Campbell Hausfeld IronForce Compressors?

[Aaron Heck]

Hi gang,

Does anyone have any experience with the CH IronForce series of compressors, as sold at Lowes?

http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=prod...60-1126-WL6117

I'm looking for a ~$200 upright compressor to use for general shop use and these looked like they might fit the ticket.

Aaron

[Dennis Peacock]

Hi gang,

Does anyone have any experience with the CH IronForce series of compressors, as sold at Lowes?

http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=prod...60-1126-WL6117

I'm looking for a ~$200 upright compressor to use for general shop use and these looked like they might fit the ticket.

Aaron

I wouldn't recommend CH compressors to anyone.....Been there and leared the lesson. Happy Ingersol Rand owner......

[Tyler Howell]

I wouldn't recommend CH compressors to anyone.....Been there and leared the lesson. Happy Ingersol Rand owner......

I was waiting for you to jump in Dennis. Maybe Aaron needs to convince his wife??? We can help him out.
This isn't 'On call' weekend is it . I worry so when you don't get your rest.

TJH

[Aaron Heck]

I wouldn't recommend CH compressors to anyone.....Been there and leared the lesson. Happy Ingersol Rand owner......

Hmm....I've heard good things about them, but after doing some initial research, they seem to be hard to come by (i.e. don't seem to be sold at local stores?) and they seem to start at around $500. Do they make cheaper compressors?

Aaron

[Jim Becker]

Tractor Supply often puts the 60 gallon IR on sale for about $460 and regularly sells it for $499. Northern Tool also carries them, and although they charge about $549, it usually has free shipping and may be a good deal, depending on what your local tax rates are for a local source.

I copped the IR on sale a few weeks ago and it's super.

[john lawson]

This is an interesting thread. I am not familiar with this compressor. I have owned one of the Campbell Hausfield Extreme Duty compressors for almost three years and it has worked fine. However, and this is a very big however, I don't use my compressor that often.

I believe this is one of those tool questions that is answered depending very much on how often or how heavy the use will be. For occasional use on a tight budget, go for it. If it wears out in three years pitch it and buy another one. If you are going to use it every day, and especially if you are depending on it for income, then you might want to go with something stronger such as the IR. You also might want to consider the IR if it is quieter in a small shop, this could be very important. Otherwise, save the $200 and buy another router.

john lawson
in Birmingham

[Jim Becker]

John, one of the reasons that Dennis (and others) tend to poo-poo the CH compressors these days is apparent quality issues with the way that the regulator/valve/guage is mounted to the tank...they tend to leak and are not "user servicable" with any ease. Dennis experienced this directly not long ago and ended up returning the CH ("Husky") unit after the manufacturer insisted he drag the nearly 300 lb machine to their service center "not close by" to get the leak fixed. For the $50-$100 extra that the IR costs, you get a lot of piece of mind as well as something that normal humans can fix. That's one of the reasons why I bought the IR.

[Bruce Page]

Aaron, I can’t speak directly to the CH quality issue, although I have read more negative comments than praise. What would turn me off from this compressor is it’s “oil free” design. Everyone I’ve ever heard have been too loud for me.BTW, I have a 1986 Dayton 2hp that I have run the hell out of, and it just will not die!If & when it does I’ll be buying the IR.

[Rob Littleton]

John, one of the reasons that Dennis (and others) tend to poo-poo the CH compressors these days is apparent quality issues with the way that the regulator/valve/guage is mounted to the tank...they tend to leak and are not "user servicable" with any ease. Dennis experienced this directly not long ago and ended up returning the CH ("Husky") unit after the manufacturer insisted he drag the nearly 300 lb machine to their service center "not close by" to get the leak fixed. For the $50-$100 extra that the IR costs, you get a lot of piece of mind as well as something that normal humans can fix. That's one of the reasons why I bought the IR.

Are you claiming to be a normal human..........?

[Byron Trantham]

Aaron,
I have a Sears oilless and I can't wait until it dies. It's just two noisy. However, as one guy already said, I too don't use it that much so the sucker will probably out last me!

I know the IR seems expensive but I am still replacing tools I tried to save money on. Good luck.

[Aaron Heck]

Thanks for all of the opinions, guys. It does seem that the IR gets very high praise around here. I did fail to mention that portability is maybe the #1 concern. I am sharing basically a 1 car garage with the rest of my shop, lawnmower, fridge, etc, so I need something I can move. I was hoping for something on wheels.

I also didn't know the CH I listed was oil-less. Thanks for pointing that out. I did find a "twin-stack' IR compressor at Grainger.com for $299. I really just need this for hobby work, maybe some nail guns, blow off tools, maybe get into HVLP, but that's the extend of it. Just weekend warrior stuff.....

Thanks again.
Aaron

[Bart Leetch]

I wouldn't recommend CH compressors to anyone.....Been there and leared the lesson. Happy Ingersol Rand owner......

Hi Dennis

I had a chance to look at a $300 7hp 60 gallon CH compressor & saw the problem you are talking about. I can understand why you feel the way you do.

I had a friend with me that retired from a fuel refinery & I pointed out the plastic fitting & line from the pressure switch that went through a hole in the motor mounting plate to the tank.

Then we started looking at what it would take to make it work right & not leak.

Replace the pressure switch & plug the hole in the top of the tank & re-plumb the line from the compressor head to the tank with new plumbing with a tee above the motor mounting plate instead of through the hole in the plate to connect the pressure switch to..

I figure the price is right Lowes said it was the regular price & it is fairly inexpensive & fixable for about $20.

Now is there anything else wrong with this unit? I would really be interested to know.

I know no one should have to fix a problem with something brand new. But for someone looking for a reasonable priced air compressor & not afraid to spend a little time & $20 it would work ok. Of course I don't know to much about the idea. (tongue in cheek) I built my own 50 gallon up right air compressor from parts I rounded up. They are really pretty simple to build. I just want a bigger more powerful one & I haven't seen one at this price anywhere.

I found this dissertation about air compressors by Forrest Addy

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/ub...ML/000039.html

[Dennis Peacock]

I was waiting for you to jump in Dennis. Maybe Aaron needs to convince his wife??? We can help him out.
This isn't 'On call' weekend is it . I worry so when you don't get your rest.

TJH

Tyler ol' buddy....

You're in LUCK..!!!! I'm NOT oncall this week so now you can rest your weary head and relax this coming weekend.

yea, I had to jump in on this one....after all I went through with CH over the new compressor I bought from HD and it leaking right from the start and CH customer service was less than what I expected...well...even less than THAT.!!! Don't go and get me started on that little "Hootin'-Nanny".!!!!

[Dennis Peacock]

Aaron, I can’t speak directly to the CH quality issue, although I have read more negative comments than praise. What would turn me off from this compressor is it’s “oil free” design. Everyone I’ve ever heard have been too loud for me.BTW, I have a 1986 Dayton 2hp that I have run the hell out of, and it just will not die!If & when it does I’ll be buying the IR.

Bruce,

You are CORRECT sir..!!! I talked to 2 different CH Warranty Shops and they BOTH warned me of the CH Oilless compressors as well as the CH made compressors sold by the BB stores. They said that they fix multiple dozens of them every year and they also stated that they "may" fix a single IR compressor in a years time.

The other thing they both stated is that the pressure switch leak and poor deisgn has been like that for 2 years now and with no improvment to the switch nor the design to do away with the plastic line and fittings.

To me? If the problem existed for the past 2 years.....then someone ain't listening to the service centers nor the customer base. Nuff said.

[Rob Russell]

I know this doesn't help Aaron, but I have a 20 gal, 4.5 HP C-H compressor that's been serving me just fine for 10 years or so. It's a cast iron head, oilled, horizontal roll-around type. As I remember, it's good for about 6.5 cfm @ 90 PSI.

It did "run out of gas" when I was sand-blasting the iron railings from our front steps. It drove a pressurized spray-pot just fine. It drove a regular cup-style non-HVLP spray gun just fine. It had enough air to reseat the bead on my chipper-shredder tire when that popped off due to low air.

I'm still considering picking up a used vertical unit that needs a head rebuild, mostly 'cuz I can get it cheap. Another project? Maybe it's my head that needs the rebuild.

One piece of advice ... I mounted a water filter on to my compressor (between the handles) with a female quick connect on the output side. That's effectively the main connection to the compressor (everything from that Q-C back is hard plumbed with line or tubing/clamps). That way, even when the compressor has travelled to a work site, the air is at least filtered for moisture.

Rob