Engine room mounted air compressor

[stubones99]

You can buy a valve that automatically drains an air tank whenever the pressure is released. I've had air tanks on boats about 60 years. I never had one fail.

Advantages of having air on board is a real horn, or a steam whistle, air tools, spray painting, sand blasting, and the usual filling tubes, etc. An air sander is much quieter than a powered one and the noise is far away in the engineroom.

I have air shifting and air throttles, so have to have air.

And one more advantage... they run underwater for a little while... and no shock hazards.

 

[Ski in NC]

For the very few that need a lot of air all the time many industrial engines have road going equivalents that come fitted with brake air compressors. Retrofitting would be simple.

Lots of marine engines have the sea water pump mounted on the pad where a truck compressor would be. So not common to have that option. Seen a bunch of Detroit Diesels (especially 8V71, 8V92 on hatteras) that had a factory air comp driven off the rear timing gears.

 

[caltexflanc]

Lots of marine engines have the sea water pump mounted on the pad where a truck compressor would be. So not common to have that option. Seen a bunch of Detroit Diesels (especially 8V71, 8V92 on hatteras) that had a factory air comp driven off the rear timing gears.

Yep, that was OEM on my Hatteras. Ran off the port engine. Had a pretty big tank right there in the ER but I don't recall how many gallons. It ran the air horn and the windshield wipers. It also had a long hose with a quick release fitting.

Boy was that thing handy for all the reasons previously mentioned, plus keeping the pressure right on the Hynautic systems.

Problem was, once you used up what was in the tank, you would need to start the port engine, which was silly. Thing was strong though, perfect for an impact wrench.

I would definitely fit a freestanding unit to any cruising boat that didn't have one, and contemplated retro fitting one to the Hatteras system but never got around to it.

 

[stubones99]

Grainger carries an electric version that bleeds off about 2-3 seconds of air with every compressor start. That's what we had on our compressors. With the compressor noise, you could hardly hear the hissing air vent...

This one from Harbour Freight is under $10 and does the same thing but does not seem to use a solenoid valve on the vent...
https://www.harborfreight.com/automatic-compressor-drain-kit-68244.html