Thinking about enclosing my air compressor in it's own "closet". Any pros or cons to the idea?

tc

 

Many more pros than cons. Insulate it well but make sure it can breathe and intake air. The solitude you will gain is immeasurable. You may be able to extend the regulator system on the compressor to adjust it more remotely so you don't have to keep opening and closing the closet door. You'll also want a way for it to drain condensation without messing up the floor or having it flow under wood sill plates.

 

Welcome to FTE!

Without good airflow the tank won't need draining often. The primary purpose of the reservoir after air storage is to COOL the air past the dew point so the water condenses out. That is another reason to use metal air lines. Some big 8-12" electrical enclosure type fans may help. Openings let noise out tho.

The biggest source of noise is the compressor intake so muffling that and moving it outside may be easier.

 

Well, if you leave it "out", the noise keeps the Old Lady from coming out to see what you're doing.

 

If you enclose the compressor the contained heat will put added stress on the compressor unit and the motor. Our compressor rooms at work have vent fans to help exhaust some of the heat. In addition we pipe the compressor air intakes to an area outside the compressor room. The hotter the intake air the less dense it is and the longer and harder the compressor has to run to reach its cut-out pressure.

 

What model compressor do you have? Torque1st has the answer with muffeling the intake. It should be pretty quiet with a muffler on the inlet. If I knew what model you had I could probably help you further.

 

Compressors vary a lot in the amount of noise they make.

I worked in a shop where a large noisey compressor was right next to my lift. I was getting a headache every day from the noise. It was by an outside wall so I built an enclosure using a 2x4 frame and half inch plywood and lined the inside with 'sound board' which made it pretty quiet. Knocked a hole in the wall at the bottom and installed a filter. Put another hole in the wall at the top with an 8" duct fan in it, wired to turn on with the compressor. Installed a pipe from the drain hole outside and put the drain valve outside. It was a lot of work but the headaches went away.

 

All the compressors in the plant and other pieces of indutrial equipment I work on have their intakes vented outside. Make sure there is adequate airflow in your "closet" so that nothing can overheat(they make alotta heat on their own), plumb the intake outside, make sure you have enuf room to do any maintenance required and secure it to the floor(I'm thinking you prlly have an upright compresor). I plan on doing something simmilar in my garage; building a box aroung the compressor-that is easily removable, venting it outside, and putting a fan into ensure air ciculation.
I can't see any negatives that will outweigh the positives.

 

I put my compressor outside with just a roof over it cuts down the noise and you dont have to worry about over heating

 

In my experience outside is okay as long as the temperature is very similiar to what is inside. Where I live(Sask -40 in winter) putting it outside would cause even more condensation and or ice in the tank than is already there as a by product of compression/expansion and the temperature that is a result of this process. Bringing the air inside from a cold storage tank would again cause moisture to be released from the air-in the tool or your airlines (more than an air dryer could efficiently manage) whenever it expands.