Air Compressor Choice

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Demon_Jeff_71

Demon_Jeff_71

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Looking into buying an air compressor here next week and trying to figure which one to buy. I plan on using a DA to do the body work on my cars along with a cutting wheel and I was plannng on painting my cars also. I have not done body work before or psi ted before so I am planning on learning as I go. Along with the common air ratchets and impact wrenchs that is by plan. I am debating on wether I should go with the 1.5hp 33 gallon stand up. Or the much bigger and more expensive 60 gallon stand up. The big black one that is like six hundred at sears. I am debating if I should spend the three hundred or spend half as much and put the other money in tools.


Appreciate the advice.

Mopar Jeff
 
Jeff my .02 is go large, the 60 gallon will suit your needs where as the smaller will not. These tools use alot of air and although they will work with the smaller compressor it will be running all the time and will not quite have the balls to do the tough jobs.
In a case like this better to have to much.
AL
 
I recently bought an 80 gallon 5 hp dual stage. It's awesome. It was a remanufactured item. It came with the same warranty as a "new" one. It was $600 from TP Tool.
 
Mopar Jeff you're absolutely correct. Running those kinds of tools you need at least a 5hp/80gal. I don't sell anything smaller. toolmanmike
 
scuba0331 said:
I recently bought an 80 gallon 5 hp dual stage. It's awesome. It was a remanufactured item. It came with the same warranty as a "new" one. It was $600 from TP Tool.
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Where did you pick that up at? I was looking at a new 60 gallon craftsman for six hundred. If I could get an eighty forthe same price I would be all over that. Also any suggestions on brands?
 
I bought a compressor several years ago, and wish I'd bought a bigger one. I have a Craftsman professional 30 gallon or so, two stage pump, 175 psi max. But the PSI isn't as important as the cfm. I'd rather have a 125 max psi with 12 cfm than the measly 5 cfm or so that I have. And the bigger the tank, the better. I'm going to buy a bigger one from Harbor Freight, or Rural King or Tractor Supply or some store like that, something with at least 12 CFM flow. My little compressor runs constantly using an air cutoff tool or die grinder. The only thing I know about air compressor brands is that the ATLAS copco we have at work is a piece of junk. The old no-name one they had fred flinstone install still works a lot better. My maintenance man said it has either a 9 inch piston and 11 inch stroke, or vice versa. Either way, at 99 cubic inch displacement, that thing pushes some air. Then again, it takes up enough room to park a bus in. What I'm saying is - buy bigger when you can, even if you think its waay more than you need, 'cause one day, it won't be. My 2 cents.
 
Pretty much what EVERYONE has mentioned. The bigger the better. I picked up my USED IR, Ingersol Rand 5hp. "cast iron" two stage compressor like 20 something years ago! Best purchase I ever did. It will run anything I need and last forever if taken care of. My .02
 
Just like all others said, bigger is better and that smaller one you mentioned won't be able to push the tools you mentioned without you having to stop and wait for it to build up pressure. I bought a DeVilbis 6.5hp 60gal about 10 years ago. It has always had more than enough air for me while I was using my DA or cutting wheels.

Not to bad mouth Craftsman, but check around before you get that one; there may be better deals out there. I'm not much on the Craftsman compressors that you can't change the oil on. I'm not much on Campbell Hausfeld either; I had two brand new that blew so much oil that there was no way I would have used them for painting anything. You sure never had to wory about lubricating any tools you hooked up to them.

If this is your first compressor, make sure you get an air ratchet and an impact. Once you get used to using air tools, you'll be spoiled.
 
well guys i'm still shopping for a compressor I have decided to keep my budget aorund $1200.00 any ideas on what the best bang for the buck is with this type of budget
 
I've been there done that too. First got my house and got the 33 gal Craftsman for general use. Now that I am painting my car, the little compressor is basically worthless. I can't even run my board sander or a DA with it running all the time.

I got a kick butt deal from Northern Tool. New Ingersol Rand 5hp 60 gal. for $799. Free shipping too. Runs plenty of cfm 18.1 to run any paint gun or big airtools for a home shop. I wish I would have had the foresight to have bought it in the beginning.

The extra couple hundred $$$ will pay for itself in the long run.

My little setup with 1/2" copper. Not completed yet but separate regulator/filter setups for paint guns and airtools.

compressorsetup001.jpg
 
daves66valiant said:
I've been there done that too. First got my house and got the 33 gal Craftsman for general use. Now that I am painting my car, the little compressor is basically worthless. I can't even run my board sander or a DA with it running all the time.

I got a kick butt deal from Northern Tool. New Ingersol Rand 5hp 60 gal. for $799. Free shipping too. Runs plenty of cfm 18.1 to run any paint gun or big airtools for a home shop. I wish I would have had the foresight to have bought it in the beginning.

The extra couple hundred $$$ will pay for itself in the long run.

My little setup with 1/2" copper. Not completed yet but separate regulator/filter setups for paint guns and airtools.

compressorsetup001.jpg
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do you have the model number and NT's catalog number for the compressor you got
 
SS5L5.

I guess the price went up some. Still a good compressor.
 
Demon_Jeff_71 said:
Where did you pick that up at? I was looking at a new 60 gallon craftsman for six hundred. If I could get an eighty forthe same price I would be all over that. Also any suggestions on brands?
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I bought it at TP Tool. It is close to where I live so I picked it up. www.tptool.com.

It is a campbell hausfield. I went to Home Depot the other day and they have the exact same compressor for Husky but it was $1100. My wife saw that and said "you did get a good deal"!
 
Mine is a Sanborn 7.5 hp with an 80 gallon tank,it's all Cast Iron,motor too.15yrs old now,and I'm running all 3/4" hard line.It'll air file,DA,paint,sandblast all day no problem,all I do is change oil and filters and drain the tank.On a side note,make sure your compressor has plenty of fresh air.
 
Don't pay any attention to HP ratings of compressors, the numbers are for the most part bogus. You need to chose based on the cfm needs of the tools you use. Even with a big tank it only delays the initial kick in of the compressor before you are stopping an waiting for the compressor to catch up if the cfm rating is too low.

The reason I say the HP ratings are bogus is because I have a small wheeled compressor that has label stating its 5HP but it plugs into a standard 15 amp 115/120 volt service. Just doing the math the most HP you can get out of a 15 Amp service is 2.4 HP and that is right at the 15 Amp limit. To run a 5HP motor on a 115/120 volt service requires about 40 Amps which requires special plugs, special wiring in the house/garage.
 
dgc333 said:
Don't pay any attention to HP ratings of compressors, the numbers are for the most part bogus. You need to chose based on the cfm needs of the tools you use. Even with a big tank it only delays the initial kick in of the compressor before you are stopping an waiting for the compressor to catch up if the cfm rating is too low.

The reason I say the HP ratings are bogus is because I have a small wheeled compressor that has label stating its 5HP but it plugs into a standard 15 amp 115/120 volt service. Just doing the math the most HP you can get out of a 15 Amp service is 2.4 HP and that is right at the 15 Amp limit. To run a 5HP motor on a 115/120 volt service requires about 40 Amps which requires special plugs, special wiring in the house/garage.
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Yep. That is why I chose the IR. 21.5amps max with the 220v service. 30 amp breaker would suffice but I'm going with a 60 amp subpanel to help run lights, heater, vacuum etc. I think I'm running 8 gauge wire too because my garage is detached. The CFM ratings can be less than quoted as well. I planned on 20% loss in CFM that way I know for sure I can run my paint guns without any issues.

Goodluck with your purchase.
 
When I built my garage I ran 4 gauge from the main panel in the house to the subpanel in the garage. I too have a 60 amp service in the garage. The compressor in the garage (not the small wheeled unit) is 15 amps max at 220v so I wired up a 20 amp 220 volt circuit for it.
 
I know this is an older thread but I found it useful. Looking into getting a compressor for my garage soon, so I can build around it.

I saw this one at Home Depot, painted up red with a Husky tools logo but it is a CH.

Here's a link to the CH site and the model:

http://www.chpower.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/chPrd3_10051_10001_93973_-1_10646_10692_

Anyone use this particular compressor? It's pretty cheap at Home Depot, under $450. I might go for it if it's still available when I go back next time.

Thanks,

Greg
 
I bought a CH at an estate auction last week, 7hp 60 gal, double digit cfm (14 I think without looking)...looks brand new for $ 300.00...works great, so far have used the DA, 3/8 drill, and cut-off with no issues, no waiting. Eastwood has a garage air plumbing setup with 100' of tubing and various connectors for $199..then you gotta add $180 for the dryer/collaceing filter, plus another $180 if you want the oiler. That's $600 to plumb it but looks like it will do a real nice job that'll work for tools and painting.
 
GTGrinly said:
I bought a CH at an estate auction last week, 7hp 60 gal, double digit cfm (14 I think without looking)...looks brand new for $ 300.00...works great, so far have used the DA, 3/8 drill, and cut-off with no issues, no waiting. Eastwood has a garage air plumbing setup with 100' of tubing and various connectors for $199..then you gotta add $180 for the dryer/collaceing filter, plus another $180 if you want the oiler. That's $600 to plumb it but looks like it will do a real nice job that'll work for tools and painting.
Click to expand...

Good to hear that CH is OK. It's not going to be beat on or anything, It's just for my home shop but I'd rather get something decent to start. The one I'm looking into is a little smaller, it's rated to push 10.2CFM @ 90 psi, is advertised to have 3 running hp and has a 60 gal tank. I hope it can keep up with my dinky little pressure blaster.
 
I picked up a pressure blaster at the same auction but haven't had the chance to try it, the guy had it plumbed for an inline install and when I tried to get the fitting apart I broke it and haven't taken the time to do anything about it.
 
Anyone else care to chime in on my above compressor choice? 10.2 avg SCFM at 90 PSI, 3 hp, 60 gal tank.
 
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