What Air Compressor Do You Have?
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junior
Well-Known Member
I have a 5hp 220volt 60gal General from Harbor Freight $350usd six years old works great never let me down yet I do body work and paint and never have to wait for air. Sorry no pic.
I have a Husky (Home Depot) 30 gallon 5 HP compressor. I traded repairing a lawn mower for it. It had a burnt up motor. I bought a replacement for 120 bucks and it's been chuggin along ever since. It's a tad small for coutinuous use such running my media blaster, DA, painting or the like. However, I have a Kellog American 120 gallon horizontal industrial compressor behind the shop waiting to be finished. Some look down on cheap DIY store bought compressors, but you can get a good one by following a few simple rules. ALWAYS get a cast iron compressor pump. Aluminum will not last even for the home DIYer who uses it like every weekend. Look at the CFR ratings carefully. Makers like to deceive you by rating their compressors at ZERO PSI. The rule of thumb is to compare compressors CFM rating at the air tool's operating PSI. 90 PSI is a good rule of thumb for that. You'll notice that as the PSI goes up, the rated CFM goes down. This is why when compressor makers compare CFM at zero PSI it looks like it will move lots of air. You want to take a notebook along and look at MANY different ones before you make a decision. Write down the CFM ratings at 90 PSI for all of them that you look at. You will probably notice a correlation in the highest price being the ones with the highest CFM rating at 90 PSI. This is not always the case though. Sometimes you can find a really good deal on one. You just need to shop around.
Those CAN be two different things. A two cylinder is just that. It has two cylinders to pump even more air. Some look kinda like a V-twin bike engine. Some are inline two cylinders. But they don't HAVE to be a two STAGE if they are two cylinder. Two stage compressors come in most every cylinder configuration there is. In a nutshell, basically, it's like having two compressors in the same compressor housing. A big one and a small. The big one compresses the air, sends it to the small one that in turn compresses it more and then to the tank. Two stage units are best for heavy duty use like shop air where continuous use is high. Like a body shop running DA sanders and spray guns. They are more expensive than a single stage but support more work. They pump up at a much faster rate and "keep up" with work better.
mopardude318
Well-Known Member
Campbell Hausfeld 6 horse/60 gallon. Had it for almost 10 years. no problems...
cuda20
Well-Known Member
I have a Husky. 60 gallon 7hp single cyl.Have had it for 7 years and restored 3 cars and just starting a 4th. No problems so far. sorry no pics.
If you were to buy a new unit would you buy a two cylinder or a two stage and what name brand and where?
Thanks Again!
Sears
5 h.p.
60 gallon
2-stage
Bought it new in 1988.......replaced the motor once
Still works great
5 h.p.
60 gallon
2-stage
Bought it new in 1988.......replaced the motor once
Still works great
Colohusker
Well-Known Member
Picked up a 7 HP, 80 gallon Dresser with an Ingersol Rand pump rated at 19.3 at 90 at an auction but haven't got it hooked up yet.
bargeahead
Wishicouldre member
I can inflate almost a whole basketball before a recycle.
scoot439
Well-Known Member
Found this on my way home from work one day sitting in the back of a guys truck with a sign that said "$400 Firm" 5 HP 60Gallon
View attachment Compressor.jpg
View attachment Compressor.jpg
If I was gonna get a store bought one, I would stay away from harbor freight. Home Depot, Lowes or somewhere like that is fine. I would get a 2 stage of some sort. You need to decide how often and how heavy use it will have. If you think you're gonna do stuff like body work that will require constant duty, you want a pretty good size one. Generally, I recommend 110 volt compressors because I'm cheap and they burn less 'tricity. lol but if you think you'll be usin it for body work and stuff, you need one at least 60 gallon....more like 80 and 7-10 HP with the CFM in the teens at 90 PSI going toward 20 CFM. It won't be cheap. Also, one last thing I forgot and possibly the most important. Any good air compressor shop will verify this. About 99% of all store bought compressors run the pump way too fast. Compressor pumps need to be around 1000 RPM and even lower is better. They will last virtually forever and pump the same. You will need a smaller motor pulley and smaller belt if you get a store bought one. You can talk to any good compressor shop for a recommendation to get your pump RPM where it needs to be. They'll need to know the size pully on the pump. you could have a compressor shop build you one. More expensive, but much better quality.
I have a Campbell Hausfeld 5 HP, 2 stage, 60 gallon,220 volt compressor, 20 years old and never a single problem. Changed the oil and air filter twice and this thing runs like a champ, I never have to wait for the compressor to catch up. I love this old baby.
Here is mine, I do bodywork with mine so its a pretty serious compressor. Got about 5 years out of the motor then poof. Replaced with a nicer electric motor so far the pump as been fine. 220-Runs a full body shop sand blaster no problem. 60 gallon tank. You want to match the scfm to that of the tools you will be using. As stated before body work takes a tone of air. I would also avoid a lot of the "discount" compressors, they usually run a cheap aluminum pump and you will have issues with it.
66 Dartman
Well-Known Member
I have a 5 hp 2 stage 120gal tank.I put it in the shop 25 years ago no problems just change the oil and filter regularly. I'll take some pic's tomorrow.
mopardude318
Well-Known Member
those ingersoll rand compressors sure are nice! that will be my next upgrade...
Campbell Hausfield 80 Gallon, 5 hp, twin cyliner, 2-Stage,
TP tools has a Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving) sale every year. I bought it two years ago for $599. Looks like the Husky compressor at Home Depot for $1,099.
http://www.tptools.com/Default.aspx
TP tools has a Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving) sale every year. I bought it two years ago for $599. Looks like the Husky compressor at Home Depot for $1,099.
http://www.tptools.com/Default.aspx
I'm almost afraid to post this among all the 20 galloners. :-D Tell me if I need to duck.
300 gallon, 5 hp 2 stage ... probably 25-30 years old ... air filters available at Napa for about $7. 30x40 shop has 12 down-drops throughout, each with its own drain valve.
It'll push almost 200 psi and has to be seriously regulated so as not to kill the air tools. It's about as big and highly resembles a propane tank.
I'd like to eventually get a secondary compressor and dedicate it to my blast cabinet but for now the Big Beast runs everything.
300 gallon, 5 hp 2 stage ... probably 25-30 years old ... air filters available at Napa for about $7. 30x40 shop has 12 down-drops throughout, each with its own drain valve.
It'll push almost 200 psi and has to be seriously regulated so as not to kill the air tools. It's about as big and highly resembles a propane tank.
I'd like to eventually get a secondary compressor and dedicate it to my blast cabinet but for now the Big Beast runs everything.
mopowers
Well-Known Member
How do you figure?
Plik
Ragin Cajun
Just picked up one of these 2hp/20 gal 5.5 CFM @ 90 psi. it runs on a regular outlet (i don't have a 220v). i won't be able to paint a car with it, but i should be able to run pretty much any tool i need.
Just picked up one of these 2hp/20 gal 5.5 CFM @ 90 psi. it runs on a regular outlet (i don't have a 220v). i won't be able to paint a car with it, but i should be able to run pretty much any tool i need.
With all due respect, it will run any tool you need it to run.
For about 3 minutes. Then it'll shut off and you'll have to wait for another 5 minutes for it to air up again ... so you can use it for 3 more minutes.
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