Another Q on Air compressors

[C9]

Long story short . . . when I moved I sold my old 5 HP 60 gallon compressor. Got to the point where I couldn't put any more weight on the trailer.

Anyhoo, when I got here (Rocklawn, Arizona among other names) I bought a Husky 26 gallon 5 HP cast iron compressor from Home Depot.
Nice unit and I figured it would have worked ok for me for most things.
Fired it up and the pressure limit switch wouldn't shut off.
Got to the point where it blew the safety.
Took it back and exhanged it - albeit with a few looks from the young department manager who figured I didn't know what I was doing. Maybe not, but running an air comp isn't too difficult I'd say.
So . . . the new comp did the same thing, wouldn't shut off and blew the safety.
Took that back and declined the offer of a third unit.

Now I'm looking around town - not too many choices - and found a bunch of oil-less compressors at Sears.
Thinking of buying one of the smaller ones to get me by for a while. All I need right now is to be able to top off the trailer tires etc.

So - one question is, anyone have any experience with the oil-less compressors?
One guy tells me they get louder and louder as time goes by.

The other question, how are the bearings lubed? I'm guessing they are a sealed ball bearing.
I'd guess that a long run time could get these bearings overly hot, but maybe not.

Comments anyone http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif?

[fatassbuick]

Dunno how they're lubed (I'm thinking it's a diaphragm design), but I just bought a rebuilt 5hp Husky oiless for $110 from Home Depot and it seems to do just fine. It is rather loud, but I unplug it when it's not in constant use. It seems to maintain the pressure rather well over a period of a few days, too, which I wasn't expecting.

Maybe I got one of yours rebuilt.

[Tinbender]

Can't tell you about oil-less,(I've heard nothing good about them) but after a lot of shopping,I bought a compressor for the new shop that I'm really happy with. It's made by Eagle in Canada. 5 hp, 60 gal, 3 cyl single stage. 18 cfm at 100 psi. 700.00 at Big R farm supply. It blows away all that third world crap.

[polisher]

Oil less compressors are damned noisy.
I got a 7 horse X 60 gallon compressor with the old fashioned splash feed compressor from them for $475
because everybody else couldn't deliver for 6 weeks.
It does a good job. It'll drive my d/a, die grinders and sand blaster, no problem.
I'm pleased with it.
I use an old 20 gallon tank as a water trap and to up the capacity a bit.
For $475 it's a good deal.
You can prbably find a used one for $250 if you hunt, but oilless is noisy.

[jerry]

don't even think of getting an oiless compressor if you care about your hearing!

look around some more for an oil lubed type compressor.


jerry

[hammeredabone]

C9, do you attempt to adjust the switch? I think most units run a furnas brand switch, with discharge relief line, for cycling duty. What was the rating on the safety? What pressure did it open at? Just wondering since those things are normally pretty reliable.
I bought a Coleman Blackmax 6 horse some years ago from Sam's club. It's a speed up 3 horse but it was cheap and I can always replace the head should it wear out. I personally have never heard anything good about oilless, especially in the noise dept. Do they have a grainger close by? Maybe you can check out a speedaire unit.

[burger]

One of my buddies has a Craftsman oil-less air compressor and it is LOUD, enough so that I can barely stand to work next to it. You can hardly have a conversation in any part of his 30x40 garage while it's running.


I'd pass.


Ed

[NoSurf]

I have an oil-less from Craftsman. And yes it IS loud. But for the money and convenience it has been worth it. I tend to wear ear protection 90% of my time in the shop anyway so it doesn't bother me that much anymore. It's not any louder than a cut-off wheel or air grinder anyway.

my two cents.

[burger]

PS- Check eBay for old air compressors. They seem to go cheap.

[choprods]

Jay- "I know a little" as Lynyrd Skynard said in their tune.....Look for these features:
Low PUMP RPM[say 750 800].
Cast Iron Pump[two stage]
Certified Tank[preferrably Vertical ]takes less space on the floor and less apt to rust out soon like a laydown would.
Baldor or other quality Motor 5-7 hp would do ya for a good job. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[curbspeed]

C9, I had bad luck with the Sears unit. They have really chintzy pistons. Stay away from them. I dont know how many sets I replaced before I went to Lowe's and bought a two stage unit with oil. Never again will I buy a oil less unit. Just my 2 cents.

[C9]

[ QUOTE ]
C9, do you attempt to adjust the switch? I think most units run a furnas brand switch, with discharge relief line, for cycling duty. What was the rating on the safety? What pressure did it open at? Just wondering since those things are normally pretty reliable.


[/ QUOTE ]

I did start to open the switch up, but it looked like things would hang up and break then a return would be tough.

The limit switch was supposed to shut the unit off at 135#.
The safety probably blew at 150# or so cuz when it got to 145# I walked out of the garage.

Thinking now when my bud gets moved here next week we'll go back and buy one of the vertical 7hp, 60 gallon verticals for each of us as he left his air comp behind as well.
It's labeled Husky, but made by Campbell-Hausfeld.
My last one was a C-H.
Many of my friends have the vertical C-H and they've been trouble free.

I went for the 110V 5hp 26 gallon vertical on wheels cuz I need to install a 220V plug in the garage and figured I needed some air pressure right now and didn't want to take the time to wire the garage for 220V.

The sub-panel is there and so is 220V so all I need to do is install a box, some wire and a plug.

That's what I get for trying to save some time I guess. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[hammeredabone]

Hope that works out for you, A hot rodder has to an air supply!