Air Compressor Recommendation?

[Guest]

The HF compressors are pretty good for the money, you pretty much get what you pay for. To spray paint on a bike you can get away with a smaller compressor, especially if you use a gravity feed paint gun. When You are shopping look at the CFM more than the HP or other sizing. If it is Chinese HF cut the CFM rating in half, possibly less. It is that bad. Still a compressor that doesn't put out much in the CFM department will still give you air. Back in the early 80's I had a small 1/2 hp compressor, and I found a large air tank. I set it up where the little compressor would fill the 60 gallon tank, that would give me larger volumes of air temporarily.

 

[bonanzadave]

Nutin better than reviving a 12 year old thread.....

Post #5 - I gave my old Craftsman to my soninlaw (still works) and got a 20gal Kobalt from Lowes. Lowes card and military discount put it just over 250 bucks. Works fine for home owner jobs.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-20-...e-Electric-Vertical-Air-Compressor/1000578469

 

[wymple]

Vertical, 60 gallon, around 6.5 HP. I and both my shop involved sons love them.

 

[bwringer]

The HF compressors actually work pretty well, but those SCFM ratings are pure fantasy. I don't think any of them would run a spray gun, but I'm not that familiar with spray painting.

As far as Craftsman compressors, they're all made in China now and are absolutely identical to the HF stuff aside from price tag and paint -- you figure it out. Hmmmm... :-k

If you just need to get by and inflate a few tires until you save up some more gold pieces, I'd get the smallest one. It's oil lubed, compact, decently quiet, and works pretty well.

Around here, at least, people selling air compressors on Cracklist always want crazy stupid money, and the compressors are almost always broken or worn out. I've been looking for a good deal for a couple of years, and haven't seen anything worth calling for. Maybe it's different in your area, but hardly anyone ever sells a compressor that's working right.

HF does sell a very nice two-cylinder belt drive compressor that you can snag for around $340. It's 220V, though, but that's the one I'll upgrade to when I get the chance.

Some things to look for (my brother gave me this lecture after seeing mine):
Separate motor from compressor. When/if the motor burns out, you just replace the motor, not the whole thing.
Cast iron compressor (cast iron lining may be good enough)
Vertical if it is to stay in one place, saves room
220v if possible, uses less current (P = VI)
As large a tank as you can afford, compressor runs less often
Enough CFM for the tools you want to use.

This one appears to have good specs, but I'd ask around:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=65903

Here is a pretty good write-up to peruse: http://www2.northerntool.com/air-compressor-buyers-guide.htm

Yeah, seeing this ancient thread is a little bittersweet -- my Dad died in 2010, and I inherited his 5HP Montgomery Ward compressor from the '70s. It's still serving me very well. The motor is new-ish; Dad was an industrial engineer, so who knows where he got the motor. But the cast iron pump is in great shape and chugging along fine, and the tank is even in great shape inside.

koolaid_kid (George Burroughs) helped me rearrange my breaker box and install a 220V circuit for the compressor, and with the last two slots we installed a 50A breaker for a future welder (which I still haven't gotten around to). George died in late 2015, but it's neat to see his wisdom and helpful nature live on!

 

[Guest]

I have a Craftsman 30 gallon 5hp vertical. Bought it 10 years ago. It is a bit loud yet it does the job.