Snowmobile Engine Converted Into Low-Cost Air Compressor

Snowmobile Engine Converted Into Low-Cost Air Compressor FARM SHOP Tools 31-2-37 Wess Cornelius couldn't justify the expense of a new air compressor. So the Winlock, Wash., man converted a Rotec 500 cc, 2-cyl. snowmobile engine into a low-cost air compressor. A 3/4 hp electric motor shaft-drives the Rotec engine, which is used to deliver air to a nearby air tank. He removed the two spark plugs from the top side of the engine, then used square steel tubing and nylon block to build a pair of shuttle valves which he welded into the spark plug holes. He closed off the engine's intake ports and hooked up a pair of 1 1/2-in. dia. rubber hoses to the exhaust ports. The hoses are hooked up to a commercial air tank. Turning on the electric motor, via a pressure switch, causes air to get sucked in through the shuttle valves. At that point the engine's pistons go down, the valves open up, and the air is moved through the spark plugs toward the piston. As the pistons come back up, the valves close off and air is pushed back out the hoses and exhaust ports. A check valve at the air tank keeps air from coming back out of tank and into the engine. "I use it to do heavy duty work in my shop," says Wess. "It didn't cost much to build. I already had the electric motor and the air tank. I bought the Rotec snowmobile engine for $10 from someone who didn't need it any more." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Wess Cornelius, 1312 Ferrier Rd., Winlock, Wash. 98596 (ph 360 785-4178).

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