Air compressor

[bakechad]

I would like to purchase an air compressor for my garage & maybe some trim work. I've found the whole process of looking at them very confusing. Maybe someone here can help me out?

Goals

- Have the compressor in the garage for filling tires & blowing air
- Be able to hook it to a very long air hose to reach 20 feet down the driveway.
- Small enough to allow me to take it in the house for trim work
- Being able to have enough air to operate an air ratchet would be nice, but is not a requirement

Assumptions

- An oiled compressor is quieter than an oilless compressor
- You need a really large compressor to operate air tools (other than a nail gun)
- You lose substantial air pressure when using a very long hose

Questions

- What size air compressor do I need?
- Should I get oiled or oilless?
- What brands are good and bad?
- What accessories do you recommend?

Thanks

Chad

 

[94supraonchrome]

I own this little Craftsman 1 hp 3 gal. It is a nice little unit. It will actually run an air rachet pretty good. Of course it cycles a lot cause of it's small size. It is oiled, not too loud. I bought mine for 99.99 on sale. I have an older 5 hp Campbell Hausfeld in my garage for bigger jobs.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605...s+%26+Inflators

 

[AzFireGuy79]

Ingersol Rand. All others pale in comparison. I would go with a oil lubed compressor and as far as being able to take it inside just install a reel in the garage. THat way you can easily go 20ft down the driveway and take it throughout the house when needed. You can get into a nice mid sized Ingersol Rand for around $800-1,000. They have the best warranty in the business and most can run 100% duty cycle without issue.

Sears compressors are ok but if you get a bad one 50/50 it can be a real PITA. Do you have room to install a 60 gallon vertical compressor in your garage? If so thats the ticket.I'm going with a T-30 series although it's industrial, you will do fine with their residential series.

As far as accessories go Ingersol Rand offers many high quality air tools. Their impact sockets are VERY nice and half the price of similar brands. Look on Ebay for IR compressors. There is a guy in Texas that sells them and has great support/customer service. If it breaks they will send a tech out to fix it on site. 9 times out of ten you couldnt break these things if you tried. This is a purchase that will last and you will be glad you spent more up front to get a far superior product. I have used IR for over 15 years and have been very happy with their product.

 

[benjamming]

What size air line are you using? You could go with 3/4" to minimize pressure drop.

Do you care about country of origin?

In addition to IR:
Champion by Gardner Denver
Saylor-Beall
Bel Aire
Eaton

 

[sierrascout]

I will add Puma, the problem with most air compressors is cheapness of the person purchasing it. Also for the 110V using an extension cord. Always over size not under size. For the average person, a 5-6cfm@90psi will do. Look for a belt driven model and always plug straught into the wall. As far as Craftsman goes, I run one for 8 years before I sold it and upgraded to a larger one.

 

[mikey12]

Originally Posted By: 94supraonchrome
I own this little Craftsman 1 hp 3 gal. It is a nice little unit. It will actually run an air rachet pretty good. Of course it cycles a lot cause of it's small size. It is oiled, not too loud. I bought mine for 99.99 on sale. I have an older 5 hp Campbell Hausfeld in my garage for bigger jobs.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605...s+%26+Inflators


+1 on the Craftsman compressor mentioned - I own the same one. Great for tires, pneumatic nailers, etc. Not so hot with low efficiency air tools like HF impacts, etc. Get about 10 seconds of fun and have to wait a minute or so to get the pressure back up. Still works fine for lug nuts and such. Not gonna have much fun with pneumatic drills, cut-off tools, and the like with this compressor.

Length of air hose won't affect air pressure, per se. The pressure will drop when you connect the line, but the next time the pump cycles it will bring the pressure back up to normal. As long as the regulator and the air hose diameter is sized correctly for the CFM of the compressor and end effector, you will not notice the length of the air hose. Longer hose increases the air storage capacity as well.

 

[Chris142]

Always buy more compressor than you think you need. I wouldn't get one any smaller than 20 gallon. You definatly want one that takes oil. The oilless ones wear out much faster.

 

[firemachine69]

I have a 33 gallon compressor.



It's barely enough.

 

[benjamming]

mikey12,

Yep I meant airflow not pressure drop when I mentioned going to a larger size hose.

 

[tom slick]

interesting recommendations for size. Filling tires and a shooting a trim nailer will require a 1 hp, 1 gallon air compressor with no issues, I've used a Senco pc1010 compressor (smallest they sell) for this. It will run a framing nailer if you give it time to recharge between shots.
An air ratchet requires a much larger compressor, your budget will determine if you should buy a compressor to match a ratchet.

If you are looking for a small compressor with a big CFM rating look at Thomas Renegade compressors

If your air line is over 25' you need to use 3/8 minimum for almost anything. a 1/4" hose hooked to a 50hp compressor will still make tools perform poorly. I recommend a 3/8" reinforced polyurethane hose like a Flexeel, and a 10' 1/4" hose to use with the trim nailer for flexibility.

 

[sierrascout]

Without knowing the budget, space, and wiring it is hard to make a true suggestion. Also exactly what tools are going to be run. Not only short term, but long term. Also the bigger the compressor(more cfm) the chances are better for not filling the tire with moisture

 

[My442]

It's all about SCFM.

Continous useage tools like pressure blasters need at least 7-10 SCFM and a minimum of 80-100 PSI.

A compressor that is under the minimum SCFM will run at 100% duty cycle and burn up quick.

The advise of buying more than you need is a good.

 

[another Todd]

I have an 80 gallon 175 PSI two stage compressor and a small harbor freight maybe 2 or 3 gallon one. Both are oil type, which I highly recommend. I use the small one 90% of the time for filling tires and blowing air. A 50' 3/8" hose for these purposes will not cause noticable air pressure drop. For running air guns I have to use the big compressor as the small one won't keep up. For my big air guns I run 1/2" hose, but it is absoultly unnessary for 1/2 inch impacts guns and air ratchets, 3/8" hose is fine for most uses.

 

[FiremarshalRob]

Look at some ROL-AIR compressors. Made in Winsconsin. Nice!

 

[1sttruck]

I have an 'Emglo' that I bought used from a family that my daughter knows. It's worked great for filling tires, probably kept me out of jail as I didn't end up taking an ax to the ones at stations that actually reduced the air in my truck tires. It's small but rated for continuous duty. I was using a lower torque impact wrench with it but quit doing so as they make an awful lot of racket and I live a quiet area. An 18in breaker bar and 'speed wrench' works great instead.

http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/tool_detail.asp?productID=2952

 

[Dave Sherman]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned not to read too much into the horsepower ratings. Sears and Campbell Hausfeld got in trouble for "inflating" (pardon the pun) their horsepower ratings. I especially liked the CH model that was billed as being a 5.5 HP compressor that plugged into 120 volt 15 amp service. The horsepower numbers were theoretical numbers about how much power it could deliver for a split second from the inertia of the moving parts. Completely meaningless when it comes to compressing air. So, don't fall for the big horsepower numbers. SCFM is the number you want to know.