air compressor upgrades

  This business of finding too much rusty water in my air compressor's tank has prompted both action and thought on my part.

 While I'm still debating the wisdom of keeping the tank vs. replacing it somehow (new compressor seems cheapest) or even renting a thickness gauge and checking to see whether the tank has thinned out, or vibratory "tumbling" it on the inside to remove rust... etc, etc...

 I went ahead and rewired the motor to run on 240V (10A full load, 60A inrush) instead of 120V (20A full load, 120A inrush) and I'm going to run a circuit from the breaker panel to the 240V outlet I installed near the compressor over five years ago and never hooked up...

 I've decided I may as well proceed with some related upgrades to my shop and garage compressed air infrastructure, since most of them are independent of the compressor itself...

• hook up the cheap but large air filter / drier I purchased and screwed to the wall over ten years ago but never hooked up - $25 for a brass union and a good quality three foot rubber hose
  
• install an air line from the compressor to the retractable air hose reel I installed in the parking area of the garage over ten years ago and never hooked up
• install air outlets in three areas of the workshop: one at each end and one in the middle (it's a long, narrow space) - these last two items will cost me about $70, and will have to wait
  
• install an electrically-operated, timed, automatic drain valve on the compressor tank, and vent that drain through the (adjacent) outside wall - about $25, probably order it from Amazon soon
  
• consider adding an automatic float type drain valve on the air drier, vented to the same outside vent pipe - about $10, not a high priority, can wait a long time
  
• because the compressor is in a corner, build a fully enclosing, floor-to-ceiling, sound-proof closet around the air compressor, with heavy wood and clever ventilation - both to save my hearing and for spousal acceptance factor: I don't like turning the compressor off, but if it's left automatic, it can be heard on the other side of the garage inside her treatment room when she is working or has patients, and that's no bueno.  But this project won't get done soon, in fact, all the other stuff has to be finished first. - cost about $100 in lumber and other materials, and a boat-load of my time
  

 Thoughts for when we move to the mountains (I've decided I must keep my workshop when we move)...

 The air compressor will have its own little home/house/shed near but detached from the workshop.  This shed will be as sound-proofed as I can make it (not very expensive to DIY, and the pristine quiet of the mountains is something very important to me to preserve), passively heated in the winter, cooled with fans in the summer.  It will probably double as a "garden shed" space to store landscaping / outdoor maintenance equipment.

 Once we sell the house we're in now, I'll be able to afford a "silent", "explosion-proof" air compressor. By "silent", they really mean "less than 73 dB".  Quieter units may be in the range of 60 to 65dB.

(note: normal conversation is around 60dB, loud conversation or average office
noise level is around 70dB, and anything over 85dB is actually harmful if you
are exposed to it for long periods.)

 By "explosion proof" they are referring to an aluminum tank which cannot rust.  Since nearly all air compressor tank explosions are caused by corrosion, it's reasonable.  Such units tend to have a bunch of small, very quiet air compressors mounted to a large tank.  They do this because the very quiet compressors which are also cheap and widely available do not have very much CFM (flow) output at their rated pressure, so multiple units are required to attain the kind of flow needed by many workshop tools, especially for spraying / painting.  This makes them expensive.  Aluminum tanks are even more expensive.  Hopefully we make loads of money when we sell this house.