2011 compressor

[Peter Matteson]

Originally Posted by Dimitri

Is the new compressor for 2011 season as durable as the old compressor? Does anyone know of any problems with it?

Not even close. The duty cycle is really low, around 9%. We burnt one out in 1 regional during Final 1-3 at the WPI regional last year and its failure vented the pnuematics on our robot essentially preventing us from playing in the match after 30 seconds. The compressor had been new at the begining of the practice day.

Make sure you have plenty of storage on board so the compressor has time to cool off.

[Jared Russell]

By the way, AndyMark has started selling these: http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-2005.htm

Note that the duty cycle rating is really, really low on these. I recommend keeping around the old Thomas compressors for long practice sessions, if not for the competition bot if heavy pneumatic usage is critical to your design.

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by Peter Matteson

Make sure you have plenty of storage on board so the compressor has time to cool off.

Having extra storage on board will not necessarily help here. The compressor will work just as hard to fill up the extra storage.

[JonathonSchad]

Our team used a Series 215 Thomas compressor for the 2011 season. The Viair compressor is basically the Chinese copy of it. It's the same weight but has a CFM rating of 0.97 which was below the 2011 CFM limit of 1.03. It outperformed it's rating unlike the Viair which wasn't even close to the 1.03 it was rated at.

[Ninja_Bait]

Originally Posted by JonathonSchad

Our team used a Series 215 Thomas compressor for the 2011 season. The Viair compressor is basically the Chinese copy of it. It's the same weight but has a CFM rating of 0.97 which was below the 2011 CFM limit of 1.03. It outperformed it's rating unlike the Viair which wasn't even close to the 1.03 it was rated at.

That looks like a great alternative to the Viair, which does look a little, shall we say, fragile. Why isn't everyone on top of this? Price?

[Mark McLeod]

The Thomas is about $140-150
Here's one source: http://www.streetbeatcustoms.com/Air...RC1550/554425/
Specs: http://www.gd-thomas.com/product.aspx?id=12622&tp=p

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by Ninja_Bait

That looks like a great alternative to the Viair, Why isn't everyone on top of this? Price?

Bingo!

We used the Viair at our second competition last year at Smoky Mountain and at two off season events (IRI and CAGE Match) with zero troubles. That's on a robot with seven different cylinders three of which were 2" variety.

Remember compressors are heat generators and must have plenty of air to breathe and cool off or they will not last long. If you are going to be really pushing one hard you should even consider putting a large muffin fan on it.

[Peyton Yeung]

Originally Posted by IndySam

Having extra storage on board will not necessarily help here. The compressor will work just as hard to fill up the extra storage.

I think he means that with more capacity, the compressor won't need to turn on as often.

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by Tubatroopa

I think he means that with more capacity, the compressor won't need to turn on as often.

But when it does turn on it will run longer and that is what will burn it out.

[JDNovak]

If you want reliable air the original KOP Thomas compressor is hard to beat. we have abused them over the years and never have destroyed one. I have had a couple of failures but one was the screw holding the reed valve loosening up and the other was trash under the valve. After maintenance, Both compressors still run 30 minutes at a time filling game elements or tires without complaining.

They are available at EStop Robotics:
http://www.estoprobotics.com/estore/...d&productId=55

It's funny how reliability is directly proportional to price and weight.

There are applications that favor one or the other depending on air usage and available weight.

[Mk.32]

We ran the new 90c compressor with a 1gal tank + KOP tank though out the season and never had a single problem. The compressor always ran at least for half of every match we played.

Is there any better alternatives to the 90C or the Thomas that fits within the rules?

[Garrett.d.w]

Personally, I have found that the new compressor does its job just fine, as long as you don't overheat it. We had to be careful while practicing to make sure that it stayed cool, but other than that, performance was comparable to our old compressor.
My recommendation for anyone who is running the new compressor is to pre-charge your pneumatics while practicing using a shop compressor (this is really easy to plumb into the release valve). This should avoid burning it up when you have to drain it every five minutes to modify a prototype.

[Peter Matteson]

Originally Posted by IndySam

Having extra storage on board will not necessarily help here. The compressor will work just as hard to fill up the extra storage.

If you have enough storage that it won't need to run too much during the match you can monitor the compressor while filling in the pit so it doesn't overheat and burn up the piston cup.

[Gdeaver]

If a tea team does not use the KOP compressor then make sure you account for it on the BOM. That Previous year compressor is expensive.

[Gary Dillard]

Originally Posted by Gdeaver

If a tea team does not use the KOP compressor then make sure you account for it on the BOM. That Previous year compressor is expensive.

Unfortunately last year, veteran teams who used their previous year's KOP compressors had to include their cost in the BOM; if you wanted to use a "free" compressor on the robot you had to buy the 2011 compressor.

http://forums.usfirst.org/showthread.php?t=17185

Originally Posted by Mk.32

Is there any better alternatives to the 90C or the Thomas that fits within the rules?

I guess we'll find out when we see the rules January 7th