k guys a friend of mine has a 3 gallon compressor, and i was just wondering if its enough to paint my car.everybody knows that a bigger compressor will do the trick, and i know that.well besides the big/small gallons im just wondering if the smaller 3 gallon will do the job, as good as the bigger one.it probably take much longer, but i got a weeks vacation.if that wont then wats the smallest size i can use for painting cars?...and plaese keep the negative comments to urself!!!

 

You can do it with a small compressor, you'll just have to be patient and wait for it to catch up if your doing the whole car at once. If there is ANY way to get a hold of a bigger one, do it. One thing to check is the cfm rating on it, the higher the cfm the better although i doubt a little guy like that will have more than 4cfm @ 90....

 

so ur saying i can use the 3 gallon compressor right?

 

I don't know what size to use as the smalles possible but I know that using a 3 gallon compressor is gonnna take you all day long. The other problem is that when you go to spray your clear, you are gonna end up with allot of dry spots and possibly runs from hitting those dry spots. I would get a bigger compressor if you can.

 

yeh thats true...well the thing is im spraying a single stage paint, so there wont be any clear with it.but yeh ive sprayed my car b4, but that was at a frens house, which is not here anymore.so yeh thats why im wondering wat kinda compressor would work.well u guys say itll take long, but do u know how long?like how long would the air last if i were to continuously spray the paint?

thanks

 

You might get whole fender in and then have to wait like 2 minutes to have enough air to go again, maybe even more. Put some water in a gun and test it out. I think once you get to the end of a panel like a fender you will run out of air.

 

you should definitely NOT spray a CAR with a compressor that isnt putting out at least 14 cfm, ESPECIALLY if your spraying single stage cause it will run on you in a hearbeat if its laid on improperly and then your double screwed. single stage doesnt sand and buff very easily.. unless you plan on spraying every singe part seperately that little compressor is going to destroy your efforts. Youll end up dropping pressure after you spray for 5 seconds, thus resulting in non-atomization of your paint and its gonna come out like glue. You should definitely hold off until you have an adequate comrpessor. Most paint guns use 13.-14.5 cfm during use. If your compressor is putting out 4 cfm,your paint is gonna come out like incredibly gobbly cause the gun is not working at proper pressure flow.You may have enough PSI, but you dont have enough air to feed the gun to atomize your paint the way it needs to be. You cant even finish properly spraying a fender with a 3 gallon compressor. unless you plan on being very dissapointed, having tons of runs and problems and it taking you 5 hours to spray your car, dont do it.

 

x2

 

so what would b a good size compressor to use 20-30 gallons

 

I'm gessin you might have spend over $400 to $500 for a good compressor. I need help on this too.

 

You need a compressor that has a 100% duty cycle and puts out at least 9-10cfm at 90psi to a good job spraying an entire car. Anything less and the constant pressure changes will play havoc with your paint consistency. You need to have the steadiest amount of pressure at your gun as possible. Normally around 40psi but depends on the gun. Look to spend minimum of $500 and you might want to get a 60gal. 2 Stage belt drive are my choice, due to quite run and high cfm. Word of advice craftsmen air compressors are junk

 

What are so good Air compressor? The site doesn't tell you much about the tools in general to paints your vehicle?

 

When it comes to air compressors, I believe you should go with the absolute biggest one you can afford. Mine is an 80gal 5hp from a local MN company called C-Aire. It puts out 22.5cfm at 90psi. That'll take care most everything you'd run in garage. The only time I outrun it is if I have someone helping me DA something down (DA use on avg is 12-14cfm so with 2 even a big A/C runs outta air). The other thing to consider is what the electrical hook up in the garage is. A big A/C can pull a lot of amps (mine pulls 22 on start up). A 5hp from Lowes or Home Depot only pull about 11 (which means a standard 15 circuit breaker will suffice). Theirs also puts out 17cfm but you don't need to run a 220 hook up either. Prices vary heavily. I purchased mine used (1 yr old) and it was $1200. If you watch the sales at the big box stores, you can pick up a new 80gal, 5hp for $450-$550. The cheaper ones run faster and therefore, they're louder, hotter, and as a rule of thumb don't last as long.

Another great site of reference for tools and garages is http://www.garagejournal.com/

There's a ton of tool info there.

Slim

 

Stick with a 240volt unit if possible. Draws less on startup and less while running. 240 is more efficient than 120. Also if your drawing 11 amps on start dont try a 15 amp breaker it will trip. Breakers are designed to be used at 80% of there listed rating. Also cheaper aircompressors are louder and hotter because they are direct drive units and have no belt to take out the vibration, and no pullies to take use of gearing as an advantage

 

I understand but will be O.k to not have the biggest air compressor because i not going to paint my vehicle too often. I would understand to buy a bigger air compressor if doing body paint shop everyday. The only thing i dislike aboiut Air compressor are noises. I guess that some are louder than others.

 

like I said in a previous post, a 2 stage belt drive compressor is very quite

 

Thank for sharing some knowledge on Air compressor. I will look and so some research on it. What are some good spray gun should i look for and how much should i pay to get the job paint done properly?