Low cost air compressor

[Doug Griffith]

I've been using the cheapo air compressor from Harbor Freight that's a rip of the Paasche 500 compressor. It was loud and would overheat if ran for long periods of time. I even mounted fans on the heat sinks to help keep it cool. Well, it finally died so I went on a hunt for a replacement and found the following unit at Surplus Center.

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Plugged it in and it is fairly quiet and puts out the right amount of air. The photo shows a fitting and muffler I bought from McMaster Carr. For my application, the muffler isn't even needed. It's going to get mounted in a box outside the work space on the vibration mounts from the dead HF unit (also from McMaster Carr #9119K113 (http://www.mcmaster.com/#9119K113)).

There's some surface rust but if you're looking for a good deal on a compressor there are 25 left:
http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?item=4-1825&catname=air

[Bill Cunningham]

A compressor from a discarded refrigerator or freezer also works fine, is capable of much higher pressures and it's no louder than your fridge!

[Doug Griffith]

I doubt there would be enough CFM in a fridge unit for my liking. it's something like 1.1 - 1.5

[George Carlson]

Refrigerant compressors rely on oil circulating through them. You'll never get clean air from one until the oil runs out, then you have another problem.