Oiless Air Compressor. Why Soooo Noisy???

[uglytruk]

A friend of mine has a small welding Torch and Fire Extinguisher repair shop. He uses an oiless 110volt air compressor, so as not to put oil in the lines he uses to blow clean his small parts.

He allows me to use his sandblast cabinet, but because he uses a larger tank from a V-Twin oiless that kept blowing up, the NOISY compressor runs for 10 minutes for 3 minutes of air.

My question is, why are they so noisy? And is there a way to clean the air (from the air lines) if he used an OIL type compressor? If you don't believe how loud this little compressor is, I'll make a vid of it today!

(The attached pix is from CL, same as his, but he has a larger tank attached)

 

[toomany]

I read somewhere that most of the noise you hear when a compressor is running is from the air being sucked in. I have no idea why yours is nosiy. What do think they are supposed to sound like? I haven't heard one that was overly quiet.

You can run a air/oil seperater. This should be done regardless of what type of compressor it is. The air will heat up when it is compressed, and when released will cool. You will have moisture from that. An air filter could be added as well, or could be incorperated into the seperator.

If you get a decent compressor, you shouldn't have any issues with oil entering the tank/lines. An oiled one will last longer and run cooler too.

My compressor is a two stage, dual piston belt driven unit. When it kicks on (at 120psi, shuts off at 150psi) you can't have a normal conversation. But you can still talk to someone.

 

[sweetk30]

oil less suck for noise. and life span over the years.

and yes if you can muffle the inlet it will be quiter.

i have seen and heard of people plumbing a motor muffler in line of the inlet side and it makes a big diffrence.

 

[Fabrimacator21]

IIRC a oil/air seperator doesn't get all of it out.

I may be talking out my ass here though if water/air seperators are different then oil/air seperators.

 

[eagle mark]

I don't know why they are so noisy but I will NEVER get another one. I have to wear my shooting ear muffs to stay in the garage with it running.

 

[ryoken]

it's all in how much money you wanna spend.. trust me, I've worked in body shops, boat painting, etc my whole life...

some shops have SERIOUS air systems.. the drying, filtering capabilty that can be put in are extensive... when your doing a $50,000 paint job on a million $ boat, you CANT have contaminants in the lines..

as to oiless... I've run a 60 gallon upright for 15 yrs now... I will say, for as much as I despise the noise, and trust me, I walk around all weekend in the shop pretty much with shooters muffs on, it's been a flawless, bang for the buck performer... $400 back in the day, never an ounce of maintenance, it owes me nothing...

I had it in an insulated enclosure for a while, which helps a ton.. but i had to take that down.. another thing that helped was wrapping the tank in one of those hot water heater blankets...

but after 15 yrs of listening to that screaming banshee, when I need to do a new one, I'll invest in an oiled...

 

[uglytruk]

Good points, guys. I'll make a vid of it soon... You have to hear the racket to believe it!

And as far as cost, the small rebuilding shop is really struggling due to cheap imports from China. Why fix an old banged up torch or regulator when you can buy a complete JUNK set for less...

I've been checking CL for an oiless unit for him. I like his blast cabinet, but his comp needs a rebuild, and I don't wanna' be the culprit when it blows a gasket!