I was wondering 
Since I have a 110v onboard power inverter, could I take a 110v Craftsmen air compressor apart and mount the compressor under the hood and the tank somewhere underneath and just plug the compressor in when I need it :question: Has anyone attempted this before. I was looking at the Craftsmen 1.5 HP 2 gallon compressor today for $98 and it looks simple enough to modify and make work. My only question is would the compressor withstand the heat of the engine compartment? Any ideas would be helpful. If I could do this I might get OBA for under $120.
Tell me what you think.
Thanks
Brian 
On Board Air!
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How big (watts) is your inverter ?
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Might want to check the power capacity of your inverter. I'm sure the compressor is going to draw some serious wattage.
I wouldn't worry about the heat as much as I would the mud, and dirt, and water. Might have to make some sort of compartment to hold it.
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They list the max HP as 1.5 so I would say you'd need a 2000W inverter to be on the safe side.
That's gonna draw close to 200 amps.
This has been discuused on other boards but I've never heard of anyone having much success with it.
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The peak draw on those is when the compressor initially starts right? I know they make capacitors for speakers for the big subs, Is there such a thing as an AC capacitor that would be suitable for something like this?
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In theory that sounds like a good idea.
In reality, you would need a big inverter. And correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't that put a ton of stress on your alternator and battery?
Also, you would have to mount the whole compressor engine with lines, pressure switch, and so on under the hood. That's pretty big.
-Chris
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Capacitors don't work the same on AC as they do DC. On AC the capacitor keeps charging and discharging, if the frequency is high enough the capacitor goes to an open circuit if I remember right. It's either an open circuit or a short circuit, but either way, they don't store energy quite the same as they do on DC
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Quote from "scramblejim"
The peak draw on those is when the compressor initially starts right? I know they make capacitors for speakers for the big subs, Is there such a thing as an AC capacitor that would be suitable for something like this?
No.
Capacitors only store DC.
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as said before, DC only.
also- check your inverter, there is a peak wattage, and a couninious wattage. most can run the peak for a few minutes at a time, so that should take care of the start up.
i have a small porter cable pancake comressor if you want to try it and see if it works.
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Quote from "DieselCj"
if the frequency is high enough the capacitor goes to an open circuit if I remember right. It's either an open circuit or a short circuit, but either way, they don't store energy quite the same as they do on DC
*shakes head in disappointment* It goes to a short at high freq.
1/jwC
0 as jw->infinity -
I knew it was one of the two... I just couldn't remember which.
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As was said, the motor will draw peak power at start up just to get the thing going. BUT, since you are talking about an air compressor, it will probably also draw peak power as the tank pressure increases because it will work harder to move the compressed air. It sounds too simple for it not to be thought out before.
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it is simple. its a few other thing that make it less desirable.
the location of mounting the motor is one problem
the fact that most do not have inverters
electric compressors are terrible inefficient at 110compressors
using a belt driven comressor is very easy and produces air very quick.like i say-
Try it and see if it works -
Brian I'm not sure if you'll need it or not, but I have a capacitor for an amp that I never used, if you want it, it's yours if you want.
It's a Rockford Fosgate but I'm not sure if it's a .5 or 1 farad amp. It might come in handy when the compressor is drawing peak power, assuming the inverter is build to hold that much current.
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Quote from "MoneyMan"
Brian I'm not sure if you'll need it or not, but I have a capacitor for an amp that I never used, if you want it, it's yours if you want.
It's a Rockford Fosgate but I'm not sure if it's a .5 or 1 farad amp. It might come in handy when the compressor is drawing peak power, assuming the inverter is build to hold that much current.
Unfortunately, even a 1 farad cap only holds a tiny amount of power.
His battery will have to supply it all. Probably in the 100-150A range.
If he uses it much at all he'll be buying a new battery pretty quick, most likely followed by a new alternator.
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I have a 850 Cold Cranking Amps Optima Yellow Top Battery and a Heavy duty alternator but I'm not sure what they are rated for. Last year when we had the hurricane we were without power for 2 days. I used my jeep to keep both my refrigerator and freezer cold at the same time. I could run both of them for almost an hour and a half before I would have to turn on the jeep and recharge the battery. Since its a deep cell battery it is able to take the abuse. I also went around to my neighbors houses who did not have generators and refreshed their fridges and freezers. I worked hard those days and is still running today. Like I said before I have to find time to hook up my 2HP compressor to it and try it out before I buy the 1.5 HP compressor. I'll keep you posted.
Brian
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