My First Air Compressor... looking for some rookie advice.

[Bill Rodgers]

I recently purchased my first portable air compressor, a Makita MAC5200 Big Bore 3.0 HP Compressor. I plan on using it mostly for… blowing and dusting, occasional frame/finish gun use, airing up tires up on vehicles and the kids’ bikes, and other normal infrequent DIY home/garage use. The most use will probably be for normal blowing and dusting for woodworking, power tool cleaning, yard tool air filter cleaning (chainsaw, riding mower, trimmer, etc.), firearm cleaning, etc. I really don’t plan on using it to run many air tools or spraying.

I have very little experience with compressors and have been reading about filters and wanted to ask you guys if I need something like a water and/or oil filter/separator installed? I have no idea of what one would even look like or how/where to install it, but I just want to maintain my unit as best I can and have it work for my needs as best it can.

I don’t even have a hose or any fittings yet so that will be my next purchase. Basically, other than attaching a hose and starting to just use it should I be thinking of anything else to maximize its use? I’m sure hoses come in different sizes, etc… is there anything I should be considering in particular with sizing too? I'm probably over thinking this, but I like to try to do things the right way the first time.

Thanks for any help and advice for this compressor rookie.

[Kent A Bathurst]

FInd the drain valve on the tank. Drain it often. NOthing loves condensation more than the inside of a compressor tank.

[George Bokros]

I have a filter drier on the compressor in the garage for auto air tools but on the pancake I use for finish, brad and pin nailers I do not, though I believe I should have one but I have not looked for a small one that could stay connected to the compressor. i should probably look for one. I drain mine after each use like Kent suggests.

[Jerry Bruette]

If you're using it for inflating and dusting, and you drain the tank regularly, you probably won't need a filter. However if you start spraying finishes and such then you'll need a filter. Do yourself a favor and buy a 3/8 inch Flexilla hose. I have two fifty footers and love them, they never take a set and are flexible down to at least zero degrees.

[Kent A Bathurst]

I I drain mine after each use like Kent suggests.

Well, George.....

You are holding me to a higher standard than that to which I aspire. Good for you - you are on top of it.

Me - nah - I try to remember to do it every Saturday, which is laundry day, which is my chore. No connection between he two chores other than it is a reminder.......... My original PC pancake lived for 12+ years with only rare draining - my fault, but hey - that thing was born to be disposable, right? I am doing much better these days, tho.


Just didn't want anyone here to look at your kind note, assumed I really did it, and start to wonder if there were an alien pod in my basement somewhere.........

[Bill Rodgers]

Thanks guys. Should I go with 1/4" or 3/8" hose? I'm not sure, but I would think I could run either as long as I had the correct fittings correct?

[Rich Riddle]

Get an OILED air compressors. Your ears will love you. I forget how quiet mine is until hearing friends' units that are not oiled, and LOUD.

[Jerry Bruette]

Bill you can use either size hose, but I went with 3/8 so I could hook two 50 foot hoses together and use a framing and roofing nailer on the roof of my cabin. The 3/8 doesn't cost much more and I think it's best to buy it up front than to buy a 1/4 inch and wish you would have bought the 3/8. If you'll never need a hose longer than say 25 feet 1/4 will probably be okay, but like a few other things in life, I think it's better to have too long of a hose than too short. With a 3/8 hose you should never be starving anything yu hook to the end of it.

Yes you'll have to size the fittings to the hose, when you buy the hose it'll say on the package which size fitting you'll need (thread size). Then all you have t worry about is which type of fitting you'll need, automotive,industrial etc., not all brands or types of fittings are interchangeable.

[Greg R Bradley]

You can not make the assumption that all oil-less compressors are loud and all oiled are quiet. There is a tendency for that to be true but there are lots of each.

The MAC5200 is not very quiet and is oiled. The MAC2400 and MAC700 are oiled compressors and are pretty quiet. The ultra quiet Rolair JC10 is oil-less. In California Air Tools compressors the oiled ones are loud and the oil-less are quiet.

[Charles Li]

My cheap HF oiled air compressor is plenty loud heh. Doesn't bother me though as I keep ear protection on most of the time. Wish I was smart enough to do that when I was younger playing in bands... Seems like quite is more a function of quality than type

[Ken Platt]

I would second the recommendation to get a better quality flexible hose. My PC pancake came with a vinyl hose, which I struggled with for years, as I don't use the compressor that much, so I just put up with it. This year I was doing a lot of home repair work, and bought one of the light flexible hoses (the brand name is Smartflex, and promptly kicked myself for not doing it sooner.

Ken

[Ken Platt]

I would second the recommendation to get a better quality flexible hose. My PC pancake came with a vinyl hose, which I struggled with for years, as I don't use the compressor that much, so I just put up with it. This year I was doing a lot of home repair work, and bought one of the light flexible hoses (the brand name is Smartflex, and promptly kicked myself for not doing it sooner.

Ken

[Bill Rodgers]

I went to the store today and checked out the types of fittings. There was a chart that listed the different fittings by letter. Is "M" the most common and what letter is associated with the automotive or industrial? Why so many different choices? Since I'm not planning on running any higher end tools, I think I can just pick the type of fitting I want and outfit everything I have with that size correct? Are any of the letter fittings interchangeable?

I also saw some of the small in-line filters. The one was plastic and had silica gel in it to remove water from the air... it didn't say if it would also
remove oil...?

[Lee Reep]

My compressor is in the garage, so I used the RapidAir distribution system to run to my basement shop. Highly recommended if you want multiple drops near tools.

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http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/152558/RapidAir-Compressed-Air-Piping-System-Master-Kit.aspx (http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/152558/RapidAir-Compressed-Air-Piping-System-Master-Kit.aspx)





These are nice hoses to use at the RapidAir ports, or between a regular hose and your air tool. Very flexible.

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http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/149029/Flexeel-14-x-15%27-Polyurethane-Coil-Hose.aspx

Both are pricey, but I bought them during a sale at Woodcraft. I also added a combo pressure regulator / water filter at the port so I do not need to go to the compressor to adjust air pressure if changes are needed.

[Kent A Bathurst]

I went to the store today and checked out the types of fittings. There was a chart that listed the different fittings by letter. Is "M" the most common and what letter is associated with the automotive or industrial? Why so many different choices? Since I'm not planning on running any higher end tools, I think I can just pick the type of fitting I want and outfit everything I have with that size correct? Are any of the letter fittings interchangeable?

I also saw some of the small in-line filters. The one was plastic and had silica gel in it to remove water from the air... it didn't say if it would also
remove oil...?

Pick whichever connection standard design you want, and stick with it always - not interchangeable, AFAIK. If you were going for industrial tools, I would take a different tack, but for your situation, I would pick any name brand [not store brand] that seems to have the most shelf space. That way, you can always get parts and pieces as you need them.

Have a situation where I am helping a good friend slowly build a shop. He could not get the PC pancake to stop cycling daily - clearly a leak somewhere in the connector system. He had some "Beats Me"design fittings. I have the keys to his house on the Potomac, and sometimes just show up [I know where the keys to the boat are kept]. Fairly rural/remote area.

I went to the nearby Ace [15 minutes one way] and got all the necessary fittings, according to my rule above, went back, changed everything out, tossed the old stuff. Also got some extras of the "usual suspects" for new air guns, etc. Put them in a drawer. The doggone pancake quit cycling all the time - All good.

Also got him a decent hose and tossed the old POS. He may have noticed. He may have not noticed. Whatever - at least one of us are happy. All part of my mission to help him develop a shop I like, with tools I want to use when I am there, and "pay the rent" as it were for the room and boat access.

[David Ragan]

Mcmaster carr has auto cycling drain things (i forget what called exactly) you can set freq/length of blow-very convenient

[Mike Schuch]

Bill, That looks to be a nice small compressor. Small compressors are great due to their portability. Large compressors are great to permanently install in a shop and run a bunch of large tools. To me medium sized compressors (which I have) are pretty useless because they are neither portable nor big enough to run big tools.

I would recommend a 1/4" hose for your compressor. You compressor does not put out enough cfm to really make use of a 3/8" hoses capacity so the extra bulk of a 3/8" hose will just add bulk and be a bigger headache to use and store.

Since one of your primary uses of your compressor is to blow stuff off I recommend getting a venturi blow gun. It amplifies the volume of air being blown by sucking in extra air via venturi action. I paid less that $10 for mine at Harbor Frieght but no longer see it advertised on their website.
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For quick couplers I recommend getting universal couplers. They will allow you to use automotive or industrial style tool fittings. http://www.harborfreight.com/14-in-male-brass-universal-coupler-68183.html

[Bill Rodgers]

Thanks for all the replies everyone! All of the information is very much appreciated and I can wait to get my new compressor set up and blow some air :)