I'm getting ready to start using my big upright 80 gallon air compressor. The manufacture says I have to mount it to my concrete floor. They say if you don't, excessive vibration can fatigue the tank and you have the risk of an explosion. ???? Have never heard of this. I have a desire to keep it mobile. Was thinking of mounting it on something sturdy with big casters. Does anyone have any ideas or advice ? Thanks, John B.
I have a 25-gallon Craftsman compressor in my garage, came with 2 rubber tires (9-inch diameter) and two rubber feet (1 inch thick). It runs off 120V and I've never had a problem with it. Granted, it's a lot smaller than 80-gallon, but either rigidly mounting it or insulating it with rubber feet should fix any vibration issues.
I have a 80 Gal 7hp Compressor and never gave bolting it to the floor a second thought. Id have to have that big top heave machine walk across the floor or get knocked over. I put it in the dead space between my 2 garage doors. Plan on running hard lines to the different areas of the shop and putting retractable hose reals at each outlet.
Briz, if I understand your post correctly than you must have it on a pallet or something other than the floor ?
had mine in shop for years....never bolted it to floor...it does have 1" rubber feet...has not moved and inch in years...
I have a 60 gallon upright Quincy. Still bolted to the shipping pallet after two years of fairly busy use, I have not had any problems with a thing.
IR makes a rubber pad for bolting it to the floor to isolate vibration if you bolt it to the floor. Inexpesive. I've had mine on the bottom of the skid it came with 30 years ago with no problems. i don't know about the quality of the steel used in some of the compressors imported today. Usually they are skimping somewhere to keep a certain price or they've had complaints and are putting a disclaimer in to stop a lawsuit! Darryl 62 LeSabre 2drHT 40 Super
Those guys are indeed top heavy, I like mine secure. I used redhead concrete anchors with old shock absorber rubbers between the floor and compressor, helps with vibration quite a bit.
If it was a horizontal tank I would think you have no problem, but I would be scared of my 80 gallon upright compressor falling over or walking. I put 1" thick rubber pads about 4x6 under each leg and sank bolts into the concrete. Also the county code required me to bolt every machine down in my shop. Seems crazy to have to bolt a bridgeport type mill down. When is the last time you ever heard of one of those falling over? Better safe than sorry tho, 3 bolts and some rubber can't cost more than $20 and some time.
I had a problem a few years ago that I hope I will never happen again. My brand new 80 gal had not even been hooked up when hurricane Ike flooded our island and my home. The compressor was still on the shipping pallet and when the water rose it just flip over and the saltwater ruined the complete unit. Had it been bolted to the floor it probably would have been fine since the water only reached 43" in the shop.
I mounted my 80 gallon 23 CFM to a Harbor Freight furniture dolly, it's stll not moved from where I put it.
I didn't have my 80 gallon bolted down, and had a cable about 10 feet long using the dryer outlet as power souce before I built my shop. It never moved when it was on the back porch. HOWEVER, when I built my shop, and thought I might like to move that big heavy beast to a few diffrent locations and use 50 amp welder outlets, it QUICKLY let me know the error of my ways. It vibrated while running at night, and rubbed against my Skylark convertible. No MAJOR damage, as the skylark has the factory option side mouldings. Think about what a virating piece of metal could do to a pretty paint job! Long story made short: It ia FIRMLY anchored to the concrete floor with rubber isolators to minimize wear and noise transmission.
