Additional Shoebox compressor info

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sigp220

sigp220

Member
May 12, 2018
250
6
NE, United States
All this talk recently about the Shoebox compressor has me wondering about somethings.

First off pretty easy question: Folks say they take time to fill. What are you looking at for a fill time from like say 200 bar to 300 bar?

Second question: For Shoebox owners this will also be easy. The first stage compressor? What's everyone using? Such a brand and specifics. Everyone kind of gives a vague answer.

Third question air drying: Are you drying first stage air or just high pressure?

Any and all info would be helpful. 

I'm currently running one of the "it's going to die" kind of compressors. That being said the Shoebox looks like a "Save the marriage" kind of deal. Hint hint. Oh that's just a shop compressor. Oh look that's just a backup when my main compressor fails. Instead of a 2K on another unit.

Thanks
 
Well, I have a 60 minute SCBA tank, and as best I can recall, it takes about 1.5 to 2 hours to go from 200 to 300 bar. I've never actually timed it because that's the whole point of the Shoebox compressors: Slow and easy. I'm using a six-gallon Craftsman oil-less pancake compressor that I picked up at Lowes on sale. I set the regulator on it to 100 psi. For moisture removal, I made a condenser out of copper tubing that sits in a bucket full of ice water, with a tee at the bottom that goes through the bottom of the bucket to a quarter-turn ball valve. About every 30 minutes I open the valve to remove any moisture that has collected at the bottom. I also open the drain valve on the bottom of the pancake compressor tank to remove any moisture there. It doesn't matter which stage you perform your moisture removal at, as long as it's an effective moisture removal. Once the air is dry, it stays dry. Whatever you do, if you decide to dry your air at the first stage, don't rely on one of those in-line water separators used in most auto shops. They won't remove as much moisture as you need them to. They're only good for droplets of water moving down the air line, but don't effectively remove water vapor. Hope this helped. Message me if you need more information.

James
 
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I am running a normal shop compressor its pretty big for my input it is not oilless but i run the air threw 3 dryers the last one in the line is a desicent dryer before i refill my tank i take the desicent its kind of pink i put it on a paper plate and put in the micowave for about 4 minutes it turns bright blue i let it cool down and them pour it back into the bowl. After i fill my tanks it turns kind of pinkish depending on humididty. They say to use an oiless for what i understand is that if any oil gets into the high pressure it could blow up i figure with 3 dryers i am good to go. I run a 4 inch high pressure dryer from ebay between the tank and the shoe box. I have had no water in that dryer so far ever . I have 42 hours on my unit and have not done a thing to it but what is required ( I put 2 drops of oil on each pad andi take a paper napkin and wipe off the guide rods and put new white lithium grease. ) I like it but had a big compressor so that i only needed the booster.
 
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1580779903_20048248315e38c97fd21064.35405541_IMG_20190606_150233_01.jpg


My very simple setup. 

I'm using a DeWalt pancake compressor. I think it might be a 2.5gallon? Then there's 50ft of yellow (non-coiled) low pressure line before the first coiled line (left side of pic) all running uphill. 

Between the two low pressure coiled lines is a small filter and blow out valve from China Freight. I don't ever get any moisture here. 

Right after the Shoebox (high pressure side) is a small brass filter that takes cigarette/tampon looking filters. https://www.amazon.com/Creation-Core-Pressure-Water-Oil-Compressor/dp/B07M8LBMN4

Notice I have another uphill climb on the microbore hose right before the tank. 

I live in Arizona so usually low humidity, but the bulk of my moisture is removed using the blow out valve on the bottom of the pancake compressor. That's how the Shoebox designer intended. 

Occasionally, if I squeeze the first filter the air comes to inside the brass filter, I can get one single drop of water. 

Some would say I need a desiccant but I gained some peace of mind when I opened my smallest tank (after about a year filling with the above set-up) and found zero moisture. 

As far as how fast it fills? That depends on the volume of what's being filled. My biggest 4500psi 88cf Drager tank fills about 100psi every 10 minutes. So a typical fill for me will be to go from about 3000 up to 4200 (again, with the 88cf tank) and takes about 2 hrs. That's with the DeWalt compressor regulator set to 120 psi. 

I stop at 4200 to make it easier on all the fittings,and the compressor and Shoebox. 

Also, the DeWalt has a slow leak I need to track down, so faster fills might be possible. I only know about the slow leak because if I leave the tank on the compressor full to 150psi, a couple days later it'll be empty. I think it's the blow out valve on the bottom of the pancake. 

The inventer of the Shoebox has named each improvement based loosely on how many CF it'll fill/hour. So there was an F8 and then a MAX, and now the F10. I think the Max was still 8cf/hour but was belt driven (vs earlier chain driven ones) and had a bigger cooling fan. He claims 10cf/hr with the newest one. I think I remember on his website he has 8hrs as the fill time for a 3000psi 80cf SCUBA from empty. The 100psi/10min is easier for me to wrap my brain around. 

I've had mine since October of 2018. I keep a log sheet and I think I'm around 30hrs now. The only part I've needed to replace was the fuse that I blew when I tried to turn it on under pressure. Cool thing about American made is that I was able to run to the Ace hardware a few blocks away and find a fuse and get running again. 

Nearest place to me charges $15/fill, doesn't matter if it's a top off, only to 3000, or how big. $15 if they hook up my tank. Other than that I've got a 2.5hr drive each way to the nearest other location. So, my Shoebox paid for itself quite a while ago, even though I have relatively few hrs on it. 

Last thing: I ran mine for awhile without the front cover, thinking it would run cooler that way. I eventually found out it actually runs cooler with the front cover on so that's how I do it now. 


 
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I have been using the Shoebox Freedom 8 for several years now. Still going strong. I have around 100 hours on it and will probably do a seal renewal on it this spring. I have an hour meter installed on it and I log the hours when I charge my two tanks (Ninja and Tiger). It takes about 1 hour to charge the small ninja tank from 2600# to 4500#. About 2 hours to charge the larger Tiger tank from 3450# to 4500#. I log the times so I can see if the compressor starts developing any problems.

I put most of my moisture control components on the Low pressure side. I have an in-line air/oil separator, a pressure regulator, a refrigerated air dryer and a final desiccant filter. On the outlet of the Shoebox I have a high pressure Diablo molecular sieve filter. I recently inspected the internals of the Diablo filter and found no issues with water, sludge or corrosion. I have replaced the Porter Cable compressor with a much quieter Rolair.

1580782639_9250252135e38d42fe0f733.51006337_F8ACCB86-29F6-42F2-A650-2FD65EFDCC97.jpeg



1580782752_15036033575e38d4a0b7a488.96548902_B6079AD9-A174-485D-88C8-B8A0FDE18412.jpeg

 
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I have the California Airtools compressor 2010A and the F10 Shoebox, it takes about an hour to top off a 60 minute SCBA tank(87cf) going from 3600psi to 4200 psi. I have the Cal Air Tools compressor's lo at 95psi and the high set for 120psi. Adjusting the oilless compressor was essential in my case because when I got mine the lo was about 60 and high was about 100psi the way it came. If I was going to get a compressor today for the first time I'd definitely get the Harbor Freight 2 gallon one, they're the same basic compressor and much more inexpensive today. I was researching the Cal 2010A a couple days ago and they have gone up considerably since I bought mine.

https://youtu.be/5WM3B7I748E
 
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My setup is similar to Franklink above but I use the Harbor Freight Fortress 2 gallon ultra quiet shop compressor that Wayne mentioned. I have limited use so far, since it's new to me, but it's working great so far. A quiet shop compressor was a priority for me and the Fortress 2 gallon is very quiet. It's on sale again through 2/16 with the coupon.
 
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I have been using the Shoebox Freedom 8 for several years now. Still going strong. I have around 100 hours on it and will probably do a seal renewal on it this spring. I have an hour meter installed on it and I log the hours when I charge my two tanks (Ninja and Tiger). It takes about 1 hour to charge the small ninja tank from 2600# to 4500#. About 2 hours to charge the larger Tiger tank from 3450# to 4500#. I log the times so I can see if the compressor starts developing any problems.

I put most of my moisture control components on the Low pressure side. I have an in-line air/oil separator, a pressure regulator, a refrigerated air dryer and a final desiccant filter. On the outlet of the Shoebox I have a high pressure Diablo molecular sieve filter. I recently inspected the internals of the Diablo filter and found no issues with water, sludge or corrosion. I have replaced the Porter Cable compressor with a much quieter Rolair.

1580782639_9250252135e38d42fe0f733.51006337_F8ACCB86-29F6-42F2-A650-2FD65EFDCC97.jpeg



Click to expand...

That's a sweet set up you have there. Good work!
 
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I have never had the need of a high pressure tank to store air. I would buy a couple of spare gun tanks to carry if I need spare air that fit my Fx's. I use a freedom 8 shoe box to fill my guns it's easy with the gauge and micro hose set from Joe Brancato. I use the tank of my second gun for hunting and depending on power settings I get 50 to 70 shots on one tank.
 
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