The Framers Forum

I have one of these and it works fine, but I am wanting to upgrade my compressed air supply to cater for this and a few air tools. My CMC is run from a separate compressor.

On the instruction booklet the air requirement is stated as "4Nl@5bar". Now I know that Nl is normal litres and 5 bar is around 70psi, but the missing bit of information is the time value. Is the Nl per second of per minute? It makes a considerable difference to compressor choice.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Steve

my understanding is the norm is l/min

I thought that as well. Most of the air compressor manufacturers are quoting FAD in litres/min, but my compressor has a 50 litre tank but is incapable of pinning two pins/corner for a complete frame without kicking in. I know my compressor is knackered and leaks but it just makes me wonder if its litres/second. If it was 4 litres/minute it would necessarily be a very small compressor...... which is great, but I don't need to undersize it.

its not that your compressor tank is full of water ?

that doesnt sound right

i have a 50L bambi, it runs cmc, air gun, cassese 199xl, and doesnt kick in that quick

I drain the compressor every week and to be honest there isnt a lot of water in it. My compressor is a 50/100 bambi which sounds similar to yours, but the fact that you run all those tools from your compressor gives me heart that it is 4Nl/min.

Thanks for all your help Steve

Why not attend to your leaky system?

To detect leaks, use a paintbrush to apply soapy water to the joints in your airline, or any place where you think air might be escaping, and watch for bubbles.

Thanks John, but the leaks are actually on the compressor itself and come from around the pot. There comes a time, like most cars, when its time to replace rather than try to repair. The compressor has other "issues" which make me think its time to change it.

I found out on friday that the "4Nl" refers to per cycle rather than per minute or per second. This makes the average consumption for a frame with 8 wedges 32litres, which soon drains a tank.

Looks like I need a pretty big compressor after all

Thanks for your help guys