Portable Air Comperssor

[Mike Burke]

I'm shopping for a new portable air compressor. All I am going to use it for is a 18Ga pin nailer. That's all its for.
I am installing some base board trim on a house remodel project.
I have been looking at these two.

Rolair JC 10 $250.00
Senco PC 1010 $120.00

All I need it to do it run my 18ga nailer.
Looking for suggestions or reviews of either one.

I guess I'm kind of leaning toward the little Senco PC1010
Both are local and and easy to look at and get my hands on.

Suggestions...insight ?

Thanks

[Jim Becker]

The 18 gage nailer's demands are pretty modest. Honestly, I use a sub-$100 Husky for portable use. Not adequate for a framing nailer, but for brads and pins...works great! Locally available is a nice feature and I suspect either unit you ask about will work just fine.

[Bill Space]

I had the same need and about six weeks ago bought a cheap Harbor Freight compressor.

Works fine for this purpose. Not much capacity there...but enough for the nailer. Of course, I am not using it to power my shingle nailer, so the duty cycle is low.

Would I buy another one of these for $39? Yes. Is it as good as the other pancake compressor that I have had for years? No.

The reason I bought the HF unit, is because I am renovating the house next door, about 400 feet from my house, and I soon tired of dragging the other pancake compressor back and forth between the two locations.

For the money it seems to be a winner. But if you want something that supplys more than what a nailer requires, might be better to follow Jim's suggestion and spend around $100.

Edit: Have not tried it with my framing nailer. I am sure it would fire a couple nails, but uncertain how many before the tank pressure dropped and the little compressor could not keep up. Staples and Brads fine...at least at the rate I fire them...:)

Bill

[Dick Mahany]

I have the RolAir JC10 Plus. It is an excellent small, quiet compressor. I use it with my 15, 18, 23 gauge nail guns and it does just fine. It is small enough and light enough to be portable but I put mine on a small cart for convenience and put a few pictures on this thread https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?272178-Pretty-good-lathe-air-compressor.

[Mike Cutler]

Mike

I've never seen, or used, the Senco, but I do own the Rolair JC10.
It will definitely operate a pin nailer, and it is very quiet, if that is important to you. You will not have to raise your voice to be heard over it at anytime. Nice for work inside the house. You will not bother anyone else in the house while using it.

[Art Mann]

I've heard a lot of people endorse the California Air Tools compressors for smooth quiet operation. I don't own one but thought I would bring it up just because they seem to be very popular. Might be worth a look.

[marlin adams]

I used a recondition Porter Cable 3 pound pancake from CPO before I got me a quilpail 6 gallon which is alot quieter but it looks like CPO got a 6 gallon pancake for 89.99 recondition. I still use my pancake doing outside stuff since being noisy dosnt matter much.

[Jacob Reverb]

I have a HFT $100 special that I use for nail guns and have been entirely pleased with it. Oil lubricated, not too loud, 8 gal tank, auto thermal shutoff, wheeled, what's not to like?

[Gary Ragatz]

I've heard a lot of people endorse the California Air Tools compressors for smooth quiet operation. I don't own one but thought I would bring it up just because they seem to be very popular. Might be worth a look.

I have a small California Air Tools compressor, and I've been very happy with it. Very quiet, as you indicate. I use it with a 23-gauge brad nailer and a 16-gauge finish nailer and have no complaints (I'm not putting in 30 nails per minute - more like 6 per minute).

[Nick Decker]

Mike

I've never seen, or used, the Senco, but I do own the Rolair JC10.
It will definitely operate a pin nailer, and it is very quiet, if that is important to you. You will not have to raise your voice to be heard over it at anytime. Nice for work inside the house. You will not bother anyone else in the house while using it.

Ditto on the JC10. Very happy with mine, especially the quiet part. Seems very well put together.

[Wade Lippman]

I have the Senco. Very quiet, but not very powerful. It should be fine for you 18gauge, but not much more.
I've had it maybe 12 years and the drain valve and one of the valves broke; considering how little I used it, maybe that's not very reliable.

[Bill Dufour]

I used a recondition Porter Cable 3 pound pancake from CPO before I got me a quilpail 6 gallon which is alot quieter but it looks like CPO got a 6 gallon pancake for 89.99 recondition. I still use my pancake doing outside stuff since being noisy dosnt matter much.

When I first heard of CPO car sales I thought it was a special navy discount.

[phil harold]

I have used both
I own the rolair
The senco is lighter but less capacity
Sound level is the rolair is quieter in my opinion
If you are only going to shoot 18 gauge nails
Get a ryobi cordless

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I use the Senco for trim almost daily, and it is a great little machine. Super quiet, and adequate air for a 18 or 15 gauge gun shooting pretty fast. I've tried 6 or 7 other trim compressors in the crews, and this is the one I keep.

[phil harold]

I actually use this daily
Fits in a nice nook in my van
And seems like I am always plugging a three way into and share my air on the job site
It keeps up with demand but I keep in another room than I am working
Loud little bugger
4.0@90psi
https://www.rolair.com/products/air-compressors/hand-carry/fc1500hs3

[Mike Burke]

Thanks for all the response and suggestions. I have had my hands on both the Senco and the Rolair.
My take on it...
The Rolair is twice the cost..twice the weight. Nice machine and if I was going to use it everyday for work I would probably get it but....
I am just going to use it lightly for mobile projects and my finish nailer and thats it.
I have a compressor in my shop for shop work and filling tires and everything else.
I don't think it would be worth twice the cost for me to get the Rolair.
I am going to get the little Senco pc1010. It just seems to fit what I need it for. I can get it local at the lumber yard and be ready to go.
Thanks again for all your suggestions

[Jerome Stanek]

I bought a small one from HD that was on sale around Black Friday had to order it but it came in in about 3 days. California Air boy it is so nice to use it compared to my old pancake one really quite. this is the one I got and if I need more air I just use a thee gallon tank in line.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/California-Air-Tools-1-0-Gal-Light-and-Quiet-Steel-Tank-Electric-Portable-Air-Compressor-1P1060S/300500747