Quincy 5103D12HCA46M QP MAX 10 HP Two-Stage Air Compressor, 460V

This is the 460V build of the QP MAX 10 HP package, and the voltage is the reason to choose it rather than an incidental detail. At the higher supply voltage the same work is done at a lower current, which means smaller conductors, a smaller breaker and less voltage drop over a long run from the panel to the corner of the building where compressors always end up. If your site already has 460V three-phase distribution, this is the version that costs least to connect. If it does not, this is the version you cannot use, and no adapter changes that. Everything above the terminal box is the same industrial package: a 1750 RPM motor, a cast-iron two-stage pump and a 120-gallon receiver rated for 100% continuous duty.

The electrical case, made properly

Voltage choice is usually treated as a checkbox and it is really a cost decision. Current falls as voltage rises for the same power, and almost everything expensive about an electrical installation scales with current: conductor cross-section, conduit size, breaker frame, the labour of pulling heavier cable through a longer run. On a 10 HP motor the difference between supply voltages is not academic — it can be the difference between reusing an existing circuit and pulling a new one across a workshop. It also gives you better behaviour at start-up, because voltage drop during the inrush is what makes a motor on an undersized run struggle to get going under load.

What the higher voltage does not do is change the compressor. Capacity, receiver size, working pressure and duty rating are identical across the family. Buy the voltage your building has, and if you are choosing the building supply as well, this is the one that keeps the installation cheap.

Interstage cooling, and why two stages exist at all

A two-stage compressor squeezes the air twice: once in a large cylinder, then again in a smaller one. Between them sits a high-efficiency fin and tube intercooler, and that cooler is the reason the arrangement is worth the extra complexity. Compression heats air. Feed hot air into the second stage and you are compressing something that has already expanded, which wastes work and drives up discharge temperature. Cool it in between and the second stage takes in denser air, does its job with less energy, and delivers at a lower temperature — better efficiency and less thermal punishment for the valves, the gaskets and the oil.

The cylinders are cast iron with aluminum heads and graphite cylinder and head gaskets: iron for dimensional stability as the casting heats and cools, aluminum where heat needs to escape, graphite for a joint that survives constant thermal cycling. Stainless steel reed valves with bumpers absorb the endless open-and-shut cycle without fatiguing, which is what keeps volumetric efficiency from quietly falling away over the years.

Will It Fit?

The machine occupies a horizontal 120-gallon receiver measuring 78 inches long, 28 inches wide and 55 inches high, at 850 lbs dry. Plan the position for service access as much as for footprint: belt guard, oil sight glass and spin-on filter should all be reachable in situ, and the cooling airflow should be room air rather than recycled exhaust. The tank outlet is 3/4-inch, and maximum working pressure is 175 PSI.

Supply is 460V 3-phase, which is an industrial service and not something a domestic or light-commercial panel provides. The magnetic starter is included, and it brings motor thermal overload protection with it. Breaker and conductor sizing is for a certified electrician working from your service and your run length — that is what Quincy documentation instructs, in place of a published figure that could not account for either. Verifying the supply, the doorway, the access route and the floor before you order is the buyer responsibility, and on a machine of this weight it is worth ten minutes with a tape measure.

Perfect For

• Industrial sites and plants with existing 460V three-phase distribution, where connection cost is the deciding factor.
• Long cable runs from the panel to a compressor room, where voltage drop at start-up is a real design constraint.
• Continuous-duty shop air feeding hard-piped ring mains and several stations at once.
• Facilities standardising on one supply voltage across their equipment rather than mixing.

What Arrives

The compressor arrives assembled on its horizontal receiver, with the two-stage cast-iron pump, motor, magnetic starter, spin-on oil filter, stainless steel reed valves with bumpers, graphite gaskets and fin and tube intercooler all fitted at the factory. Compressor oil, hose, air treatment, a dryer, a regulator and an isolation valve are not listed as supplied in the documentation we hold — plan on buying them, and tell us in advance if any is on the critical path for your commissioning.

Specifications

Two Specifications To Confirm Before You Order

Published information about this build differs on two points, and both are set out here in full.

How the pump is lubricated. The manufacturer feature list and the description on this page both call this a fully pressure-lubricated machine with a positive-displacement oil pump feeding the crankshaft, bearings and rods. The specification data on this page records the oil system as splash lubricated instead — two different designs, not two ways of saying the same thing. If the lubrication system is part of why you are buying this compressor, ask us before you order and we will get it confirmed by Quincy in writing.

The tank drain. The same split appears on the automatic electronic tank drain: the feature list and the specification table record it as fitted, while one specification line records it as not fitted. Same answer — ask us before you order and we will have it confirmed.

Neither point affects the capacity, the receiver, the electrical supply or the warranty, all of which are consistent across every source we have.

Certification, Stated Plainly

ASME, UL and CSA marks appear on the specification sheet for this compressor, and it is worth knowing what each one is for. ASME certifies the pressure vessel: the receiver, its design, its material and its construction, which is the certification an inspector or an insurer will ask to see on a tank of this size. The electrical marks apply to the motor and control components. What they do not do is certify air quality, discharge a local permitting obligation, or take the place of any periodic pressure vessel inspection your jurisdiction requires. Confirm what applies where the machine will live before it is installed.

Shipping and Delivery

The compressor travels as freight inside the lower 48 states, and the cost is worked out live at checkout for the address you give us rather than being averaged into the price. Sort the unloading out first. There is no version of this delivery that a driver and a customer manage between them, so the destination needs a forklift or a dock — and if it has neither, terminal collection is the sensible route and we can set that up. Say plainly whether the address is residential, too: carriers price a residential delivery differently and it carries a residential fee.

Then inspect it on the pallet before you put your name on anything. Look for guards that have been bent, a broken gauge, oil where it should not be, and any corner of the receiver that has met a forklift blade. Write what you see on the bill of lading in front of the driver. Noted damage is a claim that gets paid; damage found after a clean signature usually is not.

Warranty

The compressor carries a 1-year factory warranty from Quincy, and that becomes the 3-year No Bull warranty once the unit is registered with Quincy and maintained with Quincy kits. Treat registration as part of commissioning rather than paperwork for later — the extension is conditional on it. And the standing house rule: if something goes wrong, contact us before the pump or the starter is opened. A machine that has already been apart is by far the most common reason a warranty claim is turned down.