Automatic Pellet Feeding Compressor?

[Alex LaVelle]

Hello,

Does anyone have first hand experience running a smaller than recommended air compressor for the pellet feeding? Looking at the specs listed on the documentation it's pointing to a ~60 gal compressor. Unfortunately my Pulsar is used on my personal printer at home and a 60 gal compressor is just too loud to use on overnight prints.

[Technical Support]

Hi Alex!

The smallest compressor we used internally was a 1 HP, 8 gallons compressors like this one: https://www.amazon.ca/California-Air-Tools-8010A-Lightweight/dp/B07N528213

The compressor was running quite often, I strongly suggest configuring the pellet feeding system to minimize the amount of time it is activated.

Hope it helps! 😄

Andy (Andréanne Poulin - She / Her ) Support Team
	100-1505 Saint-Thomas Lemoyne, Quebec, Canada, J4P 3S2
	dyzedesign.com

On Mon, Jun 2, 2025 at 5:56 PM Alex LaVelle <alex.charl...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello,

Does anyone have first hand experience running a smaller than recommended air compressor for the pellet feeding? Looking at the specs listed on the documentation it's pointing to a ~60 gal compressor. Unfortunately my Pulsar is used on my personal printer at home and a 60 gal compressor is just too loud to use on overnight prints.

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[Alex LaVelle]

Thanks! I actually have the 2hp, 10 gal version of that from CA Tools as well. Sounds like it can work in the right environment. How would you best configure the pellet system to work with that? Minimizing the Z delta between pellets and head?

Regards,

Alex C. La Velle

[Technical Support]

Hi Alex!

Try using the lowest setting for the "Supply Delay" in this section: https://docs.dyzedesign.com/pellet-feeding-system.html#pellet-feeding-controller-logic-configuration

It will reduce the amount of time the air supply stays on after the sensor detect new pellets.

Minimizing the length can help too!

Regards,

Andy (Andréanne Poulin - She / Her ) Support Team
	100-1505 Saint-Thomas Lemoyne, Quebec, Canada, J4P 3S2
	dyzedesign.com

[Alex LaVelle]

Hi Andy,

Can you use a vacuum pump in place of a compressor with a venturi? I recall venturi's dumping compressed air to create the vacuum and that's a very loud process. Too loud for a workshop in my house. But I have a quiet 2HP vacuum pump. Has anyone put a T with a mesh filter inline with the supply tube just prior to the inlet to the Pulsar and use a vacuum pump to draw a vacuum in the pellet supply line and pull pellets up into the tube? I assume the Pulsar is essentially a sealed unit during the print process due to the screw and volume of melted plastic in it so the vacuum should just pull through the open side which is the pellet supply?

[Technical Support]

Hi Alex,

We haven't explicitly tested the use of a vacuum pump in place of a compressor with a Venturi. However, I have doubts about whether a vacuum pump would generate sufficient flow to effectively move the pellets.

For silent operation, our primary recommendation would be to utilize gravity feeding for the pellets.

Regards,

Andy (Andréanne Poulin - She / Her ) Support Team
	100-1505 Saint-Thomas Lemoyne, Quebec, Canada, J4P 3S2
	dyzedesign.com

[Alex LaVelle]

Unfortunately due to the height of the printer and the ceiling height there’s no room above for any gravity feeding short of cutting a hole in the ceiling and mounting a hopper on the second story. 

The vacuum pump I have shows a max flow of 15 CFM, if that makes any difference. 

Regards,

Alex C. La Velle

[Technical Support]

Hi Alex,

I'm not sure if a venturi designed for compressed air would work effectively with a vacuum pump to generate the necessary airflow. A different type of venturi might be required. However, this application falls outside the scope of our product.

Regards,

Andy (Andréanne Poulin - She / Her ) Support Team
	100-1505 Saint-Thomas Lemoyne, Quebec, Canada, J4P 3S2
	dyzedesign.com