I am considering buying a small compressor for my garage. This will mostly be used for impact guns, air ratchets, and die grinders. Only one person at a time will be using the air. I have looked at compressors at Lowes and Sears. Just wondering what size would be good so that I have a reasonable amount of air available before the compressor kicks in to fill the tank. Also what brand would you guys recommend? Is the stuff at Sears pretty good?

Finally am I going to need anything other than the compressor and an air line?

Thanks.

 

i have a craftsman professional. I think its like 25 gallons or so and has a working psi up to 140. Have had no problems with it. Good stuff

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr...78000

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by adictionbass &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i have a craftsman professional. I think its like 25 gallons or so and has a working psi up to 140. Have had no problems with it. Good stuff

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr...78000</TD></TR></TABLE>

does that plug in to regular wall outlet?

 

yup

 

Cool. I think I'm going to get the 15 gallon one. But it's good to know that you haven't had any problems with your Craftsman.

 

if your going to be using air ratchets, i would highly recomend something bigger than the 15 gallon.
With the 25 gallon, and a craftsman air ratchet, i cant take my valve cover off without the compressor kicking on. Air ratchets go through air QUICK.

 

i have a 35 gallon Husky 7hp from home depot

with tools it cost 350

very cheap 110 unit it works well
only problem i've had ws when i sandblast something ir runs out too fast but impacts work well ratchets fine its 150 psi max

 

I have this one from lowes



Works great for impact gun, die grinder, etc.

I even painted a car with it

 

my craftsman need a 40amp breaker installed. i kept tripping the main breaker

 

i have a 35 gallon craftsman professional... works great, never ever have a problem. Plugs right into as wall socket with no problem

I agree, i would definitely get one larger than a 15 gallon

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by adictionbass &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if your going to be using air ratchets, i would highly recomend something bigger than the 15 gallon.
With the 25 gallon, and a craftsman air ratchet, i cant take my valve cover off without the compressor kicking on. Air ratchets go through air QUICK.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I have a 15 gallon, its nice. I don't use air ratchets for everything, only like on long or hard stubborn bolts. I have done 5 engine swaps in my garage, the last engine swap I only had to turn the compressor on 2 times, actually it could of been 1. Its also a craftsman, only problem I had was with the drain ****. The water makes it turn rusty and soon enough the o ring snaps.

Anyways how are the compressors from like a harbor freight store ? I saw a 60 or 80 gallon one for $300. Curious on how long it would last.

 

I have a 15 gallon.. Doesnt cut it honestly! Mine has given years of great servce. its a craftsman!

But as soon as it dies Im going to Sears and buying a 2 stage compressor!

I highly suggest a 2 stage unit! It is FAR superior! and plugs into 110v!

 

First, check what's the consumption of air with a die grinder. Than buy a compressor that compresses the air faster than that, otherwise it will be running without a break!

 

to run any die grinders or auto body air tools you will need a compressor with high a cfm rating. 10 is decent but you should get one thats 13 and above. don't buy a small one you will eventually regret it. spend the extra money and get a big one. try using a die grinder on a small compressor and see for yourself. you'll probablly run out of air in a minute or so. then you have to wait for the compessor to fill the tank back up. a lot of wasted time waiting. the fact that your actually looking to buy a compressor will eventually lead you to start buying air tools and lots of it for all different types of work. the foundation is the air compressor. if you don't have a good one you'll be limited on what kind of air tools you can use. a compressor with a high cfm rating will allow you to use any air tool you want.





Modified by 19civic93 at 12:20 AM 3/31/2005

 

I'm a firm believer in 2stage compressors. I've got a 60gal/7.5hp Ingersol and I love it. I had to run 220 into the garage but it's worth it,plus I'm getting ready to buy a welder, so 200v was a must.

 

What is 2-stage? And some of the compressors at sears have it?

 

single stage compresses air in 1 stroke and 2 stage doesn't. 2 stage compresses air in 2 strokes. 2 stage allows air to cool in between strokes. cooler air is better because it increases efficiency.


Modified by 19civic93 at 11:56 PM 3/30/2005

 

you guys really need to be looking at more than volume. check out eht CFM ratings, and what your tools will require

 

If you can stretch dollars and get one that's 60+ gallons. the larger volume lets you pull more air without dropping pressure as much....therefore, the compressor won't have to run as often or as much. CFM is also important, as it helps determine how fast it can pump back up to pressure.

My compressor is 60 gallon, 7hp and it works fine for die grinders or anything else I need....and I use mine to make money, not just change tires on occasion.

 

Also keep in mind the hp ratings of compressors is composed of pure BS. Do not compare units based on hp, but do compare based on CFM, that's what counts.

FWIW there was a class-action lawsuit against Cambell-Hausfeld about misleading advertising of hp ratings. They lost, but I'm sure used the defense "well everyone does it." That's true, they do, except for the very high end units where lying isn't needed.

 

I'm thinking of a 24liter, 3hp, 290l/min without backpressure, 230l/min with backpressure. Its small but if I can use it to do some really basic painting and sandblasting its just fine for me.

 

I have one of those small 2hp 5 galon Air compressors from harbot feight, and it's a real piece. It came with a 150 psi switch, and the tanks were only rated for 100psi (yea i want to know how many people even noticed that) Luckily i haven't had a huge need for one right now, but the cost for a larger one really isn't that much larger. Kinda like computer hard drives. Get the bigest one you can afford.

 

you want to look at cfm , get one with the bigest number @90psi , i just got one from tractor supply , it cost me like 428.00 and is 60 gallon with 10.3 cfm @ 90psi , 220volt 7hp , it is great for the money i cant bitch , it is a noname compressor but for another 40 bucks you can get the ingersollrand one ,

http://www.mytscstore.com/deta...=9826

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kb58 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Also keep in mind the hp ratings of compressors is composed of pure BS. Do not compare units based on hp, but do compare based on CFM, that's what counts.</TD></TR></TABLE>
The reason I stated it the way I did is because typically, if you buy a 7hp/60gal compressor, it will have a higher CFM rating than a 3hp/30gal. They don't make Lincoln Towncars with a 4cyl engine

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kb58 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Also keep in mind the hp ratings of compressors is composed of pure BS. Do not compare units based on hp, but do compare based on CFM, that's what counts.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Although you're basically correct in that CFM is most important, you can generally expect a 7hp/60gal compressor to put out more CFM than a 3hp/30gal. In other words, they don't make a Lincoln Towncar with 4cyl engines.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Flashmn &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm thinking of a 24liter, 3hp, 290l/min without backpressure, 230l/min with backpressure. Its small but if I can use it to do some really basic painting and sandblasting its just fine for me.</TD></TR></TABLE>
I'm thinking you will be really sorry if you want to paint and sandblast with a compressor that size. Those are 2 of the most demanding things you can do with a compressor. It's like buying a Yugo and saying, "I just want to run 12 second quarter mile times." It's just not going to happen.

 

I have a 15 gallon, its ok for things here and there, like impact gun, air ratchet once in a while. But to run my disc cutter or something that takes up alot of air it doesnt cut it because it always needs to recharge. Its good for house hold things and basic breakers though.

Im about to upgrade to a 33gallon craftsman, should be fine for me