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We recently moved into a townhouse in a 5 unit complex. It consists of 2 buildings, each of which has both a wet and dry system.
Our unit's basement houses the equipment for one building and we have found that the riser-mounted air compressor serving the sprinkler system goes off approximately every 3 hours for 3-4 minutes. It's incredibly noisy. The option of a Quiet-Series, tank mounted compressor is appealing, but I wonder if there's a significant leakage problem we should focus on first, given the short intervals. Posted anonymously by a member for discussion. Discuss this | Subscribe
8 Comments
Douglas Krantz
1/31/2019 10:29:49 am
First off, check the size of the air tank on the compressor. If the motor runs only a few minutes at a time, that means that the air space inside the air tank is very small.
Landon Veitenheimer
1/31/2019 11:32:59 am
He states that the compressor is riser mounted. I would think the the compressor has no tank at all.
James Armentor
2/1/2019 12:48:12 pm
Be sure to check all the air line connections on the riser with soapy water. In my experience most leaks are in the trim caused by vibration when the compressor runs. Therefore, the leak tends to get worse overtime. Pay special attention to any relief valves depending on the trim of the air maintenance device (regulator and trim) there will be a 1/4" relief valve that looks like a small pipe with a cap with a hole in it. It's adjustable. If set too low it will allow air to bleed down before the check valve that separates the air tank from the system. If all other possibilities are spent. A hydro test of the piping can show where the leak is. That's a last resort though.
Andy Kaempfer
1/31/2019 01:34:12 pm
Not sure on 13D/13R systems but if memory serves me existing sprinkler systems are allowed to leak 3PSI every 2 hours on commercial installations. Running 3-4 minutes every 3 hours doesn't seem like a very long run time or frequency for that matter. That's running for a culmitive of 32 minutes a day across 8 separate on/off cycles. If you know the capacity of the sprinkler system and the supervisory pressure you can calculate the allowable leak rate and make the judgement if a repair is needed. Typically riser mounted air compressors are sized volumetrically for system capacity (in gallons). If undersized the run times can get extended. If indeed a riser mounted compressor then it's likely an oil free compressor and oil free compressors are typically loud by most comparison. With all that said, the Quiet Series (I assume you're talking about the Q-Series by GAP) are very quiet. Almost unnoticeable if you're in the same room with it. Sounds more like the volume is complaint not the frequency or run time.
Bruce O'Such
2/3/2019 11:26:52 am
Andy, Definitely... the volume of the compressor is a nuisance, it being a residence and especially as my wife's home office is directly above. Even a single start-up is a problem if it falls in the middle of a client call. So it seems the best course is to plan on replacing the compressor, following up with an investigation on possible leakage. Many thanks for the considered response The compressor may be responding to pressure changes in the system piping resulting from temperature differences in the air surrounding the pipe throughout the day. This would be exacerbated if the piping was directly beneath a metal roof or exposed to direct sunlight. Throughout the night, the temperature continues to drop, especially on a clear day/night, there is no cloud coverage to buffer the radiation from the earth to black-body space. Because it is riser mounted and there is no tank, the system piping is the tank for the compressor. You may be able to adjust the compressor maximum pressure limit up or down, as long as it is within the listing of the dry valve ratio to water pressure. Another option, depending on the size of the riser room, sound proofing the riser room may be less expensive than buying another compressor.
PETE
1/31/2019 01:45:08 pm
https://www.acoustimac.com/soundproofing-massloaded-vinyl-1lb50sf?gclid=Cj0KCQiA1sriBRD-ARIsABYdwwEEgc2XMh6Ov74Ic5qR-pwEfL_mpgXqGOshqYeDVuw7l3TEeiErukMaAkb7EALw_wcB Leave a Reply. |
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