and replacing it with the large tank. Providing i can get the correct thread adaptors etc is there any reason not to do this? The safety switch on my compressor is set at about 8 Bar and the large tank has a stamped SWP of 11 Bar, so that should be fine.

What are the drawbacks of using a massive tank? i would assume it will take significantly longer to get up to pressure.

I have read a few comments about the tank size being important, but i cant get my head around that, as surely it is the pump/motor that is the restriction? Increasing the tank size surely means that it lasts longer but also takes longer to fill?

I would appreciate your views on this, its not the end of the world as its free, but i dont want to go messing about with something to make it worse.

By the way, the normal usage will be blow-out gun, tyre compressor and maybe a die grinder and impact wrench.

Just had a thought, would it be possible to connect the large tank in series with the small, on a valved bypass. That way i could use the small tank normally and then open the valve to the large tank as and when i need the increased volume? Is that feasible?

Cheers

On mine i fitted a tee piece and a tap and just open the valve to the big tank when spraying and using air grinder/sander. Although if your pump is only a small one it will put a fair amount of load on it running alot to keep a big tank full.

But surely you's still only be using the same amount of air?, ie it may take longer to fill but it will also take longer to empty?

I was thinking about having the large tank seperate, connected via a valve, so that when i am doing something with the die grinder, for example, i can build up a big volume of air to allow the tool to work for longer.

The problem with this is space, ideally the compressor would be mounted upon the large tank and the small tank would be scrapped. But it might takes ages to pressurise for doing small jobs like using the blow-out gun. I dont suppose there is an obvious way of doing it other than having both tanks connected and the large tank isolated when not needed.

It was just a thought really as the large tank is free. I'll take it anyway, just incase i decide to use it in the future.

Any other comments appreciated though...

Could you put the tank outside??