I am considering buying a small, very portable air compressor to use in the house. I have a large 7.5 hp two stage air compressor in my shop that will run anything I desire as far as sanders, blasters, and other high flow air tools. Currently I use a portable air tank to haul compressed air from the shop to the house. It works and is very quiet but somewhere between 20-30 shots with my 15 ga finish nailer I need to refill. I had an incident of under driving due to low air pressure that turned into an hour long fiasco to fix.
So, my main objectives are portability, low noise, and must be able to run my nail guns. They range from an 18 ga brad nailer to a Paslode framing nailer. I have an old larger portable that I can use for larger framing projects. It's very loud and I probably need to put a new pressure switch on it next time I use it.
The compressors I am considering:
Rolair JC10 - Very quiet ~60dB. 2.3 cfm @ 90. Can it run everything?
California Air Tools CAT 1610A - Sounds like this is about the same compressor as the Rolair JC10 with maybe an aluminum tank.
Rolair FC2002 - Looks like it is a little louder ~80dB but has a lot more capacity 4.1 cfm @ 90 and I could send the old loud Coleman down the line. Oil lubed
Makita MAC700 - Seems to be highly regarded as a quiet and portable 80 dB and 3.3 cfm @ 90 seems to fit between the Rolair's as far as performance and is the cheapest. Oil lubed
Makita MAC2400 - Also at about ~79dB and 4.2 cfm at 90 psi. Oil Lubed
The first two appear to use the same two cylinder oil free pump. I get the impression that the Rolair may use better quality plumbing copper vs plastic and have a better pressure switch and regulator.
The bottom 3 are a probably a little bit of Tim the Toolman syndrome setting in. If I bumped the size a class, I could get double the capacity and just use it for all of my construction projects. They aren't as quiet though.
Anyway please give me your thoughts, opinions or suggestions.
TIA![]()