Which compresor

[Robin Frierson]

Need a small compressor to blow out the filter on my Oneida, also to use small air tools like a brad nailer. In the past I always bought the larger compressors thinking I would take up spray finishing but it never happened. And now with the small shop dont see it happening again. Need to be able to put it on a high shelf is possible, as space is at a premium and am concerned about the noise. Was looking at the ones at Harbor Freight this morning. Are they junk?

[Bill White]

Wouldn't say "junk", but..............Make sure that ya get the extended warranty. Oil free comps are loud.
Bill

[Mike Cutler]

Need a small compressor to blow out the filter on my Oneida, also to use small air tools like a brad nailer. In the past I always bought the larger compressors thinking I would take up spray finishing but it never happened. And now with the small shop dont see it happening again. Need to be able to put it on a high shelf is possible, as space is at a premium and am concerned about the noise. Was looking at the ones at Harbor Freight this morning. Are they junk?

Check out the Rolair JC10. It ticks all the boxes for you, especially the noise. It's very quiet, and you will not need hearing protection, of any type, with a JC10.

[Greg R Bradley]

There are certainly some compressors where oil free compressors are louder but ALL of the really quiet compressors are oil free. For example, the Rolair JC10 mentioned above.

The small amount of air produced by the JC10 will be great for small nailers but will be far too little to get very far blowing out filters. It will run a small air nozzle for less than 30 seconds before needing to build pressure for a couple minutes. If you run it over and over as soon as it refills the tank, it will fail since it isn't 100% duty cycle.

Fairly quiet and enough air to be useful for blowing out filters will require some weight. A Makita MAC700 would be the minimum and still probably a bit short on air. I use a Makita MAC2400 for pretty much that use but at 77 pounds it seems a bit much to be putting up on a shelf.

[Robin Frierson]

Thanks for the replies. The reviews are all positive for the JC 10 and both the Makita 2400 and 700. I have a very substantial 30in wide high shelf that will hold the compressor...just may need a hand getting it up there. The main use for this compressor will be blowing the filter out so don't want to be undersized for that purpose.

[Scott Perkins47]

Take a hard serious look to see if there is any way you can mount your compressor somewhere
on the other side of the wall in your room. That could mean an outside closet etc. Run the hose
through the wall etc. The noise is dangerous and injurious. Or you could perhaps mount it
in an inside closet or box so long as it is super ventilated to the outside. This meaning you
could be using a separate forced air fan into the box.

[Scott Perkins47]

I forgot to mention that of a few compressors that I own and all my buddies etc. The only
compressors that are still running after 35 or 45 years are belt driven and oil lubricated.
I guess when they were made they did not know how to do the small direct drive hi speed
slippery plastic pumps and that in a way is good. Good if you want them to last a long
time and not make so much noise. Not so good if what you need is a lightweight portable
compressor. another thing also... for the same amount of max amps... you will get
a lot more air from the belt driven compressors as they are much more efficient.
On a jobsite it may well be worth it to carry the older heavier compressor when you
keep tripping the breakers or are having to share a line etc. Of the manufacturers
today, who is still making the belt driven with multiple cylinder pumps in the smaller
what could be called portable ( if you struggle with two people ) compressors ?

[Robin Frierson]

Scott, yes with my florida shop I did have my compressor mounted outside under a carport. And it was a belt driven 60gallon machine I think. But now my situation is such that it has got to be inside my two garage shop. No way the HOA will allow it outside. I will not use it much. It will go weeks without use so I dont need a heavy duty or continuous use machine. Just something to blow my filter out and sometimes use a brad nailer. I want something quiet. Anybody heard of this compressor?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/California-Air-Tools-5-5-Gal-1-0-HP-Ultra-Quiet-and-Oil-Free-Air-Compressor-5510SE/205602927?cm_mmc=SEM|THD|google|&mid=sGGzTBmKX|dc_mtid_8903tb925190_pcrid_111416414 825_pkw__pmt__product_205602927_slid_&gclid=Cj0KEQjwr7S-BRD96_uw9JK8uNABEiQAujbffO2B2hYRxGM_zycyU93X9dbjeU ecjgS6Dma8LBgxf2AaAt1u8P8HAQ

[Mike Cherry]

I've heard of California Air comps. They are supposedly very quiet as well. Jay Bates has one and highly recommends them.

[Victor Robinson]

Scott, yes with my florida shop I did have my compressor mounted outside under a carport. And it was a belt driven 60gallon machine I think. But now my situation is such that it has got to be inside my two garage shop. No way the HOA will allow it outside. I will not use it much. It will go weeks without use so I dont need a heavy duty or continuous use machine. Just something to blow my filter out and sometimes use a brad nailer. I want something quiet. Anybody heard of this compressor?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/California-Air-Tools-5-5-Gal-1-0-HP-Ultra-Quiet-and-Oil-Free-Air-Compressor-5510SE/205602927?cm_mmc=SEM|THD|google|&mid=sGGzTBmKX|dc_mtid_8903tb925190_pcrid_111416414 825_pkw__pmt__product_205602927_slid_&gclid=Cj0KEQjwr7S-BRD96_uw9JK8uNABEiQAujbffO2B2hYRxGM_zycyU93X9dbjeU ecjgS6Dma8LBgxf2AaAt1u8P8HAQ

The CAT compressors are very quiet. I have the 4620 and like it. I also have the Rolair JC10. They were similarly quiet out of the box, though my Rolair (which is older) has gradually gotten slightly louder than my CAT (though still both are exceptionally quiet for a compressor). The only thing about CAT is they have had some QC issues on some specific models, so read reviews carefully on the model you are considering. In addition, there were some models that had flimsy construction or low quality parts, but I think some of those issues were remedied with revisions.

[Robert Parent]

Rolair VT20TB - Low RPM, mounted on a nice cart, works great, quiet.

https://www.amazon.com/Rolair-VT20TB-Compressor-Overload-Protection/dp/B004VNOZSK

Robert

[Brian W Evans]

I just bought a Rolair VT25BIG. It's a smaller oil-and-belt compressor. It will cycle quite a bit when blowing out filters, but it is relatively quiet compared to my previous, oil-less compressor. The cycle time is surprisingly short and it is a 100% duty-cycle machine, so shouldn't be a problem from a long-term use perspective. I have moved it up and down stairs quite a bit and lifted it short distances, but never above my head. Rolair says it weighs about 100 pounds, which may be a consideration for you. One thing to watch out for: Rolair says it draws 13.8 amps and they mean it. Make sure you have all 15 amps on a typical household circuit available for this thing.

I bought it from acme tools and got a good price and quick shipping. I'm solidly in the "buy once, cry once" camp, so harbor freight would definitely not be on my list.

Good luck.

[Scott Perkins47]

I just bought a Rolair VT25BIG. It's a smaller oil-and-belt compressor.

I bought it from acme tools and got a good price and quick shipping. I'm solidly in the "buy once, cry once" camp, so harbor freight would definitely not be on my list.

Brian- No Secrets here... How much does Acme sell them for and how much was shipping for something heavy like that ?

[Scott Perkins47]

I see the unit here.

http://www.acmetools.com/shop/tools/rolair-2-5-hp-compressor-vt25big?cm_mmc=BING-_-PPC-_-IDS_None-_-IDS_ROLAIR_VT25BIG&CAPCID=6706138587&CADEVICE=c&CA_6C15C=600009240000605798

It looks pretty good. The specs I mean. The 110V threshold is a big one and I like to look for
the compressors that offer the greatest cfm flow at 90 psi and STILL use 110V circuits up to 14.5 amps.
This is an unusual unit in that the motor to pump is direct drive but it is oil lubricated.
I believe a belt drive unit spinning a large air pump slowly will produce even more cfm airflow
and still use the 110V. I have not looked to see what models there are that do that.

[Scott T Smith]

I've heard of California Air comps. They are supposedly very quiet as well. Jay Bates has one and highly recommends them.

Rolair and Makita both make great products, and I too can vouch for how quiet the California Air a Tools compressor is. I like mine a lot.

[Curt Harms]

Thanks for the replies. The reviews are all positive for the JC 10 and both the Makita 2400 and 700. I have a very substantial 30in wide high shelf that will hold the compressor...just may need a hand getting it up there. The main use for this compressor will be blowing the filter out so don't want to be undersized for that purpose.


I have an oil free Campbell Hausfeld that I bought probably 15 years ago, think it was a WalMart return. For what I use it for it's been fine. I blow out a Wynn cartridge filter a couple times a year and use it to power staples & brad/pin nailers. If I had an hour meter on it I doubt it'd run an hour a year so louder - within reason - is not that much of an issue. More of an issue for me and infrequent use was tank leak down. I ended up replacing the tank drain with a street ell/ball valve arrangement and put another ball valve as close to the tank outlet as I could manage rather than relying on the regulator as a shutoff mechanism. Now it can sit for weeks and lose very little air.

[Mike Cutler]

Brian- No Secrets here... How much does Acme sell them for and how much was shipping for something heavy like that ?

Scott
Acme doesn't charge for shipping. They do have a $49.00 handling fee though.
I bought a Rolair V5169PT03XB, about 6 weeks ago and it was delivered via lift gate service on a pallet. It was time to get a bigger compressor.
They're a nice company to do business with.

[Greg R Bradley]

If you want to stick with putting it up on a shelf and reasonably low noise, I'm going to strongly suggest the Makita MAC2400, which was one I put forward on my earlier post. It is a roll cage compressor with handles so will sit on a shelf and be easy to lift with a rope/chain hoist if you decide 77 pounds is too much to lift that high - two people, two ladders, etc.

I have a friend with a larger CAT unit that is quite pleased. I have one similar to the one you linked to from HD that I am probably going to toss. Too many problems and it MIGHT be quieter than the Makita MAC700 & MAC2400 but the noise is more irritating for sure. It probably carries less sound outside of a closed garage, but I would far prefer listening to the MAC2400 in the same garage. There is more to noise level than what a db meter reads. Higher frequencies and rattle/blowoff noise is more irritating than thump, thump, thump........

The Rolair VT20 referenced above is very similar to the MAC2400 except on wheels, which won't help you. If you want a Rolair instead of a Makita, you would want the VT20ST, which is very similar to the MAC2400 less the roll cage & nice guage/fitting panel.

The Rolair VT25BIG is very similar to the Makita MAC5200 and neither of those will be suitable for your use for the same reasons. They push the limit for running on 120v 15a circuit but are heavy and on wheeled carts designed for rough terrain. They are also both noisy. Great for mobile use on a construction site to run several big framing guns.

[Jim Tobias]

Recently replaced a Campbell-Hausfield (it died after 12 years) with a California Air Tools 10020C Ultra Quiet Oil-Free. It is VERY quiet!
I bought the automatic drain valve and installed it myself. You can buy it already installed, but I was trying to save a few bucks.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0188XBTLY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JNBTX82/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Jim

[Rich Riddle]

I have a Makita MAC that is very quiet. In the farm garage I placed a Harbor Freight compressor; it's junk more or less.

[Marshall Mosby]

Just ask for the warranty and check for their condition and you'll be good to go. Can't say much without seeing one.