do you normally leave it on when your not in the shop?
you guys don’t all leave your compressors on when not in the shop do you?
Not intentionally that is bad practice in reality.
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Not anymore.
heres a tad bit of info most people dont consider when looking at the HP numbers on a compressor, it defies the laws of physics to be able to run a 5HP on 120V power. 5HP is ~56 amps at 120v. so none of the 5HP compressors sold at sears, lowes, HF etc… are more than 3hp unless they have a 220v motor on them.
my IR V30 is 5HP with FLA at 26.8 amps on 240V.
you also have to consider the inrush current when these big boys start up. its 70-80 amps for mine. well thats for a locked rotor, but its still pretty damn high.
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i’ve been wanting to wire my compressor contactor into a 24HR defrost clock for a while now. even though i have “no leaks” my compressor still runs in the middle of the night at times, and i “try” to kill the breaker if im leaving the hosue for more than a day at a time. cant imagine the power bill if that thing blew a line while i was away for a week.
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Some may ask “why don’t I just turn off your compressor when I leave the shop?” (Yes. Knick already did…but I understand his point.)
The answer: I am a creature of comforts and conveniences. Technology has afforded me this.
I have become spoiled. I may not use any compressed air for weeks or even several months. But when I use the air nozzle or drive a few nails or use my pneumatic grease gun on the tractor, I don’t want to flip the switch and wait 5 minutes for the tank to build up pressure. I want it now and I don’t want to have to listen to it running.
Like you, the night time charging was occasional but annoying. I could hear it from anywhere in my house. Now, it is like a dream come true. It has a full charge anytime I plan to use it and it is never ‘on’ for more than an hour at any given time, because it is set with an automatic countdown timer for 60 minutes anytime I tell it to turn on. If I don’t use it for months, it will only turn on for 15 minutes, twice per week at 6 pm.
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i wouldnt hear mine except i piped the air inlet to outside the shop and mounted the air filter/muffler on the outside wall. only downside is its 30 feet from the sliding glass door on my house.
i really should put a 3-way valve on the pipe so i can draw inside air in the winter and dry outside air in the summer when the swamp cooler is running inside.
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I am too, but I also am a creature of of not wasting my money. 
5 mins is not that long, nothing about me would ever miss 5 mins. Every shop I have ever worked at, has turned the air off at night.
My compressor cost to much to take a chance. Plus I have a dryer that runs when ever the compressor is on so I would think my ele bill would jump. I even close a valve at the tank so air does not leak off as fast.
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Well, I told @ChelanJim that I wasn’t going to record a video about the compressor, but the weekend was over and I didn’t have anything to upload, so guess what!?
I wanted to thank everybody who gave recommendations on compressors. I ended up going with the Husky, which I got for $860 delivered after all taxes, thanks to a 10% off coupon. And with 12 months financing at 0%, it’s only going to cost me about $70/mo. I don’t normally do credit cards, but with the pay cut I took this year, I’m going to use this one to my advantage.
Initial impressions of the compressor are mixed. I assumed that “Assembled in the USA with Global Components” meant that every piece of this thing was made in China, but the tank actually says that it was made in the USA. That said, the 175psi rating seems…excessive. In all honesty, the compressor pump struggles with that last 25psi WAY more than it should (and it actually cuts out at 180psig). I worry that this will lead to a shortened lifespan and only a marginal benefit. I could of course turn the pressure switch down, but the adjustment screws are coated in glue to keep users from tampering, so…is it worth voiding the warranty to make the compressor “maaaaybe” live a bit longer? That’s a tough decision.
I wanted to give a HUGE shout out and gracious thank you to both Jim and my buddy @Bigdaddy2166 for help wrapping my crude Western mind around the contactor wiring.
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Our pleasure, my friend.
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I think I would turn it down regardless unless you need that much pressure to try and make up for not having enough volume. They spin those poor pumps so fast I think its really hard on them.
Most compressors struggle to make air much above 140-150 psi.
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I hear you, but voiding the warranty to try and make it live is…well, I guess it’s a sign of the times, isn’t it. 
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What is a warranty?
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It’s quite a few interesting warnings in that manual.
“TORQUING THE AIR COMPRESSOR HEAD
BOLTS
The air compressor pump head bolts should be kept
properly torqued. Check the torques of the head bolts
after the first five hours of operation.
□ Torque to 15-20 ft. -lbs (20.3 - 27.1 Nm)”
I can’t imagine this would void the warranty.
And if it’s already running higher than 175 I would turn it down.
“CAUTION: Risk of bursting. Do not adjust the regulator to result in output pressure greater than the marked maximum pressure of the attachment. Do not use at pressure greater than the rated maximum pressure of this compressor.”
It doesn’t say anything about not using those adjustments it only says don’t use them to adjust it higher than the max rated pressure.
Nice compressor. good video
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It doesn’t but the glue is usually a sign that they’re looking for tampering to void a warranty. But I guess there’s nothing keeping me from replacing the glue…
I would imagine they’d have more of an issue with you rewiring the pressure switch then adjusting it.
This is what their actual warranty policy says.
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The glue might be put on there too to keep the screws from moving from vibration
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