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Home Air Compressor..

F

Fry

1/2 ton status
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Sep 5, 2002
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Location
Sask, Canada
What to look for when shopping for one? How many gallons, CFM, PSI?
I looking to maybe pick one up, going to run impact tools, possibily paint, etc.
Brands to stay away from maybe?
Don't have 220 plug in the garage but will install one with landlords permission.
Thanks
 
I have a 6.5 HP, 60 gallon tank, with 14.2 cfm at 40 psi and 9.9 cfm at 90 psi and a 130 psi max. It works fine for all of my air tools but is too small to keep up with my sand blaster.

Mine is a direct drive and it is VERY noisy. My friend has a belt drive that is much quieter.

Decide what tools that you will use and see how many cfm they require and use that as a guide when shopping. Most air tools are rated at 90 psi. A compressor too big is a lot better than one that is too small.

Does your garage have 220 volts ran to it? Some have only 110v...
 
I have a Craftsman 30 gallon, 6hp upright... Love it... works great but cant keep up with my cutoff wheel!!! /forums/images/graemlins/grind.gif

anyhow.. think of what you are going to do and what you need to do with it and you can then figure out how big you need... I like mine cuz it is kind of portable.. heavy but portable and 120v /forums/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif
 
I have a few airtools that I keep at work but plan to use at home, biggest being my Mac 500ft/lbs 1/2" Impact. But my work compressor doesn't even put out enough air to use max torque lol.
I do have 2 breaker switches coming from my house to the garage and a fuse box in the garage but no 220v outlets in there.
Rootbreaker yours sounds interesting I wouldn't mind something more mobile since I'm not planing on staying here forever.
There is one forsale locally that has the pretty much the same specs as yours ugly_blazer "6.5HP 60gallon, 220V,15Amp, 150psi, 11.2 CFM @ 92PSI, 3450rpm, 350lbs" for $588 cad so about $375usd but is some no name brand.
What was your guys compressors worth?
 
I think I have the same one Rootbreaker does. 30 gallon Craftsman upright. It is on wheels so you can drag it around. Built in regulator. Has both tank pressure dial and regulator pressure dial. The regulator is adjustable.

The compressor automatically goes to 140 PSI tank pressure and kicks back on once it get down to the regulated pressure to refill itself.

I paid $320 for mine with a small airtool kit that came free. I believe the one I have is on sale at Sears again. It usually runs $299-330 depending if it is on sale. Mine came with a 3/8" impact and 3/8" miniratchet.

I really like mine. It does pretty damn well for everything I use. 1/2" impact (cheapy), 1/2" air ratchet, 3/8" air ratchet, 3/8" impact. It will not keep up with the Die grinder though.

I have had it for a year or so. It gets used every other weekend probably sometime more, no probs yet. It is kinda noisy but I don't really care.

Harley
 
I've been building my big air compressor for some time now. I found an old Cast iron air pump for 25 dollars. Needed a valve for 50. Got two LP tanks for nothing. Did some horse trading for alot of the other parts like regulators water seperators and things like that. Almost got it done. The only thing left to procure is a nice electric motor. Probably get some bucks in that. My current air compressor doesn't keep up very well. This one will be huge in comparison. Even have a bowtie mounted on it. That is one option for you though if you are good at scrounging parts. I'll have an industrial air compressor for less than some home size ones.
 
Have nearly the same thing , except not upright. I like the Craftsman one as well. /forums/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif
 
I would get a two stage if you can afford it. Mine is small, I think 20 gallons and 3 hp or so. It's NOT oil free so it's not very loud, but it doesn't last long before it kicks on.

For air tools like a hammer, impact gun, and ratchet you don't need that much air anyway, it will just run more if you're like me and you run the tool for a minute and set it down for another five before you need the tool again.

To use tools continuously though you'll need a good air supply.

Like I said before though your best bet is a two stage with 60-80 gallons but it will ONLY run on 220.
 
Like this one?
http://image.sears.ca/icat/72/55/092972550.fpx?cell=500&cvt=jpeg
or this one?
http://image.sears.ca/icat/72/45/092972459.fpx?cell=500&cvt=jpeg
They both sound pretty good then I won't have to go to the hassle of wiring 220 right now either.
Red one-Capacity (U.S. gal.): 33. Peak HP: 6.0. Max. PSI**: 150. SCFM*@40PSI**: 7.8. SCFM*@40PSI**: 5.5. Oil-Free. Horizontal. High flow regulators with universal quick connect. Operates on 120 volts. 2-year warranty. Some assembly req'd.
Black one-Capacity (U.S. gal.): 25. Peak HP: 3.5. Max. PSI**: 175. SCFM*@40PSI**: 5.6. SCFM*@90PSI**: 5.1. Sans huile. Vertical. High flow regulators with universal quick connect. Operates on 120 volts. 2-year warranty. Some assembly req'd

I think the little red one sounds the better of the 2.
 
I have a Porter Cable that is similar to the red one. The one thing I don't like about it is that the drain valve on the bottom doesn't exactly get all the water out of the tank. If I had to get another one I'd get a vertical standing one for that reason and it'd take up less space, although it does seem more unstable.
 
why would the black one be better? less HP and less Volume but more PSI. I noticed it was more money but can't figure out why..
 
Mine is a Craftsmen Pro Series. I don't think that they carry mine anymore. Mine was $420.00, and looks similar to this Compressor

My friend has a horizontal like the red one you linked to. For extra $$$ he does minor home remodeling and uses it to run a texturing gun. It worked ok in the shop but wouln't keep up like he wanted and turned on/off too often, so he bought a big vertical compressor at home depot (never go to home depot for anything) for around $390 (???) for the shop and uses his little one for mobile work. The large uprights are close to 200 LBS and can be difficult to move or tranport.
 
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