BelAire 338VE4 Elite Series 80-Gallon Two-Stage Air Compressor — 460V, 3-Phase

Almost every 80-gallon two-stage compressor pushes its discharge air straight from the pump into the tank, hot. The 338VE4 does not. BelAire hangs an Elite Series triple-pass aftercooler on the pump itself, so the air passes through the cooler three times before it reaches the receiver. That is the reason to look at this model rather than at a cheaper unit wearing the same 5 HP motor badge, and it is the thing the manufacturer boilerplate mentions in one bullet and then walks past.

The rest of the package is a 460V, 3-phase, belt-driven two-stage pump on a vertical 80 gallon ASME tank, with the magnetic starter already fitted. It is aimed at a shop that already has 460 volt three-phase service in the building and wants the air arriving at the tools dry and cool rather than merely plentiful.

Why the aftercooler is the specification that matters

Air leaves the second stage hot, and hot air carries water in suspension. Send it straight into a cold steel tank and it condenses where you cannot see it — in the receiver, in the drop legs, eventually in an impact gun or a spray gun. Cooling it before storage puts that water in the tank bottom and the drain, where it belongs.

The effects are unglamorous and worth money: blow guns and ratchets last longer, paint work is less likely to fisheye, and a downstream refrigerated dryer is handed air it can cope with instead of being asked to cool and dry at once. BelAire recommends the CPXHT25 dryer alongside this unit — not included, not required, but budget for it now if air quality is why you are buying two-stage.

Will it fit, and will your shop feed it?

The 338VE4 stands on a vertical tank, so it wants height rather than floor. Measure to 77" of clear headroom above the pad and allow more for the pressure switch and the outlet plumbing on top. On the floor it occupies roughly 39" by 24" — a footprint you can put in a corner, though you should not put it hard against two walls, because the belt guard, the sight glass and the tank drain all need to be reachable without moving the machine.

Power is the part people get wrong. This is the 460 volt three-phase build — not a dual-voltage unit and not something to be wired to single-phase service. BelAire lists a 15 Amp breaker as the recommendation and puts the amp draw down as “consult a certified electrician”, which is the honest answer, because the correct breaker and conductor size depend on your run length and your local code. Hard-wiring is a licensed electrician’s job. Set the unit on a level, solid pad; a compressor on an uneven floor works its mounts loose and takes the pump’s alignment with it.

Getting it to the pad is yours to plan too — this is a freight-weight machine, not something two people carry through a doorway.

The pump, the tank and the daily-maintenance details

The pump is belt driven and splash lubricated, with an oil sight glass so the level check is a glance. The belt guard is fully enclosed and high-flow, a real distinction: an open guard is a hand injury waiting to happen, and a solid one chokes the flywheel that cools the cylinders. Start-stop pressure switch control runs the motor only when the tank calls for it.

The tank is vertical, 80 gallon and ASME certified, with a safety relief valve and a 3/4" outlet. That reserve is the point: two people can use air at once, or one can run a sander continuously, without the motor cycling every few seconds.

One caution on maintenance, and it is the reason we are not describing the drain in a single word below: this listing’s own data describes the tank drain two different ways.

Perfect For

• Established repair shops on three-phase service — the 460 volt build suits a building where that service is already in place.
• Body and paint work — the aftercooler is aimed squarely at air quality, which is what finish work is really buying.
• Two-bay shops running more than one air tool at a time — the 80 gallon reserve is what keeps the second tool usable.
• Fleet and municipal maintenance buildings — industrial supply, industrial duty cycle.

It is the wrong machine for a home garage on ordinary household or single-phase service. If that is you, look at the single-phase models in this series instead — the pump is the same family, the wiring is not.

What’s in the Box

The compressor ships as a complete, factory-tested assembly: pump, motor, tank, magnetic starter, start-stop pressure switch, pressure gauge, belt guard, oil sight glass, tank drain and safety relief valve. The magnetic starter is included — there is no separate starter to buy, which is not true of every model in the BelAire range.

Not included, and named as recommended rather than required: the CPXHT25 air dryer. No air dryer, no filter or regulator set, and no shop plumbing are supplied.

Specifications

Motor and electrical supply

Pump and output

Tank and outlet

Size and weight

Certification, stated plainly

The pressure vessel is an ASME certified tank with a safety relief valve, and BelAire states that the unit is factory tested at full pressure before it ships. That covers the tank.

What the data does not claim is any third-party electrical safety listing for the packaged machine — the kind of mark a plant standard, an insurer or a local inspector occasionally asks for on hard-wired shop equipment. We will not imply one. If that mark is a condition of your installation, tell us before you order and we will put it to BelAire in writing.

We would rather tell you that plainly than let a badge you assumed was there turn up missing during an inspection.

How it ships

This item ships free within the lower 48 states, so there is nothing to add at checkout.

Unloading is the customer’s responsibility — the driver brings the pallet to the back of the trailer and no further. A forklift, a dock, or a pallet jack on a level approach all work; if you have none of them, take terminal pickup and collect it yourself. A delivery to a home address is a residential delivery and carries a residential fee, so tell us before you order rather than at the door.

Inspect the pallet before you sign. Look at the tank, the pump and the belt guard, and write anything you find on the bill of lading before the driver leaves — a clean signature is very hard to argue with later, and two lines of damage notes are very easy to claim on.

Warranty

BelAire covers this compressor with a 2 Year bumper-to-bumper factory warranty — consumer and commercial alike, on the whole unit rather than a short list of parts, with no additional purchase needed to activate it.

One warning is ours rather than BelAire’s: if something goes wrong, do not take the pump apart before you file. A disassembled pump is very hard to warrant, because nobody can tell what failed first. Call us and let the claim be opened on an intact machine.