Air Compressors

[BlacknTan]

I need an air compressor bad! Too many uses for it, and too far to town even to air up tires.
Not going to run many air tools, maybe a disc sander and impact wrench..
I'm thinking a 60 gallon upright single stage is more than enough for my usage. I'm thinking I'd prefer to run 230V...Don't want an oilless compressor..

What do y'all use??

What are the best brands???

 

[MikeInEburg]

Not going to run many air tools

If this is the case, I'd get a smaller portable unit. Way lower cost to buy and operate - plus... it's portable.
Mike

 

[Egon]

Size the compressor to run the impact wrench. Then go looking. Cast iron compressor may be preferable. 220 volt is also preferable. Many come with 120/220 motors.

Also consider what other uses could come up like painting, sandblasting, air tools and whether portability will be a factor.

 

[radioman]

why oiless ? My wife works in a eyeglass lab with aircompressors. She gone through more oiled aircompressers then the oilless ones. I have a oilless campbell hausfeld 3 hp portable one connected to a pig tank for more volume for over 10 years now. I love the fact its portable and can use it in many places, but I wished I had a larger one for more air and power. I was given the smaller portable ones that is less then 3 hp and they are useless. I think anything that is 20 gallon and larger is a good starting point. If you go with 60 gallons and up, you probably will be looking at motor/pump replacements 30+ years down the road as its cheaper that way. Does it really matter what brand you get? It seems they are all the same now. All chinese like stuff.

 

[bpattie]

i am curious why the 220 volt recommendations. I have a 110 V and like the fact that I can run it off extension if I need to use it away from my 220 v supply.

 

[BlacknTan]

why oiless ? My wife works in a eyeglass lab with aircompressors. She gone through more oiled aircompressers then the oilless ones. I have a oilless campbell hausfeld 3 hp portable one connected to a pig tank for more volume for over 10 years now. I love the fact its portable and can use it in many places, but I wished I had a larger one for more air and power. I was given the smaller portable ones that is less then 3 hp and they are useless. I think anything that is 20 gallon and larger is a good starting point. If you go with 60 gallons and up, you probably will be looking at motor/pump replacements 30+ years down the road as its cheaper that way. Does it really matter what brand you get? It seems they are all the same now. All chinese like stuff.

One of the main reasons I asked... I'd like to stay away from Chi-Com as much as possible. I guess it's just near impossible today!

And if the motor and compressor last thirty years, they'll outlive me by a fair margin! LOL

 

[Redneck in training]

I have oilless compressor for about past 15 years used in average about an hour a week. Zero maintenance so far. It is very loud though. If you forget it plugged in and it starts at night it will wake up everyone in the house.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I need an air compressor bad! Too many uses for it, and too far to town even to air up tires.
Not going to run many air tools, maybe a disc sander and impact wrench..
I'm thinking a 60 gallon upright single stage is more than enough for my usage. I'm thinking I'd prefer to run 230V...Don't want an oilless compressor..

What do y'all use??

What are the best brands???

I think youre right not wanting an oiless if you are going to run a sander. The impact will use air faster, but normal use is intermittent. Sanders are often used continuously for several minutes. You will need a compressor having a motor of at least 2 real HP -- NOT "compressor rated HP". The motor should draw at least P= IE = 2KW. Some of the "4HP" compressors have motors in the 2KW range. Just so your compressor is sized for 2kW minimum motor power you should be able to do well. It will not keep up with a small high speed air sander tho until you get up to about 4 REAL HP.

The trouble with oiless is they dont take well to constant running. The oiled ones move the heat away from the head better and so long runs are much less of an issue. You must keep oil in it tho.

Id vote for a 20 Gal portable as a starter. Usually cheaper than the uprights and easy to move where you need it. The investment wont be too big to hurt when you find so many more uses for air that warrant an upgrade.
larry

 

[Bird]

This topic has come up several times before. If you know what tools you will want to run, then size the compressor for the one that requires the highest SCFM (standard cubic feet per minute) volume. Sanders, buffers, paint sprayers, and drills usually use the highest volume. But if you use a sandblaster, that may be your highest consumption. Nearly all air tools are rated at 90 psi, but with widely varying consumption.

Oilless compressors are OK for infrequent use for short times. They are certainly not good for me. I've had a couple and the only good thing I can say about them is that I can completely rebuild one in less than an hour, and had to do that a couple of times a year. That pretty cowling they put over the motor and compressor is not just for looks; it's to keep that compressor from throwing parts at you when it comes apart. Maximum continuous run time will probably be shown in the manual to not exceed 10 minutes.

Single stage compressors are adequate for my use, 2 cylinders are usually better than one, and be careful of shallow aluminum crankcases. They may "look" like they have enough oil when they do not. They have to be filled right to the overflowing point. A deeper crankcase with an oil level sight gauge is certainly preferable. Even some of the oiled compressors with the shallow crankcase have warnings in the manuals to not run it continuously more than 10 minutes.

 

[Steve C]

I need an air compressor bad! Too many uses for it, and too far to town even to air up tires.
Not going to run many air tools, maybe a disc sander and impact wrench..
I'm thinking a 60 gallon upright single stage is more than enough for my usage. I'm thinking I'd prefer to run 230V...Don't want an oilless compressor..

What do y'all use??



[/I]
What are the best brands???

I have a Porter cable 3400 RPM oilless pancake compressor 135 psi
a Craftsman Professional 1750 rpm oilless 4 gallon hot dog (20 years old)
a Ridgid 3400 rpm oilless with twin stacked aluminum tanks 135 psi
a 60 gallon upright cast iron 5 hp 220 v
a Craftsman 30 gallon upright oilless 150 psi that pulls a full 15 amps @120
an old heavy Montgomery wards 20 gal cast iron 220 v horizontal 125 psi.

I have had good service out of all of them. They are scattered between 3 barns, a garage and 2 basements and a work shop.

If I am going to be using the framing nailer in one location for a large project I grab the Porter Cable. It is a little heavy and hard to carry because of the pancake tank, but it puts out a lot of air in a small package. It will tripp some 15 amp circuits.

The little Ridgid is my all time favorite for portable use. It weighs almost nothing with its twin stacked aluminum tanks and it will still run my framing nailer. You can pick it up with one hand.

The Craftsman 1750 rpm hot dog is just about the quietest compressor I own.
It was top of the line in its day, but that was a long time ago. It still works great but it is a little heavy to carry and a little top heavy to set on anything that isn't flat.

The cast Iron compressors are built like tanks so even though the 20 gallon has wheels it is best left in one place. It is also very top heavy.

If I could only have one of these compressors I would keep the Ridgid, it is a joy to move around and will run anything I own. Of course it would not be a good choice for high volume continuous use. But it runs an impact and nailers just fine along with blowing up tires.


If I was to buy a new compressor today and I wanted an oil filled pump I would buy an Ingersol Rand from Sears. They are in the new tool catalogs. They are very good units. I had a 220 volt unit that was about 30 years old that got burned up in my barn fire. The fit and finish was very high quality. It also worked flawlessly for 30 years. Perhaps because it had a real paper element air filter on it as well as a cast aluminum after cooler. It also had an oil sight glass that made it very easy to maintain the proper oil level. They cost a little more than the average consumer units but are still affordable.
And if you need parts 20 years from now they will probably still be available.

I hope this is helpfull.