Opinions on air compressors

[Heretic]

I have finally decided that I need one and am looking for experienced opinions on two I found at Sears. I have never owned one or seriously looked into buying one. I am just going to use it for simple garage tasks, but will be looking for it to drive a 3/8 impact gun for the occasional tire rotation. The first one I am looking at is;

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/search_1...P&resultslabeltext=20gal+Compressor&adCell=W3

Vertical 20 gal tank 150psi 5.1 scfm at 40 psi (whatever the hell that means)

The second; http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00916770000P

26 gal tank 6.3 scfm at 40psi

I am leaning towards the 20 gal one due to the fact that I am putting this under some large permanent shelves I have in the garage and the 26 gal one is a little too tall to fit as is(and it has to be vertical to fit in the space I have available). I can make the 26 gallon fit if it would really be that much better to have.

Opinions and ideas welcome!

Thank you,

Howard

 

[one2dmax]

We usually like the bigger the better but if you aren't going to run a paint gun or air grinder for any length of time I am sure either one would work.

Sean

 

[Rhoy Carter]

The 26 gallon one is better, neither one will keep up with your impact wrench, you will have to stop and wait while the pressure builds back up. SCFM = standard cubic feet per minute.

 

[Yamahauler]

As long as you aren't doing autobody stuff, the Sears compressor that you are looking at, should work just fine. My brother's compressor is about a 20gal-3 1/2 hp, and he runs his 1/2 impact with it all the time. I think Sears has good quality stuff and $250 sounds like a decent price.

 

[KJShover]

As long as you aren't doing autobody stuff, the Sears compressor that you are looking at, should work just fine. My brother's compressor is about a 20gal-3 1/2 hp, and he runs his 1/2 impact with it all the time. I think Sears has good quality stuff and $250 sounds like a decent price.

+1, I had an older sears 30 gal, 35psi compressor. It kepped up my my impact wrenches and pnumatic socket wrenches just fine. It was tits for painting and powdercoating. The only thing it didn't like was the DA sander, glassbeading cabinet and the die grinder just simply didn't have the air capacity to run very long.

I'm going to replace it with an upright with a bigger tank this summer when I plumb the garage for air with a kit from these folks. http://www.rapidairproducts.com/

 

[Yamahauler]

For autobody, a person needs a dual stage compressor and about a 80gal tank. If with my single stage compressor with a 60 gal tank, it doesn't recover too fast when I'm running my DA or my sandblaster. Even when I'm painting a big panel, my single stage runs all the time. And, the longer your compressor runs, the more water it puts through the lines, even with moisture traps.

 

[Rusty McNeil]

Whatever you do don't scrimp out and buy one of those "oiless" air compressors with the cermamic sleeves, I went through 3 of them (two were warranty) before wising up......

 

[richwrench]

Believe it or not, I've been using a 25 gal. Sears oil-less for approx. 10 years with no probs at all. It's more than enough to run an impact gun for tires & what-not, it's the air ratchets & grinders that it has trouble keeping up with. Impact guns use a relativly small amount of air volume compared to other tools. I think you'll be fine with the smaller one since your primary tool is a 3/8" gun. That being said, if I had the space & a 240v outlet, I'd love an 80 gal 2-stage...

 

[95spfldmax]

For autobody, a person needs a dual stage compressor and about a 80gal tank. If with my single stage compressor with a 60 gal tank, it doesn't recover too fast when I'm running my DA or my sandblaster. Even when I'm painting a big panel, my single stage runs all the time. And, the longer your compressor runs, the more water it puts through the lines, even with moisture traps.

This is the same set up I have......and the same problem as well trying to run my blast cabinet......80gal/2-stage is the answer???

 

[dannymax]

I've had a Coleman Power-Mate 20 gal, 3 1/2 hp for 12 years, I don't do any body work and this little cheapo, oil-less handles all the routine inflation, air gun, speed saw work I ask of it. I've dragged it all over New York State and she just keeps on tickin'.... I really, really want a 240v, 2-stg., 80 gal Ingersoll-Rand, but just can't bring myself to dump the ol' Coleman, she works too well.


BTW KJ, I installed a similar, but much cheaper version of the Rapidair system.....I got a 100 ft. roll of cheap air hose, a bunch of brass 't' connectors and some small hose clamps and just strung it all over up above the ceiling, dropping down wherever I wanted air.
A 'welfare' job, fer sure, but works the bees nuts...(what does 4gasem say?....bees meow?) I dunno!

 

[1967vmax]

I bought a porter cable 26gal vertical at Lowes,works great painted my trailer with it. JIM

 

[88vmx12]

My first air compressor was a craftsman I wasn't too happy with it in the end. My personal opinion is I wish I had spent alittle bit more and got a compressor with either cast iron cylinders or cast iron sleeves. Also a little bit bigger, I think it was a 32 or so gallon and 12 cfm. Way too small, with compressors you get what you pay for. I was able to salvage my last one from an industrial job I was on. It is a ingersoll rand 80 gal horizonal 175 psi and 35 cfm +. They scrapped it to their junk yard and nothing was wrong with it. I spent 600 bones to put a single phase motor on it. It is a real dream it will run anything I want.. another thing to remember is tank storage size. too small of a tank will keep your pump turning on and off in shorter cycles. which doesn't allow the motor to cool off, when you are using it alot.

scooter

 

[hubeerjw]

I have a 30 gallon Craftsman and like it... loud as hell, but works exactly as it should. I've had it for about 6 years and haven't had any problems.

Jeff

 

[Rusty McNeil]

My problem with the airless model I was buying was that the thermal overload in the motor was a thyristor, basically a "fuse", buried in the motor, trip it once and there is no resetting it. the second one that went out on me I dug the thing out of the motor windings and bypassed it and gave it to my father-in-law, he's had problems since with it. The compressor part itslef was OK. I just like to see a motor with a RESET for the thermal protection. The one i had problems with was the "blue" one home depot sells, can't remember for sure but I think it was a campbell-hausfield, kind of a cheap brand to begin with.......although I have plenty of their air-tools that have held up fine....

 

[Frosty72]

I'd go with the smaller one Howard. Mine is only 15 Gal and I use my air tools with no problems, it's not like you are going to be running air powered sanders for eight hours!!

I even used to blow out our sprinkler system with mine.

 

[Heretic]

Well, I picked up the 26gal one today, but had to use a 2x4 to raise the shelf it sits under to create enough clearance. Temp fix for now, will do something different once it gets warmer.

So far I like it. Not really that loud IMO, and with the wheels it has makes it easy to move around. The one thing that totally sucked was the drain valve. On the tank and in the instructions it says to drain the tank every time you use it, but you have to lay on the ground to open the damn thing and then lay on the ground again to close it. No way I would drain it everytime if I had to do it that way. In order to remedy this I installed a 90 degree elbow, six inch pipe and a simple ball valve to replace the drain. Works friggin awesome! I can open and close the valve with my foot so I don't even have to bend over to drain it. :eusa_dance: Why they don't do this from the factory or at least have it as an accessory is beyond me.

 

[richwrench]

LOL - I had to add a ball valve & extension on mine too. The factory petcocks suck big-time.

 

[sdt354]

I have a gas portable at work. It runs about any tool I use. Thinking of getting one for home. Downside is having to gas it /maintain it.They are powerful though. See them for $350-$500 used on craigs list. Got the oilless for tires and a blast of air already.
Steve

 

[Frosty72]

Great solution Howard, I should do that to mine!

 

[RaWarrior]

While it's much smaller, I have a little Husky pancake compressor that I believe is 2.5 gallons. It's nice and portable and while you certainly couldn't spray with it, I find it perfectly adequate for simple tasks. It will run a 3/8 impact for about 15 seconds straight, and re-charges back to full pressure in about 10 sec. Had it for a couple years now and no problems, plus it only cost like $100 new.

Meanwhile at work we have a Ingersoll Rand 80 gallon with what looks like a Suzuki 450 motor sitting on top. It's two cylinders with a 5hp motor- you can't drain that thing if you try and it has 12 outlets throughout the entire building. I know it will run a 1/2" impact, a hi-speed polisher, and two blowguns at the same time and keep up. Thing runs like a clock.