Champion Air Compressor VRV5-8 5 HP 80 Gallon

Champion VRV5-8 5 HP 80-Gallon RV-Series Air Compressor

The single line on the VRV5-8's specification that changes an installation quote is this one: a magnetic starter is not required. This is a single-phase, 230V machine designed to be wired and commissioned without a separately purchased and separately mounted starter, which removes a component, a panel and an electrician's afternoon from the job of getting a compressor running.

The rest of it is a conventional, serviceable 80-gallon vertical shop compressor: an ASME coded receiver built to California code, a pressure-switch control, loadless starting and an enclosed belt guard. Nothing exotic, and that is largely the point.

Starting without a separate starter, and why it matters

On most three-phase shop compressors a magnetic starter is compulsory: the motor needs a contactor with overload protection, and it arrives as its own box to be mounted, wired and protected. On a single-phase machine of this size the manufacturer has specified that the arrangement is not needed. The practical effect is not glamorous but it is real — fewer parts on the wall, one less enclosure to find space for, and a shorter list of things an electrician has to quote for before the compressor makes any air.

Control itself is a tank-mounted simplex start/stop pressure switch. When tank pressure falls the switch closes and the motor runs; when the tank is satisfied the switch opens. There is no controller, no board and no display, which means there is nothing in the control path that can fail in a way you cannot diagnose with a screwdriver.

Loadless starting completes the picture. The pump is unloaded when the motor starts, so the motor comes up to speed against almost nothing before it picks up the compression load. On a single-phase supply that matters more than it does on three-phase — single-phase motors draw a heavy starting current, and starting them unloaded is the difference between a clean start and one that dims the lights.

The receiver, the belt guard and the filter

The receiver is ASME coded and built as California Code Compliant. The first is the pressure-vessel standard that commercial insurers and building inspectors generally expect on a tank inside an occupied building; the second is a separate construction requirement that some jurisdictions enforce independently. If you are in one of them, that line decides whether the machine can be commissioned. Check with your own inspector rather than taking any dealer's word for it, ours included — the cost of being wrong is a compressor you cannot switch on.

The drive is belt-driven behind an enclosed guard. An enclosed guard is what makes a belt drive acceptable in a bay where people walk past all day, and it is also what keeps a dropped rag out of the sheaves. At the intake, a combined filter and silencer does two jobs at once: it keeps grinding dust and abrasive out of the cylinder bores, and it takes the hard edge off the intake noise, which on a reciprocating compressor is a significant share of the total noise the machine makes.

Will It Fit?

• Footprint. Overall length is 35.9". The tank is vertical, so plan for a tall, narrow space with clear air around it for cooling.
• Weight. Estimated shipping weight is 560 lbs, which wants sound, level concrete under it.
• Power. Single phase (1 Ph), 230V. Confirm the supply and the breaker with your electrician before delivery — a 5 HP single-phase motor is a substantial load on a domestic panel.
• Air connection. Tank outlet is 3/4". Size the shop piping to match or exceed it.
• Pressure. Maximum pressure is 175 PSI, so every regulator, hose, coupler and filter downstream needs to be rated for it.

Site preparation, the electrical supply and the disconnect are the buyer's responsibility. We will happily talk through what the machine needs; the installation itself has to be signed off by whoever is doing your electrical work.

Perfect For

• A serious home or hobby shop on single-phase service that has outgrown a portable compressor and wants a tank that keeps up with a die grinder or a sandblaster.
• A small independent shop without three-phase power — which is most of them — running impact tools, a lift and a tyre machine.
• Anyone who wants the install to be simple. No separate starter to source, and a control scheme any electrician will recognise in thirty seconds.

What Comes on the Unit

Listed as standard: the tank-mounted simplex start/stop pressure switch control, the ASME coded receiver, the intake filter and silencer, the enclosed belt guard, loadless starting and the California Code Compliant receiver. Air treatment is not included — the record shows no air dryer and no electronic drain valve — so if you need dry air at the tool, budget for a dryer and a filter in the piping.

Specifications

Two things to confirm with us before you order

• Motor speed. The feature list on this product states a 3,600 RPM motor. The manufacturer's own specification list for the same model gives a different motor speed. That is a genuine contradiction in the source data, not a rounding difference, and it changes what kind of pump this is — so we have printed the figure the page carries, flagged it here, and we will confirm the real one against the factory sheet before your order ships. Ask us.
• Magnetic starter. The feature list says a magnetic starter is not required; a separate specification field on the same record says one is fitted. Both cannot be true. If your install depends on it — and it may well — ask us to confirm before you have an electrician on site.

Overall width and overall height are recorded in our data without units, so we have left them off rather than publish a measurement we cannot stand behind. Ask and we will pull them from the manufacturer's drawing.

Certification and compliance, honestly

The claims this machine actually makes are the ASME coding on the receiver and the California-compliant receiver construction — both specific, both checkable. Our product record claims no third-party electrical safety listing for the assembled compressor, and a pressure-vessel code is not a substitute for one; they cover different things. If your insurer or your local electrical inspector requires a particular listing mark on the finished machine, find out precisely which one and ask us to confirm it before you order.

Shipping and delivery

The VRV5-8 ships freight to the lower 48 states. This item ships free, so there is nothing to add at checkout. A residential delivery carries a fee.

Arrange how it comes off the truck before it arrives — a dock, a forklift, an equipment mover, or collection from the carrier's terminal. Look the crate and the tank over while the driver is still there, and if anything is dented, scraped or shifted, write it on the delivery paperwork before signing. That written note is what makes a freight claim work.

Warranty

Warranty terms are published on our warranty claims page — read the terms themselves rather than a summary of them. And whatever they say: if the machine develops a fault, talk to us before anyone takes the pump, motor or pressure switch apart. A unit that has already been opened is much harder to claim on.

Call, text or chat with us if you have questions — 866-774-7743.