Air Compressor Opinions

[Greg Tatum]

I am looking to purchase a new one and would like to know which one is the quietest available....it will be used in a hobbiest shop. I would like to use it for spray finishes, brad nailer, air sander, impact ratchet and basketball blower-upper....price range is under $300.00 and smaller would be better....I am limited on space in my 2 car garage/shop.

TIA

[Chris Barton]

Hi Greg,

I have a 25+ year old Sears (really Campbell Haufstead) that has served me well over the years. Quite is a relatived term when it comes to compressors. Mine is a 2 cyl, with a 20 gal tank and is on wheels with a handle and has done everything from spray house paint (and every other finish you can think of), run impact drivers, air sanders, die grinders, etc without any problems.

[Brian King]

Hello,
Do a search on Eaton Compressor and you'll see they have 2 nice portable units. One is $139. and one is $169. Very nice for the money. Cast iron cylinder and crankcase has oil in it. Plus a 2 year warranty. For comparison the Craftsman 9-16746 lists at $500+ and you can get it on sale for about $350. It has a 1 year warranty and it oil free.
I don't think you'll find a quality fullsize unit for under $300. So a quality portable might be your best choice. Stay away from the oiless units.
I am not affiliated with Eaton. But I do plan to get a compressor from them this year so I've been researching and they look like the best for the money.
My .02
Brian

[Doug Shepard]

I know they've gotten better and quieter since I bought an oil-less Craftsman about 5 yrs ago and I'm sure there are better oil-less ones than Craftsman too. But after half a day I boxed it up and took it back to get an oil type compressor. There was just no way I could put up with the noise. It was the loadest tool by far in my shop. Even the jointer and planer were quieter. For home shop use I shy away from the oil-less models whatever brand you end up with.

[Ken Deckelman]

I would like to use it for spray finishes, brad nailer, air sander, impact ratchet and basketball blower-upper....price range is under $300.00 and smaller would be better....I am limited on space in my 2 car garage/shop.

TIA

Using a spray gun (HVLP or Regular) and air sanders use LOTS of air, You need to check CFM ratings on the tools you plan to operate versus the compressor you buy.

IMHO, you will need a 80 gallon, 5HP minimum compressor to operate these tools, and you can't get that for $300.00 and not take up alot of room.

[Barry O'Mahony]

I agree with Ken, I think you have some contradictory requirements here: under $300, small, quiet, and it has to run air sanders! i don't think you are going to find anything that fits all of those.

[Rob Blaustein]

I have this one and love it:
Thomas Compressors T-30HP 1-1/4 HP 4.5 Gallon Pancake Tank Compressor

My wife bought it a few years ago after reading lots of reviews. Amazon has it--here is the page. I agree with all the reviews--it is VERY quiet. It is also oil-less. With the $25 off coupon it will come at under $300. I've only used it to run various nail guns and to blow air to clean surfaces, so can't speak for some of the other functions. I have only one minor complaint which may not affect you if you plan to keep it in the shop and not move it--it's pretty heavy (probably close to 50 lbs--shipping wt is listed at 60).

[Ian Barley]

I agree with others "small", "quiet", "$300" and "air sander" don't belong together in any paragraph. The only way that you will get a compact, quite compressor that is pushing anything like the volume needed for the average sander is to go to something like a hydrovane unit. They are designed for places like dentists and graphic designers, often run without any tank but can, properly powered, generate the amount of air that you want. Problem is you probably need to add a 0 to the amount.

[Allen Bookout]

Add me to the list that agree that you will need a much larger compressor to do all of the thinks that you list. You can power your nailers and blow up basketballs with the smaller ones but forget the rest on the list. Like others have said, check the cfm required to run each tool and then buy a compressor with more output than that required. I have kicked myself for years for buying too small and I finally just buckeled down and bought one that I felt was adequate for what you are planning on using it for. Ken hit it right on the head as far as I am concerned---5hp (running hp, not starting hp) and an 80 gallon tank. Watch out for CH and Home Depot as they list starting hp which is REAL deceptive advertising so I stayed away from them for sure (crooks as far as I am concerned).

After much research I decided on an Ingersoll Rand 5hp 80 gal single stage unit. It is only single stage but gives plenty of air volume and a psi of 135. It is rated for continous duty if you use synthetic oil, is very quite (for an air compressor) and runs very smoothly. One thing that helps is that I mounted it on pads and bolted it to a concrete floor. You will need a 60 amp 220 volt #10 wire hook up. It does not take up much space as it is vertical. One thing to be aware of is that these types of units need to be 12 inches from any wall so that could be a restriction for you. I had to replan where to install it.

Of course if funds are no problem you could get an IR two stage unit but would have to add another $500 or so to the price.

If you have a Tractor Supply available they had the best price that I could find and could pick it up right away. Northern Tool also handles the same brand but from what I found I could only get the 60 gal tank, it cost as much as the 80, and I had to wait for a month or so for it to be delivered. Here is the TSC link to the unit.


http://www.mytscstore.com/detail.asp...productID=9181

I know that this seems like a big jump from what you were planning but if you can swing it you will NEVER be sorry.

Good Luck! Allen

[Brian King]

Hello again,
Rob, why would you recommend a 1.25hp 2.7cfm @100psi oilless compressor with another $29.00 bucks to get a warranty on the pump over a 4.5hp 5.5cfm @90psi with oil and two year warranty for half the money? I must be missing something here.
I agree with all the posts about running anything that requires alot of air. These little compressors will not handle it. You could run all you have listed except the air sander. Stay away from oilless.
Get an electric sander with the money you save.
Brian

[Kent Fitzgerald]

You will need a 60 amp 220 volt #10 wire hook up.

Correction on the electrical: 10 ga wire requires a 30A maximum breaker.

[Allen Bookout]

Correction on the electrical: 10 ga wire requires a 30A maximum breaker.

Kent, I agree. However Ingersoll Rand said that the 60amp recommended breaker was for the momentary overload start. Even though 30 amps would run it (22.7 amps) the starting load would trip a 30 amp breaker every time. It might be wise to run heavier wire but the current set up is working as recommended. I will have to check the legality as it would not be much of a problem to pull out the 10 ga and replace it. I do not know if code permits a hard wired motor to be wired with an oversize breaker for starting amperage.

Greg, I have been thinking. You could go with the 3hp and 60 gallon tank and save a couple of hundred bucks and be close to what you want to do. Check the spray guns that you are going to use as some of them take a lot of air also, especially the HVLP pressure feed guns. You are looking at around 12 cfm at 50 psi.

Allen

[lou sansone]

I agree with others "small", "quiet", "$300" and "air sander" don't belong together in any paragraph. The only way that you will get a compact, quite compressor that is pushing anything like the volume needed for the average sander is to go to something like a hydrovane unit. They are designed for places like dentists and graphic designers, often run without any tank but can, properly powered, generate the amount of air that you want. Problem is you probably need to add a 0 to the amount.

I agree with Ian, but I will add that another option in the US is IR's new line of small rotary screw compressors that start in the 5 hp range. they are very quiet. you can hold a conversation when they are running. I have one in my shop at work and love it. they start at 3.5k
lou

[Curt Harms]

I have a P-C HVLP gun and it doesn't require a 5 h.p.(real) compressor to operate. The air sanders probably do-so buy an electric ROS. I have a C-H oilless rated at 5.5/90psi 8.6/40 and it works fine for hobby use. I have a Sears portable rated at around 3.8/90psi ??/40 psi, wouldn't use this compressor for any significant spraying but wanted to see. I plugged the P-C gun into it, set the regulator at around 25 psi, squeezed the trigger and held it. The compressor ran continuously but was able to hold the tank pressure around 70-80 psi. Conversion HVLP spray guns don't seem to be the air hogs that they're accused of being. The same is not true of air sanders from what I've heard.

Curt

[Russ Filtz]

How about the IR Garagemate? About $550 and semi-portable. I think it's 60-gal, vertical, but probably doesn't have enough air for the sander. Could be wrong though. Check Amazon or Northern Tool.