Air compressor outside ?
 

I am getting closer to start moving tools into my garage at home , I have a big old emglo 2 stage compressor, that was my shops compressor for 20 years.
Its noisy, I hate it, I would rather my neighbors enjoy it ,
Actually , I am thinking about building a little compressor roomf for it with an air intake ,
I am worried about the cold, and being lazy about draining it , if it is not right in my face every day .
Anybody put theirs outside ? I know people do it , I just have never seen it done here in this climate

What about an automatic drain solenoid?

Designed for propane tanks but it might work for your application.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1628473846.jpg

I want to do the same now, for the same reasons. I've had small shops in the past, it was the first thing I did, build a 'hut' to put the compressor in. Then I marked on wall calendar to drain it once every 3 weeks. This was before internet, Outlook calendars.

When I built my man cave garage I planned on having the compressor outside but enclosed . So I poured a concrete pad large enough for the compressor and built walls to enclose . For air circulation I did a top row of screened vents to keep bugs out . I framed a doorway on the interior for access to the compressor .

It's amazing how quiet the setup is , yes you can hear it but it is very muffled . By simply opening the door I can turn the compressor on/off and easily service it . I ran black iron pipe through the wall and then air flex lines on the interior . My compressor is a 60 gallon twin cylinder IR vertical . I am very happy with my results and would do it again .

Our dealership compressor was in a shed against the back of the building for my 42 years there. It was plenty cold in VA and compressor had to be drained pretty often.

I would be concerned about critters moving in, building fire hazard nests and chewing on wiring. Another concern would be condensation freezing in the bottom of the tank and obstructing the drain cock. OTOH cold air is drier, so you would get less condensation in the winter.
I would consider building a sound insulated room in the shop.

We had rats the size of a small cat back there but they never bothered it. There were however frigid mornings when the condensation would freeze, as you say, and no air pressure for a while. That’s why draining it regularly was so important.

At an former business I worked at we had an air compressor hung from the rafters, above the drop ceiling in the very back of the building. It had an automatic drain, and it worked great for 20 years. It was a real pain in the butt to service it with oil changes and new belts or what ever, but it kept that part of the building quiet.

The air was plumbed to the entire building and almost every room but the bathrooms and the kitchen when the building was built.

I put mine in my shed out back and feed the air into the garage/basement etc. I do keep the shed heated to about 45 in the winter with an electric heater, also well insulated

Any NPT ports on the intake or any way to tie to it with 2" hydraulic hose to a new aftermarket car muffler? I did that years ago on a shop compressor and really helped. Most of the noise is from the air intake if you can just run that through the wall to some external air filters.

I love this place , that is a good idea, although I am also hoping to not waste the floor space in the shop .

We had one outside at my dads shop. Automatic drain with the remote shutoff wired up inside. So damn nice to not listen to it. It lasted 10+years out there and was a 20year old compressor when it got moved. The motor burnt up before rust was an issue.