BelAire 438V Iron Series 5 HP 80-Gallon Two-Stage Compressor — Dual-Voltage 3-Phase

The 438V is the three-phase 5 HP of the Iron Series, and its useful trick is that it does not care which three-phase supply your building has. One part number wires into either 208 Volt or 230 Volt service. If you have ever specified equipment for a unit you had not yet moved into, or watched an electrician open a panel and pull a face, you already know what that is worth.

Beneath the wiring flexibility is a solid cast iron two-stage pump with automotive-style rod bearings and wrist pins, an air filter and an 80 gallon vertical ASME tank. BelAire pairs this model with its larger CPXHT50 dryer rather than the smaller unit it recommends across most of the range.

One machine, either three-phase supply

Three-phase service in North American buildings does not come at a single voltage, and a tenant almost never gets to choose which one they inherit. A compressor built for one and not the other turns into a stalled installation and a restocking conversation. The 438V removes that risk: the motor is wound for both and is wired for whichever you actually have.

That also protects the machine’s resale and its second life. Shops move, and a dual-voltage compressor moves with them into a building whose service may not match the one they left. A single-voltage unit does not.

Where BelAire stops short is on breaker sizing and amp draw: both are recorded as questions for a certified electrician rather than published figures, and that is the honest position, because the right answer depends on which of the two voltages you land on and on how far the cable has to run.

The dryer recommendation is a hint about the air

Small detail, real signal: BelAire names the CPXHT50 as the recommended dryer for this model, a step up from the smaller unit it suggests elsewhere in the range. Dryer sizing follows the volume and the temperature of the air a compressor actually produces, so the recommendation is a statement about what this machine is expected to move all day.

Whether you need a dryer at all depends on the work. For impact tools and general repair, the tank drain and a decent filter will do. For spraying, plasma cutting or anything pneumatic with fine tolerances, water in the line is the enemy and the dryer is not really optional. It is not included, and it is worth budgeting for at the same time rather than discovering the need later.

Output, and what two-stage buys you

The 438V delivers 18 CFM at 100 PSI and 16 CFM at 175 PSI, with 175 PSI as the maximum. The interesting part is how little falls away between those two pressures — that flatness is the practical signature of two-stage compression, where the air is taken up in two steps with heat shed in between rather than forced all the way in one.

It is why a two-stage machine holds high pressure as a normal operating state, and why it runs cooler doing it. Cooler running is the whole longevity argument: heat oxidises oil, glazes bores and hardens valve plates, and a pump that stays near its design temperature simply lasts longer. An oil sight glass makes the weekly check a glance, and the fully enclosed belt guard covers the drive without smothering the cooling airflow the flywheel produces.

Will it fit?

The tank stands vertically at 72", on a footprint of about 37" by 24". Leave headroom above for the outlet plumbing and the pressure switch, and enough space at the sides that the guard, the sight glass and the manual drain stay reachable without shifting the machine. At around 580 lbs on four feet it wants level, solid concrete — a slab with a fall in it will loosen the mounts over time and take the pump alignment with them.

Getting it from the pallet to that spot is worth planning before the truck is booked, not while the driver waits.

Perfect For

• Shops on three-phase service of either common voltage — the dual-voltage build removes the question entirely.
• Tenants and businesses expecting to relocate who want the compressor to work in the next building too.
• Automotive and light industrial workshops with steady all-day air demand.
• Paint and finishing work, given the larger dryer BelAire pairs with this model.

What’s in the Box

The compressor as a complete factory assembly: solid cast iron two-stage pump with automotive-style rod bearings and wrist pins, motor, vertical 80 gallon ASME tank, magnetic starter, start-stop pressure switch controls, pressure gauge, air filter, fully enclosed belt guard, oil sight glass, 3/4" air outlet, manual air tank drain and ASME safety valve.

Not included: the CPXHT50 dryer, any additional filtration or regulation, and shop plumbing.

Specifications

Motor and electrical supply

Pump and output

Tank, size and weight

Certification, stated plainly

The receiver is an ASME certified pressure vessel with a safety valve — the certification the 438V’s data actually claims, and the one that carries the most weight on a tank rated to 175 PSI.

No third-party safety listing is claimed for the packaged machine anywhere in the data we hold, and we are not going to suggest otherwise. The distinction matters more than it sounds: a manufacturer’s own declaration of conformity is a different document from an independent listing by a testing body, and certain insurers, corporate facility standards and municipal electrical inspectors require the second before hard-wired equipment is signed off. If that describes your site, tell us before you order and we will put the question to BelAire in writing rather than let you assume.

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

The 438V carries BelAire’s 2 Year bumper-to-bumper factory warranty, consumer and commercial, on the whole unit, with no additional purchase required.

One house rule protects it. If the pump develops a fault, do not take it apart before the claim is opened — once it is in pieces nobody can establish what failed first, and the claim becomes an argument rather than a process. Call us, describe the symptom, and let it be assessed intact.