I'm looking into picking up a decent air compressor, preferrably a Craftsman two stage compressor. The thing is, it says I would need to get an electrician to hard wire it to the electric lines.

How much does this cost and how much would it put a strain on the electric bill?

Any estimate?

 

Stay away from the craftsmen air compressors. Almost all of them, even the pro series are oil-free. Life of the unit is drastically low, and just ******* sucks. We are talking about 500-1000 hours of runtime compared to around 15,000-20,000 hrs of an oil lubed 2 stage unit.

Get a real brand. I just picked up a Ingersoll rand 60 gallon this winter for my garage. Set me back about 560. 2 stage might start around 900 or so.

Electric bill strain is almost nothing. It doesn't run 24/7, just kicks in when it needs to. To get the stuff wired in my garage, it set me back about 250, but I did most of the work myself. I also had to run the wire 75 feet to get to the compressor. figure between 350-600 for a complete install of the unit.

 

Thanks man. Truly appreciate the advice.

 

What is your price range? Maybe I could point you in the right direction.

 

I really don't know yet. I live with my girlfriend and her family. They own the house we live at and I don't know if they'd let me tap into the electric wiring to hook up an air compressor. I do pay for my share of the electricity though so I don't know yet. But I'd say around $1500.00-2000.00 is my budget. I have to save up for this still.

 

I would highly suggest going through northerntool.com. That is where I got my ingersoll rand compressor. Shipping is free if it is done to a business with a loading dock. I had it shipped to my friends place then just loaded it into my car (wagon). For the larger 2 stage units, that might not work so well, and you might be looking at a 75-100 dollar shipping fee.

With the larger compressors you are looking at like 500-600lbs of steel that is very high center of gravity. Even if you buy one of these local you are going to need to look into help getting it to your house. Since this is the case, jsut buy it online and skip the taxes and such.

 

shipping with northerntool is free to residential also. i bought my compressor from them too. paid 1200 for it with free shipping right to my door. wiring it is very easy. anyone can do it if they are mechanically incline which since your buying a compressor you probably should be so you should have no problem wiring it up and mounting it to the ground. when you do your air lines make sure you use 3/4-1 inch piping and make them as long as you can in the area your in. bigger piping and longer runs helps for faster cooling. also invest in a good water trap/regulator. good ones cost almost a 100 and up. very important if you are using paint guns.

 

i dunno where you got that bullshit about craftsman compressors.. I have an oil free unit. Its been flawless for the last 9 years, never a single hitch..

 

Its not bullshit, its called common knowledge. Oil-free units run hotter, and wear down sooner. Ever noticed how you don't see hour specs listed on those units? Oil lubed compressors are cooled and lubed with oil, giving much better wear specs. Oil-free ones basically have teflon and graphite rings that wear down much sooner, not to mention get hot as all hell and warp. The only markets for oil-free units are people looking for cheap compressors, or people that must have oil free air that don't want to spend on traps or filters.

Ever noticed how every industrial air compressor on the market is oil lubed? Oil-free are just cheaper to make, and cheaper for people to run that don't use them constantly. My smaller oil-free ones has worked great for 4 years, but it gets very little use. My larger compressor which gets much mroe use is rated for 100% duty cycle and can run for as long as I supplypower to it. The little oil free unit starts to stink up the room if its running for more than 15-20 min (motor going, not just gone up to pressure and stopped)

EDIT: With the shipping stuff, I guess it depends on the manufacturer. My I-R compressor was dropped shipping from a IR plant, and for residential service with a liftgate it was like 65 bucks.

 

I've had a craftsman oil-less compressor for 3 years and it has worked flawless. Gets used on a regular basis, powers my pneumatic die grinders etc without a problem, and is constantly running while I'm using those.

 

my IR compressor was also shipped from the IR plant. i know this because i had to call IR directly for exact delivery date. IR will deliver it to a transport company to your state and then they will deliver it to your house. a 40 foot semi with lift gate came and delivered it. there was no extra charge for this.

 

What area are you in? When mine came in this winter, they wanted extra for a residential w/ liftgate delivery service.

 

About the oil-free ones, they are VERY LOUD. My neighbor across the street has one and it's really annoying. Listen to one before buying.

 

That too. Forgot about that one

 

Are the two stage oiled compressors much quieter than the oil-free ones?

 

MUCH MUCH so. One of the key items is that oil lubed units spin much slower. Average is around 800-1300rpm, while oil free ones are 2500-3500rpm. This also plays into life expectancy part.

 

i"m in oregon but I don't think that matters. they did ask if i was a business or residential because of lift gate reason but no extra charge.

 

Would any of you who own a two stage be willing to record me a clip of how it sounds? LOL.

 

I wouldnt think that you would *have* to hardwire it in (though it might be better), provided that you had a circuit that can handle the load.

just buy a heavy gauge extension cord and use that to replace the power wiring that it comes with.

 

My compressor didn't come with anything other than 2 spade connectors for the hot wires to attach to. Extension cords for these items are not code, and will not be too good if someone ever takes a look at it.

 

Yes, I agree with that. If it's not meant to have a pigtail, don't give it one. We had to spend several hundred to have a 100A breaker installed on a 240V line to my Syncrowave 350 (I have PFC). Do it right, or...pay the price!!1one

 

all compressors make noise. theres no way around it. 2 stage is more quiet, the air is cooler, and runs less. mine is in my garage. i can walk about 20 feet away and i could barely hear it. this is during the day. during the night it's a little louder but from the inside of my house i really can't hear it so i doubt your neighbors will either. my neighbors have never complained about the sound probably because they don't hear it. a few times i had my compressor running until 1 am with no complaints. don't worry about the noise it's worth it. here's a pic of where mine is located. the second picture is to the left of the compressor location in the first pic. now if i was to walk to where my navigator is while the compressor is on i could barely hear it. i also just painted that supra in my garage 2 weeks ago. a good compressor is worth every penny. most of my tools use a lot of cfm. from my sata guns to my sanders. this compressor never runs out of air. i've used other 60 gallon compressors and 3 mins. into running a DA sander and your out of air. for every 3 mins. you would have to wait 5 mins. for the compressor to build air back up. this really sucks! using a weak compressor like this would be a disaster when painting with a high end gun. air starvation to your gun is very bad.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by own6volvos &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Stay away from the craftsmen air compressors. Almost all of them, even the pro series are oil-free. Life of the unit is drastically low, and just ******* sucks. We are talking about 500-1000 hours of runtime compared to around 15,000-20,000 hrs of an oil lubed 2 stage unit.

Get a real brand. I just picked up a Ingersoll rand 60 gallon this winter for my garage. Set me back about 560. 2 stage might start around 900 or so.

Electric bill strain is almost nothing. It doesn't run 24/7, just kicks in when it needs to. To get the stuff wired in my garage, it set me back about 250, but I did most of the work myself. I also had to run the wire 75 feet to get to the compressor. figure between 350-600 for a complete install of the unit.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Bull **** there professional units are oil replaceable.

 

Some are, most aren't

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

Craftsman Professional 20 gal. Air Compressor, 3-1/2 hp, Horizontal Tank, 2-Stage Oil-Free Pump
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr...ators

Craftsman Professional 60 gal. Air Compressor, 7 hp, Vertical Tank, Twin-V 2-Stage Oil Free Pump
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr...ators

Craftsman Professional 25 gal. Air Compressor, 3-1/2 hp, Vertical Tank, 2-Stage Oil Free Pump
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr...ators

Craftsman 4 gal. Air Compressor, 3 hp Side Stack Tank with Oil Free Pump
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr...ators

Only 3 units that sears sells under the craftsmen brand are oil-lubed. This is out of a total 22 "compressors" with the craftsmen name.

 

yeh get an oil one, i have a 2 stage speedair, with a 8hp motor on it.

bitch moves air fast.

if u got lotsa money to spend buy a packaged sullair screw compressor. those mother ******* push alot of air.