oiless aircompressor question

[snapper]

Anybody got any expierence with these air compressors?? I have a nice big one but needed a smaller one for portable use. So i got me an older cambell hausfeld to use. It got a 3.5 horse motor (real number before they exagerated them) and a eleven gallon tank. Quite noisy but will be fine for away work.. Just wondering your expierence with them..
Later snapper

 

[Bird]

Snapper, air-compressors in general, and oil-less in particular, have been discussed at length in the past. This thread is just one of several you might want to read.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Anybody got any expierence with these air compressors )</font>

A considerable amount. Bottom line, in my opinion, is that they're relatively cheap and good enough for occasional homeowner use if you never run it more than 10 minutes at a time, but they're also very short lived if you use them regularly. I rebuilt the last one I had 3 times in less than 3 years, but the good part is that parts are relatively cheap and they're easy to rebuild in less than an hour.

 

[TresCrows]

There pretty worthless. J

 

[snapper]

i can see you all don't like them. oh well, for portable they are great. throw them in truck car what ever and go.. This isn't my primary compressor.. Now new question, The regulator doeasn't work. If you turn the knob out the air bleeds out the bleed hole continually.. tighten it down and it quits.. I took it apart and here is what i found. There is a needle like valve stickiing up from the base, looks to be spring loaded. Then in the top part which is what unscrewed, there is a plastic disk with an o-ring, then a spring then a metal disk which is pressed on as you screw in the handle. Any ideas how to fix this?? I tried oiling it and it still don't work. I can live with it not working, but it would be nice if it worked.. and also this isn't a seperate thing. It is made into a manifold thing with the switch and gauges and outlet.

Thanks guys.. snapper

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( can see you all don't like them. oh well, for portable they are great )</font>

Well . . ., that's partially true. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I used to have one that was a DeVilbiss 3/4 hp on a 2 gallon tank when we were full time RVers. It was light weight, small, fit in one of the motorhome storage compartments and was perfect for the use I had for it at the time; occasionally air up a tire or blow the dirt and/or dust off something. But when we bought the little farm, and I bought a bigger one (Craftsman made by DeVibiss) and started doing a little sandblasting, painting, and repairing/rebuilding air tools for mechanics, I had to rebuild the air-compressor every 6 to 8 months. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Your regulator problem and your description of it sounds quite normal, but with my own I was always able to thoroughly clean the parts with WD-40 and put them back together and they worked fine. If that didn't work with yours, I don't know what the solution would be. My personal experience with regulators has been that if they are not "re-adjusted" regularly, they do tend to stick and not work when do want to change the pressure setting until you take them apart and clean them.

 

[snapper]

just for my future reference, what is done in a rebuild, and bout how much do the kits cost?? I want to know so when this one goes south i can repair it..

Thanks..

 

[Bird]

Snapper, the first time my compressor broke, it was the reed valve that broke and parts would have been about $13, but it was still in warranty, so they gave me the parts. Then there were two separate "kits" available, depending on how many parts you needed. The more complete one (new cylinder, piston, and rod included) was about $40, if I remember right, and the other one (piston ring, o-rings, and cylinder) about half that. By the way, you know that nice plastic housing around the motor and compressor serves two purposes; (1) they know you probably wouldn't buy it if you saw what you're buying /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif, and (2) it keeps it from throwing parts at you when it blows up. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif And I'm only half kidding. Besides the three times of fixing the compressor itself, the cooling fan (squirrel cage) broke loose once; very noisy and it hit the inside of that housing hard enough to crack it. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Of course, keep in mind that I was running it for long periods of time. In fact, when the reed valve broke, I was sandblasting and it was running continuously for about 30 minutes. And after you take one apart once, and get a good look at it, you can very easily completely rebuild it in well under an hour, even while sipping your coffee or a beer. In fact, I think I could very easily do it in 30 minutes or less.

 

[snapper]

sounds cheap enough for me.. Mine never runs more than two or three minutes at a time. mostly use it for impacts and ratchets. It takes under three minutes to fill the tank empty and about 40 or so seconds to catch up if not ran down far. so it ought to last me a while.

Thanks bird and whomever else.. Snapper

 

[Boondox]

Snapper -- I have a small (4 gallon) PorterCable oilless compressor I use for filling tires and operating small woodworking air tools like staplers, finish nailers, etc. I like the portability and the low cost, and also the speed with which it comes up to operating pressure. The portability comes in very handy, i.e., I used this compressor to reshingle a rental property.

For big jobs I have a 240V 60 gallon oil lube compressor. Pumps out an incredible volume, but is not portable. I think each has its place. I'd hate to fire up the big compressor to fill a tire, but I don't dare run the little one for big jobs.

Pete

 

[Schultz]

I too have the Craftsman (Devillebiss) oiless compressor. Its lable says 4hp but I doubt that since it runs on 110v. I havnen't had to rebuild it yet after 8yrs and I use it quite bit, and it will run continously for 15-20min when I run tools like a die grinder. I wish I would have paid the extra 50-75 bucks for the oil type, they're much quiteter. I hate how loud it it is.

 

[Bird]

Schultz, the "cylinder" on those is nothing more than a very thin aluminum cup, teflon coated, and the piston ring is metal so it gradually wears the teflon coating off. The more teflon that's worn off, the louder it gets. So if it gets to bugging you, look at parts list in the back of the manual, order the kit and install it and while they're all noisy, it'll reduce the noise back to the original sound.

 

[skent]

I guess there's good and bad in everything. In 81, I bought a C-H 3/4 HP with a seven gallon tank. It was rated 2.2 SCFM at 90 PSI. I paid $159. and got a $30 rebate. I wanted it to last a couple of years till I could get a big one.
In 85, I added a bathroom to the basement. I had to make a hole in the 4" slab. Used the C-H and a air hammer (came with the compressor). Took me 2 hours, hammer for a minute, wait two for the pressure to build.
We were on a tight budget then, we used what we had. Took a while but I did it. At the end of 2 hours, the tank was so hot you couldn't rest your hand on it. That thing is still going strong. Alittle noisy when it's very cold out, but still goes. . . .
I have since gotten a 6HP vert. tank for the shop, but the small one is great to put on the trailer or pickup truck along with the 5000 watt generator and have portable air.
Still gets alot of use. Never rebuilt it. Maybe I'll look into that. As of right now, it dosen't owe me a cent!

 

[snapper]

Well after having it a few days i have noticed something. When ever doing something small, like air ratcheting a few bolts or impacting a few bolts or air hammering for a few seconds, i just fire up the small oiless one. No use wasting my big thirty gallon compressor on quick stuff save it for the long things like grinding and lots of hammering. Does this sound like a theisable plan?? Any ideas welcome..

Later, snapper

 

[TresCrows]

"full time RVers."

Bird, it is more than clear that you have done many and varied things and provided an interesting life for yourself so do not take this the wrong way as people are apt to do when I ask or say something but how in the world does someone live all the time--fulltime--in a RV? Part time or even lot's of the time but where did you keep all your stuff?, where did you plant things?, did you become claustrophobic?, how can you not have a place called "home". I am just curious, I know I see people who live nearly full time in a RV. It must be quite an adventure never letting dust settle, roaming like a tumble weed, no roots and no worries, don't like the neighbors or surroundings, just pull up the anchor and away you go. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Not for me, I like to travel but when my adventure is completed I have to go to a place I call Home.
They do make small oil type compressors that will last much longer and make a lot less noise that those noisy oil less types. J

 

[Bird]

TresCrows, full time RVing is definitely not for everyone, but you would probably be surprised at the number of people doing it. We sold the house, and everything that wouldn't fit into an RV, we gave to our two daughters. One daughter did keep for us a half dozen boxes of photos, documents, etc. that we didn't want to get rid of or carry around with us. We had a mailing address in Arlington, TX (there are quite a number of similar companies around) that looked like an ordinary address with an apartment number (our account number). They had an 800 number to call to have our mail sent to anywhere we wanted it, when we wanted it. No problem with cash with all the ATM machines available, but we also used credit cards for the most part, knew the billing dates, and if we weren't going to get our mail, called their 800 numbers to see how much the bill was, and mailed a check. Did the same thing with a "non-subscriber" telephone calling card. Claustrophopic? Never! You're always close to a window /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif and we could see out three directions all the time, and if we didn't like the scenery, we'd be somewhere else tomorrow. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif It usually took us about 30 minutes to get ready to move, but in an emergency (such as the one time when I saw flood waters coming up the street), we could be gone in 10 minutes. Admittedly, no garden, but sure did get to see lots of other folks' gardens. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif It's a great life and the only reason we're not doing it today is family considerations.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( They do make small oil type compressors that will last much longer and make a lot less noise that those noisy oil less types. )</font>

Yep, and I have one now that we're living in an apartment. This one in fact. Although it's noisier than I expected, but otherwise serves my needs for the time being.

 

[skent]

Full time RV'ing - I'm want to try that some day. . . .