Compressors

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Anyone had any experience with low end compressors?

for example: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Litre-1-5HP-6-35CFM-116psi-Compressor/dp/B00HU54Z18/ref=sr_1_1?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1398432048&sr=1-1&keywords=compressor+wolf+cub+24 or similar.

Was going to get an ultrasonic cleaning tank, but was thinking a compressor and a small blasting cabinet would be much more useful, especially given an ultrasonic tank of any decent size is very expensive (not to mention the cleaning solution).

Cheers

Chris

[FI Spyder]

Any compressor is better than no compressor. Talking to a home mechanic, he said the more capacity the better. He had a $4,000 unit in his home garage. Uh, yah, right. I got a three cylinder compressor with US Compressor (not Chinese), this companies top of the line model for that range (models with Chinese compressors were a couple hundred cheaper) for $800 (list is $1,495). It was in the local but & sell. A building company bought it then went bankrupt and the guy who bid on a lot was a woodworker and didn't need that big a compressor so sold it. It was virtually new. Basically get the biggest you can afford. Search the buy and sells web sites in your area and see what comes up. If you do any sand blasting you need as much air as you can get. Some air tools use a lot of air as well. For things like air wrenches and inflating your tire you don't need as much. It's kind of like the duty cycle of a welder. How patient are you to wait for it to build up pressure when you use short blasts.




- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

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After doing a little research I'm understanding a bit more.

As you say, any compressor is better than non, but it seems the higher the CFM (I assume that's cubic feet per minute) the more versatile it is. For example the sealy shot blasting cabinet I was looking at requires 12 CFM. The cheaper ones seem to be 4, 5 or at best 6 CFM, so if I want to shot/bead blast with it I'll have to spend a bit more.

I still think it's a better option and an ultrasonic cleaner.

[FI Spyder]

The cheaper ones are not only of less capacity they are oil less. That means the pistons have nylon rings on the piston(s). I've had some cheap small ones (for their portability) that I used, to blow out office machines. They don't last too long. The oil type are more expensive, higher capacity and have metal rings like a car engine. Talking to a guy last week that had a two piston compressor that had a hard time keeping up to his blast cabinet. He was wishing he had a three piston one. Mine is 240V 20 amp Motor. I had to put a subpanel in the garage to handle it (you can see it behind the compressor).


- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

[whitenviro]

I have a tiny little Porter Cable "pancake" compressor that is fine for doing things, as long as you don't mind hearing it run loudly and constantly while you work. A little bigger tank and it wouldn't run as much and it would make it a lot more "user friendly". The bigger the better, and if you have longer hoses it won't be right next to you while it runs.


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1980 Pageant Blue DHC with removable hardtop.

[Hasbeen]

A mate has a cheap 2 piston compressor which he bought to run an air rattle gun, & do a little spray painting. He would sometime have to wait a minute or 2 for it to build up pressure & volume in the small tank during a job. He added more air tools & the compressors lack of capacity started to become annoying.

Someone gave him a large tank from an old 15 CFM compressor, when they installed a new one. This was added to his small tank in series.

It can now take 15 minutes to get to full capacity when first started, but he now very rarely runs out of air during a job.

This is OK in a home workshop where you might only use the air a few times a month.

Another mate who uses air mostly to drive an air riveting gun added another 3 CFM compressor to his similar unit. He only runs the second one on the occasions when he has to do a lot of riveting.

And the scots think they have the market cornered on being cheapskates.

Hasbeen

[Workshop Help]

What are we playing here, you show me yours and I'll show you mine?

Mine is powered by a continuous run 115 volt, 5hp Baldor motor spinning a V-Twin compressor. Pressure comes up to 120PSI quickly and no tires are left under inflated here in the machine shed. Being able to wheel this heavy weight behemoth around is a great convenience.

One of these days soon I intend to build a safety cage for the exposed pulleys and drive belt.



Mildred Hargis

[Spectatohead]

Okay, my garage is a mess but here is mine. It came from Home Depot so it is probably not the best but it has worked well for me. It is a single piston job that runs on 110V house current and has a 30 gallon tank. I liked that it didn't need a dedicated 220V circuit run for it. It runs my pneumatic ratchet and angle grinder and air hammer just fine. I do need to get a nice 1/2 inch drive impact driver too one of these days.



Jim Clark
'80 TR8
'97 Maxima 5spd

[FI Spyder]

I have one like Mildred's as well beside the commercial parts washer. It works well enough as an air supply to dry off parts etc. It was given to me by the company I used to work for when I left (as well as the parts washer which looks like an old fashion Coke dispenser). They do now need some attention. The parts washer needs a new motor and the compressor needs new bearings as it starts banging around 80 psi. Just haven't got around to working on them yet.

The oil type (more expensive) are much quieter than the oiless type, regardless of size.



- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

[vitessesteve]

Think carefully what you want to run on the air supply. Some tools need a lot of air, you might be better off with rechargeable battery powered tool.

The bigger the better but will it run off your domestic power supply. In the UK the compressors that are strong enough to run a decent paint sprayer gun tend to need more electric current than a normal 13A supply so will need to install a new high current cooker type supply. As my garage is at the bottom of my garden rather than beside the house getting enough electric to it has stopped me up grading my compressor.

Steve Weblin - AKA vitessesteve
1982 TR7 Sprint DHC

[kstrutt1]

I have 3 small compressors, two 4cfm and one 8cfm, they all run off
13amp sockets, I just use as many as I need, they cost around £90 each.

Kevin