Air Compressor question

hey guys. I have to winterize my grandparents place for the winter. We’ve always gravity drained the plumbing. But this year we have a new well and gravity drain isn’t possible. So I need to get a compressor. I have absolutely no idea what size/cfm to get. Can you help me out?

I can still gravity drain the actual cottage plumbing. Just need the compressor to blow out the main line from the well to the cottage. It’s 75’ of 2” diameter blue plastic water line that I rolled into a 4 foot deep trench.

How big of a tank to I need? How important is CFM, horsepower, tank capacity?

I’m trying to stay in the sub-$350 range. Any advice??

 

All you need is a pancake compressor . You can buy them with a compressor line and a bunch of fittings including a blow nozzle for about $200 bucks .

 

You can also rent them for a few hrs if you don't want to buy one. I use a small pancake compressor that I bought at HD.

 

Rent a pull behind IR 185 (185 CFM), should do the trick in minutes.

 

Speed isn’t important to me. But this illustrates what I’ve been finding on the lawn and garden forums. Some will say a small compressor is fine and then someone else jumps in and says “no way, you need at least 50+ CFM”.

Well, I’m not buying a $4k compressor to blow out a pipe once a year. But I also don’t want the pipe to freeze and have to trench 75’ and lay a new line next summer!

Thanks for the advice guys. I do appreciate it.

 

Tractor supply had a 10 gallon 3.5hp electric compressor onsale for 100$ last week! Just picked it up to undercoat my truck with. Works great

 

A small pancake should work just fine. Then go and top off the pipes with antifreeze to make sure any little bit of water is safe for the winter. Thats how I winterize all the water pipes for our inground pool every winter.

 

buying a compressor.......?

buy once/cry once.......oil filled......

non oil filled units are throw away.....noisy...cheap.....

I bought a 220 volt Speedaire around 1994....20 gallon...$500.....money well spent

still runs like a champ.....and its 220.....don't have to loan it out........

you need a 220 dedicated outlet for it...thats the only issue

https://www.grainger.com/product/SPEEDAIRE-Air-Compressor-1NNF6

 

Id agree if he posted he was looking for a compressor for using in the shop on a regular basis. But he wants it for 1 use per year at his parents cottage. The odds of it having a 220v hookup is not that good.

 

Right. No 220v. I want as small as I can get that still gets the job done. One that I can stick in the closet and pull out once a year. It might get used for topping off truck/mower tires now and then. But it’s mainly just to blow out the one 75’ long water line once a year.

 

my bad...........

 

small compressor and a big tank or just use some anti freeze and pump it through

 

Just go to walmart and get a little 1-3 gallon compressor for like 40-50$

 

This is all you need.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-2-Gallon-Portable-Electric-Twin-Stack-Air-Compressor/1000226861

 

Time to head over to your nearest Harbor Freight store.