Is 20 lbs of air pressure too much to blow out lines?

[anthonypool89]

I recently bought a new compressor that has a tank (3.5 gallon). My old one was a tankless compressor that had a pressure switch as part of the hose. I always used to set it to 10-15 lbs. The lowest setting on the gauge on my new compressor is 20. Is this too much? I want to call the company and find out what they suggest between 0 and 20 as the appropriate setting to achieve around 10 lbs pressure. Too close to 0 and hardly anything comes out. I've never worked with a compressor that has a tank and regulator control and don't want to use too much air that could possibly damage the lines in some way. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Pool Tool]

I am not aware of that type of regulator, but I would not be concerned about 20 psi. Remember it only reaches 20 psi if it fully packs the line you are pumping into. If you have any air coming out of the other end of the pipe, the pressure will be less than your regulator set point.

My regular pool pump pressure will reach ~25 psi when the filter needs to be backwashed and PVC itself is rated for way over that. Worst case you could buy an inline regulator with a more precise dial, but I think you will be ok.

 

[samt]

When I hook up my pancake compressor to the pump and turn it on, it's not building up any pressure in the holding tank. The compressor motor is just working to push air through the pipes.

 

[Catanzaro]

Tell us how it works out and what settings you have it on. Maybe also how long it takes to blow out the main drain. You do not need a lot of pressure, but from what I know, anywhere between 20-30 will work. Try lowering the pressure to see what happens?

It is volume that is more important than PSI. The Cyclone I have has 160 inches of water column, which supposedly is 27.7 inches per PSI. This translates to about 5.77 PSI at maximum operating power, which is constant. Although the CFM is about 60 in the main drain and about 90 in the returns. This is what I was told from the manufacturer.