12V Compressor question

1.2 Amp(1200ma) supply isn't going to be enough. You need something in the neighborhood of 10-15 Amps at 12V.

1200 milliamps is 1.2 amps. I'd guess this isn't enough current.

Ron Thompson Was On the Beautiful Mississippi Gulf Coast, Now On the Beautiful Florida Space Coast, right beside the Kennedy Space Center, USA

'If you're standing in a puddle, don't touch anything that hums' From the Red Green show

I dunno about that. These things are *tiny*, if his is like the ones we have... The motor is like, maybe a little over 1" dia. Black plastic case. Takes ten minutes to refill a freaking tire!

Tim

-- "That's for the courts to decide." - Homer Simpson Website @

My guess is that the adapter IS NOT dc output.....You need to look closely at the markings, and should say 110vac IN and 12dc OUT... And as others have said, may not be large enough. Ken.

Ken, most of these units rectify AC into DC using diodes.

I'd have to agrre with the crowd at this point, that the "wall wart" doesn't have the capacity to power the compressor.

Your amperage is in no way adequate. These normally pull at least 5 amps when running, I have no idea what starting current would be, particularly under pressure. I had a car with an aftermarket ammeter once that I checked this with. These imports are also not built for continuous running, check the motor temp after inflating a tire sometime. I have no idea what your Babington burner is, but if you want continuous air at moderate pressure, you're going to have to find something else. Surplus Center out of Lincoln has a number of air compressors out of used equipment, Herbach & Rademan also used to carry ex-computer compressors and blowers. C&H Sales also is another source. All had units in the $20 range at one time.

Stan

In addition to all the other good info, you might want to consider that the pump will require a HUGE but momentary amount of current (amps) to overcome any pressure already in the system. Starting a pump that already has 90PSI in the hose is a whole lot different than starting one at ambient pressure.

I keep a car battery under charge for emergency use anyway - great to power a radio, CB, laptop whatever incase the power goes out.

A fully charged bettery would work well in your application - recharge when finished.

Good luck

Tom

mongke wrote: I got hold of a small cheapo compressor I intend to use for powering a Babington burner (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^ First, what is a Babington burner? What are the volume and pressure requirements? After you have solved the problems of getting your little pump to run of the 120v lines, you may discover that you don't have enough air to do what you want. These tire inflator pumps, as has been pointed out, don't have much volumetric capacity.

As far as getting the motor to run, it sounds like you may be trying to run a DC motor on AC. That would explain the little rotational pulse, followed by nothing.

1200 ma at 12 volts is 14.4 watts. That just ain't gone push much air. I suggest you plug the pump into a car cigarette lighter and measure the current.

The compressors need several amps rather than the 1.2A that that power supply can put out. In addition, if the power supply is a switching type (light weight), it won't put out any more than that 1.2A of current. You want to have a power supply that will put out a bit more current and, in addition, be the heavier transformer type that can take an overload without shutting down as your power supply is doing.

-- Bob May Losing weight is easy! If you ever want to lose weight, eat and drink less. Works every time it is tried!

I don't know if this is what he is looking for......but its interesting.

I'll butt in here. I just looked into Babington burners. The are waste oil burners that don't require much filtration and can burn water contaminated oil! There is a company that makes them, but there are also homemade ones. The air requirements are modest as the air is blown through a .010" hole. Yes, that is ten thousanths of an inch. The oil is dripped over a sphere that has the hole in it. As the oil sheets over the sphere, the air comes out the small hole, atomizing it to make it burn well. The oil collects in a sump below the sphere and is pumped back on top. Wether cheap heating or for my foundry, I think there is one of these in my future. This is the results of a google search for 'babington burner.'

Ron Thompson Was On the Beautiful Mississippi Gulf Coast, Now On the Beautiful Florida Space Coast, right beside the Kennedy Space Center, USA

'If you're standing in a puddle, don't touch anything that hums' From the Red Green show

Every time I've bought one of those things, they burn out within a few months. Does anyone make a quality unit that will last? Rex in Fort Worth

Take the pump section and put a decent motor on it. The motors on those silly pumps are not of the best quality or even of poor quality and they are actually intended to be put in the trunk of the car and provide a modicum of trust that you can fix something on the car. I don't know how much pressure that the burner needs for the job but I'd suspect that it does want a fair bit of pressure as the steam locos of the SP used a burner that was similar in action (used steam at boiler pressure instead) and that meant several hundred lb. of pressure. With the pump working at full speed, it will be making about 80lb or more of pressure and that will flow well through the small aperture of the hole but this makes the motor work hard to keep the pressure up.and that will heat the motor a lot and make its life very short.

-- Bob May Losing weight is easy! If you ever want to lose weight, eat and drink less. Works every time it is tried!

Yes! Thats it! I decided to built myself one, as burning charcoal for the furnace was a smoky and smelly bussiness and really did not want the neighbors at my door with pitchforks. Besides there is an oil change place just a few blocks from my house and they keep always a big drum full of burnt motor oil.

I'll put online pics when I get the thing working

regards,

Mongke

For that 12V compressor you will need at LEAST 15 to 20 amps surge current to get it started (against zero head pressure) and around 6 to

10 amps constant while it's running. 1.2 amps ain't gonna do it.

Plus, that 12V compressor isn't going to live long in continuous service, they are made for inflating a tire or two at a time - 5 minutes on, 15 minutes off to cool down. Run it continuously, and without a BIG fan force-cooling it it'll go up in flames inside of an hour. And even with a pressure switch and receiver tank, the whole thing will be worn out in a few weeks.

I would suggest you break down and get a regular shop air compressor (120V or 240V, minimum of 1 to 2 real HP) with an automatic pressure switch and a large receiver tank. With the small air hole on the Babington burner, the compressor will only need to cycle on once or twice an hour for a few minutes.

If that's still too much money, go find a small 120V motor close-coupled air compressor (Thomas or Gast are two big names, either piston or diaphragm) that can be run continuously without burning up. You can find them used for around $20. But they will wear out after a few years of constant running, so shop for a real compressor.

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On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 23:01:06 -0500, "mongke" vaguely proposed a theory ......and in reply I say!:

I very much doubt the comp will suit, whether it has the flow or not. I reckon their duty cycle would be counted in minutes, and then I would get one as a "once off" fro that emergency. There are very expensive ones that are rated for cont use.

**************************************************** sorry remove ns from my header address to reply via email

Spike....Spike? Hello?

not for $10 at harbor freight... you can get a more expensive one at sears, they sell the same thing for $29... or you can go someplace and pay $75 for one and probably get another cheap one.. they make them that way... they are not made to operate all the time or for long periods of time.. the heat from the piston going up and down is whats burning them up.. they are made for short term and casual use.....

My Hummer has an onboard 12V air pump that works well. Draws 20 amps though. I have heard that a new pump from the dealer is quite expensive, but the pump is available from other sources for less. My memory is foggy, but I think about $200 and I also think the source was grainger.

chuck

Well currently money is really tigh, but I'll start looking around for one of these.

regards,

Mongke