Technical OK, Let's talk air compressors

A vote for Ingersoll-Rand. I have one from the late '70s that I bought used in the mid-80's. It has compressed a lot of air. Have had to replace 1 head gasket (it was in stock at an IR service center) and been through a few motors, but I used to have it on a 100'+ "extension cord" at one house so I'm sure that killed one motor. So older high end used stuff is my vote. You do want to be sure it has enough continuous CFM for what you might want to do. Sandblasting is an air hog.

 

A few general notes when looking at compressors...
One, there's more than one 'grade'. You have consumer, commercial, and industrial. Almost all you'll find at the box stores are consumer-grade. Generally, consumer grade will be single-phase only, will usually have a lighter-duty motor on it, and have an aluminum-bodied pump with sleeves. Commercial grade could be single or three phase, will usually have a better motor and a cast-iron pump. Industrial will almost always be three phase and after you go above 7.5HP will be almost all you'll find. Some vendors differentiate between grades, it may pay to check with one before buying from any source.
Two, the aluminum pumps are generally much noisier compared to cast iron.
Three, and I mentioned this before but it bears repeating, check the unit weight. If one unit weighs 500 lbs and a 'equivalent' unit from another manufacturer weighs 750 lbs, it will be obvious which one is more heavy-duty.

 

Im currently using a two stage Puma. V type compressor 5 hp. Its quiet. I bought it at a auction for $300 it was like new. sells for about $700 new. We had a 5hp Campbell Hausfield noisy thing. used it for 18 years no problems. I gave it to my oldest son right after I bought the PUMA. But I don't use a big conpressor much. I have a little 3 gal 1hp 110 volt I use more. It quickly builds a 100 pounds of pressure and doesn't use much electricity. I bought it at auction for $5 and had to replace the pressure switch.

 

I have had a low end DeVilbis 5HP direct drive, with a 40 gallon vertical tank, for over 20 years. I had to rebuild it once when one of the connecting rods broke. I think I paid approximately $800.00 new.
I have a two cylinder low speed replacement compressor head under my bench waiting for the day when my present unit craps the bed. The plan is to mount the head on the old tank and drive it with the original motor. I guess it is because I have the spare at hand, but it has been sitting at the ready for over 15 years.
The one disadvantage with my present unit, is that it can't keep up with my 3/4 inch impact tool, but in every other way, it is adequate.
Drain the water often, and the tanks last a lot longer.
Bob

 

You could free up some space in your panel by replacing a couple single poll 110 breakers with double poll 110 breakers allowing room for a new 220 breaker.

 

You know. I was going to write a reply. But I can’t remember what I was going to say because I can’t stop looking at that kick ass wheelie in your avatar ....

 

Awhile ago I found this Puma PK7060V compressor for about $1100 while browsing for a new compressor. It is a 6-1/2 hp with decent CFM & it appears to have reviews. I saved the links so I did not lose the information when the time comes to get one. My compressor is 40 years old and not sure what life is left.
https://www.aircompressorsdirect.com/Puma-PK7060V-Air-Compressor/p11114.html
https://www.aircompressorsdirect.co...Compressor/rv11114.html?review_sort=0#reviews

 

That is just a single stage air compressor, so that won't be good enough!

 

I was looking at the PSI & CFM that are adequate for my purposes. It will run a spray gun, power an air tool and do the occasional little sandblasting. My old Devilbiss gun worked for me at 45 psi and a Fineline HVLP uses half that. The compressor won't run out of air at the gun. My old compressor is 12 cfm at 120 psi that never ran out of air at the gun.

 

I have a black max from sams club in my shop about the same vintage. I brought the biggest upright one, 2 stage, cast iron heads, etc. About 5 years ago I thought it was going out on me, ran constantly and couldn't build much pressure. Started shopping for a new one and didn't really like the price tags and decided to take a closer look at mine to see what was wrong. Figured parts might be cheaper to fix it then buy new.

Turned out the aluminum line developed a hairline vibration crack down at the fitting going into the tank that you could not see. I just cut the line above the crack, flaired it and just reinstalled it. Works like new again since. Didn't cost me a dime, just some minimal time. I like that compressor.

Now my brother n law brought the smaller black max upright that they offered at the same time. His couldn't keep up to just hobby work let alone trying to use it in a regular shop. His got replaced many years ago and the little one was given to a different family member for basicly airing up tires.

In my dad's shop he has an Ingersoll Rand upright and they love that machine over there but it isn't cheap. But then all his trailer compressors are I.R.s too and even the rigs run I.R.s compressor so he is brand loyalty over there.

My one buddy when he built his shop put his compressor in a seperate side room and ran lines with connections every 8 feet in his shop. He doesn't hear his compressor in the main shop part. The side room stores his extra tooling that isn't used very often and also has an exterior door so in the summer time he can open it to help keep the compressor cooler

 

You have to be careful with IR stuff. All IR branded compressors are not the same. The cheaper ones are off-shore, while the more expensive ones are high quality. You get what you pay for.

 

I believe all IR are built in India. Not 100% positive.

 

You could go for one of the best, Gardner Denver, I don't know how much they cost but they are second to none IMO. We had them in the plant that I worked at and they were excellent with minimal maintenance and running them with synthetic compressor oil.
http://www.gardnerdenver.com/en/gdp...essors/low-pressure-reciprocating-compressors