Advice/suggestions on Air compressor for a Helix 24

[Doug Kircher]

Hello all,

Let me start out with a Thanks in Advance. Been doing some lurking and reading on the forum lately, so I finally joined. I just ordered a Epilogue 24 on Friday. I ordered the Blower from Penn State (the DC3) yesterday. The Laser and everything are going to be inside in my office (Formal Living Room), so I am trying to go with options that are on the quieter side. I'll save my plans for the Blower/filtration setup for another post, and yes, I have gone through Dan's thread a couple times already.

So here is where I am going crazy from to many options.....the Air compressor. I do have a nice large one outside in the garage, but plumbing it through the attic into the family room is not a option I am considering. I want a quieter model, I keep seeing a lot of talk about Gast and Thomas units....but which ones? I was just on the Gast website and there is no reference to Sound levels....I was Eyeballing the California Air Tools 1650A, but then I saw a life span on 3000 hours being mentioned.....and I do not see a whole lot of talk about them from people who actually have them, so I am not sure about that option anymore........So I am coming to ya'll for advice and recommendations. what CFM should I be looking at? I know it is not as big a factor as other Lasers since there is no air curtain.

I am surfing on Grainger's website and seeing some models listed at a sound volume of 63 db for some of the Gast ones.....To many options!!!!

[Mike Null]

Call Gast, they'll help you.

[Joe Pelonio]

While I have several big compressors for air tools and painting, I have been using airbrush compressors for the laser. The first was used already for airbrushing and eventually wore out, but the replacement was only $79 and has been running strong for 5 years now. It's quieter than my exhaust fan, you can certainly talk on the phone with it running. They run 40-60 decibels, this one seems to be at the low end.

[Glen Monaghan]

I've been using a Salon Air Master for the last few months. It's quiet enough and has a (very) small tank with a pressure switch so it shuts itself off when not needed, and was fairly inexpensive. However, the first one died within a week of receipt and the warranty replacement just died too, maybe 3 months old. I tore the 1st one apart and found that the weak link is the small plastic one-way valve assembly on the piston output. It just disintegrated and wouldn't build any pressure. This time, I get a bit of pressure but not much, so maybe the valve is just cracked this time.

-Glen

[Frank Corker]

According to Epilog a big compressor appears to be a waste of time. The Gast that has been mentioned before is the one that they supply from the dealers. Worked well for me all these years.

[Jimmy L Taylor]

I use the Gast I got from epilog on my Helix. It has beeen flawless so far and is fairly quiet. My laser is also in my living room and I run it at night while everyone is sleeping with no problems. Plus I only run it when vector cutting, its not needed for raster engraving.