NEW COMPRESSOR ADVICE

[clarkey]

We're in the market for a new compressor but have some constraints that make choice very important. Any help or advice as to a suitable model, or if anyone knows of a decent distributor or one for sale also very welcome...

To explain our situation and what we want....
We are on a small remote island that does not have 24 hour power, but when it does we have a single 220 line, both from the islands diesel generator, and also the generator for the hotel of which we are a part, so according to friends who know more about these things than I do, we can only run a single phase compressor

Right now we have a BAUER Divemate 8, 2010 model, but we have got busier since it was bought and are having to run it 8-10 hours a day on average, clearly more than it was designed to do, and hence now we are having problems and it has broken down twice this week, fortunately fixed now by a local engineer. I've been telling the dive shop owners for a couple of years now that the compressor is insufficient, but they don't like spending money! I am getting signs now though that with the money we have already lost in a few days of being closed that they are starting to realize we have a genuine problem and need to look at a new one. I am already having to turn away thousands of $ of business in high season based on the current compressors limited capacity and the islands limited power situation.

I am looking then for a compressor capable of filling 80-100 tanks a day (high season), but cost has to be a factor if I can sell this idea to the owners. I guess a compressor with 16-20cfm capacity is the range we're looking for? But bearing in mind we can only use a single phase machine, and also bearing in mind the maximum load we can put on the hotel's generator which we believe is only capable of delivering about 130 amps total, but also runs an 18 room hotel, including a/cs etc. I am told by a friend that our current compressor draws around 26 amps, and with that and the hotel combined our own generator seems to operating at about its maximum.

So it may be that a gas or diesel compressor is the only option, based on those limitations. Also bearing in mind that in a remote location such as ours we need to have access to spare parts that are stocked in the US and can get shipped down, both consumables such as filters, oil etc but also in case anything goes wrong. For that reason I am leaning towards another BAUER, but am open to suggestions.

 

[CraigAClark]

The amps you mention are in the range required by a 5 hp motor. Not knowing what the max apms available to you, it is hard to determine what the max electric motor size you can run on your power supply. I will say that the largest motor available in single phase is 10 hp, which would put you in the size range of maybe a 12 cfm compressor. To get you into the cfm range you want would require a 15 hp motor, which are 3 phase. I'm not sure if you could run a 3 phase, 15 hp motor on single phase with a frequency/inverter drive. I've done this with up to 5 hp motors. You might consider getting two Mariner II compressors with 7.5 hp, single phase motors if you have the power supply to operate them simultaneously. That will give you about 16 cfm and during your low season you can just run them alternately, keeping the hours even. BTW, if you are running that triplex cartridge only, I hope you are aware how little capacity they provide.

You would have to weigh the costs to determine whether to stay with electric or move to diesel/gas.