Compressor Advice

[Greg Hines, MD]

I have decided to get a compressor sometime in the next couple of weeks. Does anyone have any advice as to the various deals out there. I do not currently have any air tools, so will be needing at least a brad nailer, stapler, finish nailer.

I am looking for something in the 15-20 gallon range, with a budget of about $300. I have looked at Sears, Home Depot, Lowes, etc, but keep getting mixed signals about quality.

Thanks for your input.

Doc

[Anthony Anderson]

I have this one in my woodshop, and it works very well. It is an oil-lubed pump, and it is unbelieveably quiet. I had an oil-less, and it was too loud to be in the same room with, that was a Husky from Home Depot, and the same hp and gallons. I sold the Husky, and bought this one and have been extremely happy. I had a 60 gallon upright 5hp in the garage and it was considerably noisier than this Craftsman. I now have a 2 stage 80 gallon in the garage, and it is not as loud, or annoying as the Husky from Home Depot. I believe that Porter Cable, or Devilbiss makes the Craftsman, both companies make great compressors. Good Luck, Bill
It does go on sale occassionally for ~$329-$349
Here is the Link (not affliated):

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00919541000P

[Steven Hardy]

I have decided to get a compressor sometime in the next couple of weeks. Does anyone have any advice as to the various deals out there. I do not currently have any air tools, so will be needing at least a brad nailer, stapler, finish nailer.

I am looking for something in the 15-20 gallon range, with a budget of about $300. I have looked at Sears, Home Depot, Lowes, etc, but keep getting mixed signals about quality.

Thanks for your input.

Doc
The tools that you mention are very UNdemanding.:)

[Gene Michael]

I used to use a Porter Cable pancake oilesscompressor for nail guns, etc., but it died after 2 years. It was light enough to carry throughout the house or to someone else's house to operatre nailguns, etc. Replaced it with a Sears oil lubricated 1 hp compressor with a 3 gal tank that seems to be much better built (only time will tell). My large compressor for air tools (air wrench, sander, etc.) is a Sears 3 1/2 hp 25 gal tank that is about 15 years old and still going strong. I can't stress enough how handy it is to be able to carry the small compressor to where the work is.

I can't recommend Porter Cable due to the short life span of the unit and also the lack of response from their parts department. e-mailed them several times about new parts for the motor; it's been more than a half year and never received a response. I have seldom had problems getting pafrts for Sears tools.
Hope this helps.

[Bryan Rocker]

I bought a ridgid portable air compressor on wheels at Home Depot while it was on sale quite some time ago. It is an oil wetted compressor. I am completely satisfied with it. Here is a link to the one I bought.

http://www.ridgid.com/Tools/OIL-LUBRICATED-AIR-COMPRESSOR/EN/index.htm

Until I get my shop built it will do everything I need...Once my shop is built a much bigger 220v compressor will be on the short list....Someday.....

[Richard M. Wolfe]

As Steven said, the pneumatic tools you mention don't take a lot of capacity. A small portable compressor will work for them and, as has been said, you can have something to carry to a site - air tools, air up your car tires, etc. If you can, check to see how noisy one is. I have a Porter Cable pancake compressor and I think Porter Cable compensated for size with noise. :D

[Rob Will]

Doc,
I would do a web search for Ingersoll Rand, Curtis, and Quincy air compressors. You might also look at Cambell Hausfield. Many online vendors have excellent shipping terms on compressors.

FWIW, it seems like the farm supply stores such as Tractor Supply also carry brand name american made compressors at reasonable prices. The BORGs on the other hand seem to have lots of fancy stickers touting big horsepower - but the compressors are of questionable quality.

Personally, For the shop, I would only consider a 230V compressor - preferrably with an American Made motor and a cast iron two cylinder pump. You may not need a two-stage compressor (not to be confused with two cylinder).

Here's an example of a 3hp Ingersoll Rand.
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_158284_158284

For those jobs that require portability you can always pick up a little pancake compressor.

Rob

[Allan Froehlich]

I have decided to get a compressor sometime in the next couple of weeks. Does anyone have any advice as to the various deals out there. I do not currently have any air tools, so will be needing at least a brad nailer, stapler, finish nailer.

I am looking for something in the 15-20 gallon range, with a budget of about $300. I have looked at Sears, Home Depot, Lowes, etc, but keep getting mixed signals about quality.

Thanks for your input.

Doc

I have a Craftsman 33 gal compressor and it has worked like a champ since day-one. But...it is VERY LOUD!

Make sure you look at the 2-stage compressors and the ones with the belt reduction drive. Generally, the slower ones are quieter.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello Doc,

I do not currently have any air tools, so will be needing at least a brad nailer, stapler, finish nailer.

I am looking for something in the 15-20 gallon range, with a budget of about $300.

There's a common theme to this thread that I'll also echo.
Small portables are a Godsend.

W/that in mind, both Home Depot and Lowes have a three gun/6 gal package deal. HD has the Porter Cable ($279.00) and Lowes has the Bostich ($223/00 - plus Lowes has a $10 off you next purchase >$50 before June 1st printing on their rcpt right now.
{{hmm, I wonder if you could buy something like a $.07 washer, get the $10 off coupon, use it to buy $200 worth of gift cards for $190., then use the gift cards & another $10 off coupon to buy the compressor?)

Sears also has a 3 gun/6gal model for $299.00
(Nice thing about the Sears guns - they have magnesium bodies. For most bench applications, that's not a factor. The first time you use the nailer overhead, you'll really appreciate the featherwieght magnesium over the aluminum body nailers - trust me on this.)
Either way, the individual costs of the guns exceeds the cost of the packages.

[Greg Hines, MD]

Hello Doc,


Sears also has a 3 gun/6gal model for $299.00
(Nice thing about the Sears guns - they have magnesium bodies. For most bench applications, that's not a factor. The first time you use the nailer overhead, you'll really appreciate the featherwieght magnesium over the aluminum body nailers - trust me on this.)
Either way, the individual costs of the guns exceeds the cost of the packages.



That is one of the packages I am looking at most closely, as it has the guns included. Does anyone have this model? Do the guns hold up? Is 6 gallons an adequate size?

Doc

[Joe Jensen]

For what it's worth, I'll continue on my quest to educate relative to compressors.

1) The tank size is a minor consideration. It's really only important with respect to how much room you have and if you want to move it around. CFM is what you need to shop.

2) Most consumer grade compressors are ridiculously over rated. They use "developed" HP, and inflated CFM. To know what you are buying, you need to know the real CFM developed at 100psi. Most consumer comressors state the "free air CFM". Experts say that for a real industrial compressor, with a good pump, you get 4CFM at 100psi. Consumer compressors rarely are this efficient. Also, on 110V, the best you can do is really around 1.5HP on a 15amp circuit.

3) Oiless versus oiled. Oiled will run longer (life) and be quieter. Oiless is cheaper, but will have limited life even in a home shop, and they are really pretty loud. My old 3HP cast iron single stage is about 95-98db with peaks over 100db. The new to me Quincy 3HP (higher CFM) is 84db with peaks of 88db. I know the oiless are a lot louder sounding than even my old 3HP.

[Charlie Plesums]

I have decided to get a compressor sometime in the next couple of weeks. Does anyone have any advice as to the various deals out there. I do not currently have any air tools, so will be needing at least a brad nailer, stapler, finish nailer.

I am looking for something in the 15-20 gallon range, with a budget of about $300. I have looked at Sears, Home Depot, Lowes, etc, but keep getting mixed signals about quality.

Thanks for your input.

Doc

The air requirement for nailers is low, so you only need a couple gallon tank - just enough so that the compressor doesn't have to run constantly. There are a lot of package deals with nailers and compressors, where the compressor is practically free.

A larger tank compressor is irritating if you are just using nailers... my 13 gallon tank takes a long, loud, time to get up to pressure, especially irritating if I only want to shoot a few brads. Then I waste the pressure that I just filled the tank, since the portable units don't stay pressurized for a week or two between uses.

I find that I can spray (conversion HVLP gun) with the 110 volt compressor and the 13 gallon tank. (I specify 110 volt, because you can only really get about 1 1/2 hp on a 110 volt household circuit, despite the 3-5 hp label on the compressor). The gun claims to need twice the capacity of the compressor. The tank allows me to use more than the compressor puts out, as long as I am only actually spraying perhaps 50% of the time, so the compressor can catch up and fill the tank.

I have given up on air tools with a 110 volt compressor. Porter Cable recommended a 5 hp compressor if you were going to use just one of their air-driven sanders. Didn't make sense to me to buy 5 hp of power to run a sander that otherwise was 1/2 hp. So if I every go down that path, I will get one of the monster compressor / tank combos, that I can keep pressurized, and plumb the air from a separate compressor room.

I agree that an oil-based compressor is far quieter and longer lasting, but if it will only be running a few minutes at a time, to drive a few nails/staples, who cares. Price and portability trump noise and lifetime.

[Daniel Berlin]

The air requirement for nailers is low, so you only need a couple gallon tank - just enough so that the compressor doesn't have to run constantly. There are a lot of package deals with nailers and compressors, where the compressor is practically free.

A larger tank compressor is irritating if you are just using nailers... my 13 gallon tank takes a long, loud, time to get up to pressure, especially irritating if I only want to shoot a few brads. Then I waste the pressure that I just filled the tank, since the portable units don't stay pressurized for a week or two between uses.

I find that I can spray (conversion HVLP gun) with the 110 volt compressor and the 13 gallon tank. (I specify 110 volt, because you can only really get about 1 1/2 hp on a 110 volt household circuit, despite the 3-5 hp label on the compressor). The gun claims to need twice the capacity of the compressor. The tank allows me to use more than the compressor puts out, as long as I am only actually spraying perhaps 50% of the time, so the compressor can catch up and fill the tank.


You can get a Clark AC2000B for about $120-140. It is a little less noisy than my porter cable pancake compressor.
The AC2000B is a "2hp" (probably 1.5) 6 gallon oiled compressor, but puts out 5.0 CFM at 90psi and 7.5 CFM at 40PSI. This is more output than my HVLP conversion gun (Asturo ECO/SX) needs.

Saved me the trouble of having to buy a large compressor just to be able to use my gun continuously.