At Wheeler Circuit Runners we have lost AC power. We have lights but may not have 220VAC outlets before kickoff. We mostly use rivets for assembly and use a pneumatic rivet gun. Without outlet power our compressor does not work. Cutting tubing has a solution but rivets do not. Should I run a extension cord through the parking lot or just buy a few hand riveters from Harbor Freight.
Can you find a nearby place with power and work there?
Extension cord is a good idea, provided it can withstand the whole amount of power you use. Make sure it’s a good, heavy duty cord. Also, running it through a parking lot, get a protector, like they have in pits for carts, but just for cars.
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Or in the case you want to stay truly electric free:
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Do any of your mentors or team parents have access to a generator they’d be willing to loan? Renting is an option, but may quickly become an inefficient use of funds.
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You could get an airtank and either fill it at a gas station or take your compressor where there is power. I’m assuming you can get quite a lot of rivets from a tank of air.
Or, we use on of these with our cordless drills: Amazon.com: Cordless Drill Electric Rivet Gun Adapter Rivet Nut Drill Adapter Kit Including 10 Mandrel and 50Pcs Assorted Rivet Nuts, Rugged Carrying Case : Automotive
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If compressed air is the only concern, you could also look into getting a local rental company to donate the rental of a gas powered air compressor. Just have that run in the parking lot and run a supply hose inside.
Some motors can be wired 220/110 (I had a saw and compressor like that). If there is a 110 wiring, beware the current draw may exceed the breaker.
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We just use hand riveters. Not a big deal. Sure, probably takes a bit longer than if you had something powered, but unless you’re doing a thousand rivets, a hand-riveter is just fine.
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Can’t recommend the battery operated rivet gun enough. Some teams regard that M12 tool
as the best tool ever created. (Considering how much sheet metal they use)
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You can get an inexpensive pancake compressor that will run on 110. If you use an extension cord please use the appropriate size. Preferably 12G but no less than 14G. You are not really supposed to run extension cords through doorways and such, but that is between you, the school, and your local fire marshal.
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So you’re saying the robotics team is a jock team?
“We’re gonna rivet <CLAP> you up!”
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Spent the summer building an off grid house using solar panels and 18 volt Milwaukee tools. Put out an appeal for all compatible cordless tools and batteries. And chargers! Students take the batts home and recharge 'em. Also of course outsource anything you can. A nice PR story if there would be local interest…
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overkill much?
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we use hand riveters for most small things, and only use our pneumatic one for things like riveting our bellypan to the frame, but we could definitely go without it. I think using a hand riveter would be fine.
Are robot compressors viable for using pneumatic tools? I’m sure it’ll be slower than you’d want, but probably easier than trying to attach the tank to a gas station air pump?
I would honestly say the opposite, assuming the gas station has free air.
Now all this assumes you are not buying a tank (those are like 60$ at least now)
If you don’t want to buy into another battery ecosystem (e.g., M12), there’s always these:
Fits into a regular cordless drill and pulls rivets. It’s a bit slower than a pneumatic or dedicated electric riveter, but it works. Several years back, some friends and I used two of these to set about 1200 rivets on some road cases.
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I guess it comes down to what you want to rig up. Do you fit a Schrader valve onto your tank and drive to and from the gas station or fit a push-fit connector onto the tank and set up an FRC pneumatics system with some subset of safety features so it’s always in the shop?
I’m also assuming this team still has access to 120V outlets to charge batteries - the OP only mentions 240V being out.
They are a little small. With enough storage they would work, but would need recovery time. They can make the pressure, but don’t really have enough flow rate.