# What Air Compressor for Jet Hydraulic Jack



## Lentze (Nov 15, 2013)

Hello,
I have the JET 20 ton hydraulic jack that I am using in a shop press to push metal dies into leather.
It calls for an air compressor running at 101-145 psi at 7.85 cfm. I am not too familiar with air compressors and I was wondering if anyone has some advice for a small/quieter unit capable of that kind of output?

Thanks!


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## bigblockyeti (Sep 9, 2013)

There is no compressor that anyone would consider "small" that would have that kind of output. Given the airflow requirement, you're almost certainly looking at a 240V compressor.


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## Lentze (Nov 15, 2013)

Oh man, I was hoping that wouldn't be the case! 
Well - do you know if there are air run jacks in the 12 - 20 ton range that can run on a lot less capacity?


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## bigblockyeti (Sep 9, 2013)

The only air jack I've ever used was a 50 ton and it took a lot of air. Most of the 60 gallon air compressors that run on 240V, sold at the big box store can be had for $400 when on sale. I would think you could run the jack at lower air flow and the same pressure and just have it run slower. Might be worth trying another compressor to see how it might do before assuming anything.


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## Lentze (Nov 15, 2013)

how slow do these things usually go? I got this unit to replace a 12 ton manual bottle jack because I thought it might be faster…! Maybe sticking to good old elbow grease would be better?


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## REO (Sep 20, 2012)

the jack will work at lower cfm. that is a continuous load and you will be loading it intermittently. Place part, press, unload, remove or move part, do it again. in the mean time the compressor during off times the compressor will replenish the tank. I would think you could get along with a 20-30 gallon 110V compressor in the less than 400 dollar range fairly well. I don't know what your cycle times are. If you want to get the cycle time up an arbor type press may work for you if properly set up. less elbow grease with the pneu unit but the 20 ton will be almost half as much lift per pump than the 12 ton.


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## Lentze (Nov 15, 2013)

Yeah - I tried to run it on an old compressor I had laying around at 2.25 cfm open flow 84-114 psi. It didn't seem to do anything. Though maybe the flow wasn't fully open? It has some push lock on it that keeps the output at 1 bar. I am not too familiar with compressors though.


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## Lentze (Nov 15, 2013)

Well, messed with that push lock and got it to work. Wish I would have figured that one out hours ago!

So now my question is - can these jacks get going pretty fast or will there not be much difference?


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## woodbutcherbynight (Oct 21, 2011)

I use one at work, be careful we have had people crush things that were not meant to be crushed because it moves faster than hand cranking it.


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## Lentze (Nov 15, 2013)

thanks will do. I could always hook up dual hand push valves to keep both hands out of the way…might be overkill though


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