Buying a Air Compressor

[Gus350]

Im going to make a purchase of a 60 gallon or bigger compressor after Christmas have been looking at the IR at TSC. Any recomendations on compressors
(a)What to buy
(b)What to stay away from.

Is a 5hp that much better than a 3 hp on a 60 gallon tank.

Not a body shop just weekend warrior stuff. Want one big enough to run air sanders.

[donut]

IMO, get the largest you can afford and go by the cfm (scfm?) ratings not the HP.
Don't know what sanders you are running, but a cheap D.A. or needle scaler will make my 3hp 60 gal (CH) run continuously.

I wanted an 80gal. 2 stage, but I had to be able to move it thus ended up with the 60gal. single stage. I actually grabbed a hand truck in Home Depot and tried to move different models.

[ETsC10]

Not to hijack Gus350, but I do have questions also..

What is the differance between single and dual stage?
May sound silly, but around here they talk of aluminum vs.
cast iron. Do any one know what they are talking about?

Obviously, I know squat about compressors.

[donut]

I'm not an expert, but I'll give it a shot.
Single vs dual. I believe the single pumps the air once up to abt 120-135 psi. Dual is just that, 1 stage pumps up abt the same as a single stage, then the 2nd stage goes higher, iirc about 175psi.
Cast vs alum. refers to the pump construction. Cast is supposed to be stronger, thus longer service life.

[Gumby]

storage volume is what you need the most, I have just a 3 1/2hp one but can sand blast or paint a car fine as I have added volume with extra tanks. [100gal propane tanks]

you need more HP to make up for the lack of storage for air.

[Number21]

Originally Posted by Gumby

storage volume is what you need the most, I have just a 3 1/2hp one but can sand blast or paint a car fine as I have added volume with extra tanks. [100gal propane tanks]

How do you drain the water out of a propane tank? I definately agree about having as much air volume as you can get. I have 5 or 6 tanks all plumbed together for somewhere around 150 gallons. Seems like there are always a bunch of cheap air tanks on craigslist, after somebody's compressor dies.

[Gumby]

haven't had a problem with that, most of the water is found in the main air tank the compressor is on, some in the water trap, haven't found any in the others. I think it mostly due to the hot compressor on the main tank. and by time the air reaches them its cold, so there is no temp change to make moisture.

those tanks are rated at 300PSI, if it gets a little rust on the tank and people don't clean and paint them often, they are "bad". One I got, only problem was the bottom ring it stood on was rusty, so it leaned. washed em out with soap and well vented, fresh paint, good as new

[Gumby]

Though I have been considering when my compresssor dies, to build a lawn mower engine one, use to be special kit to buy or make on ebay, [hi comp head- one way valve spark plug hole, special cam that opens n closes both valves at the same time] as I guess they almost don't even need a tank, its like air on demand they say.

[russgoodman]

I just bought a new compressor recently. Did lots of research on what I needed such as at least 15 cfms @ 90 psi, 80 gallon, 5 hp. I then found 2 different IR 80 gallon, one at TSC and one at Lowes. I was surprised when comparing the 2 that the one at Lowes had much higher cfm ratings - same size tank, motor, pump, and price. I was set to drop $999 on one but read some bad reviews on them online. Many of the reviews said that within 1 year they had troubles, and the majority of them said that IR was not helpful about fixing it.

So I ended up with an 80 gallon, 2 stage Quincy that I love. It has an engine life of 50,000 hours vs 8000 hours on the IR. 5 yr warranty vs. 2 year on the IR. It is a good compressor but really expensive. They do make a 60 gallon that was on sale for about $1100 or so last time I looked that should work. This is @ Northern Tool by the way. Free shipping on it.

[Gus350]

That's a good looking unit but not sure if I can spend that much.
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[True 67]

like what was said earlier.. go with what you can afford. I bought the read 60g from HD that was on closeout sale for $300. if I could ahve waited I would have either bought the Quincy 80 like mention about with the 50k hrs life warranty or the Schultz off of ebay for $1300 with free shipping off of ebay. they are local to me but you can only buy them off of ebay. It has roughly 20-30 cfms which is more than enough for all of my tools..

true

[Gumby]

Focus on a good unit that will last a long while, then buy used tanks to add volume, allot of times you can get the same motor on a smaller tank for less.

[RanchFlyer]

I hope I don't offend anyone with this but lots of storage is a crutch for a undersized compressor. I am not saying it doesn't work, maybe even cheaper in the short term. A properly sized compressor can be a Lifetime purchase. I fully expect to be using my same IR 2340L5, 40 years from now. I bet that Quincey up above will be in the same boat. Buy the biggest pump with the smallest motor to meet your scfm demands. If it starts more than 6 times in an hour during normal use, then look into more storage.

[LEEVON]

If you can go 80 gallon / 2 stage then do it. My 60 gallon single stage gets the job done but it works hard on the higher volume tools.

[Skruffy]

I went through the same thing and I encourage you to do it right the first time. (I didn't)

First of all, do NOT get one with the 3400 RPM motor. They are noisy and generally indicate a lower quality compressor. They are only rated 5hp because it's peak horsepower.

I was able to use a D/A sander with the cheaper compressor, but it ran continually and eventually threw a rod.

No question get the 2 stage and get the cast iron. Get a quality brand like Quincy or Champion. They have made basically the same pump for years and you can get parts, even rebuild them if necessary. You won't see that with the compressors you buy at Sam's.

Ingersol Rand used to be a good compressor, but everything I have heard says to stay away now, but YMMV.

What I eventually did was buy a used Champion off ebay. It was a few years old but ran and pumped right up. Like I said, worse come to worse, it can be rebuilt someday. It also has an automatic drain.

I bought it for 600.00 and can guarantee you can find the same deal today. I'm actually selling mine on ebay, but I didn't write this as a sales pitch. Besides, I'm a ways away from you.

No offense to anyone with a different experience.

[PanelDeland]

Adding storage is a short term fix.The motor,pump etc are sized for the tank and compressor system.If you add storage the motor and compressor will work longer and harder for a given job and wear quicker.I would still consider doing it if I were only going to use an air hog occassionally.Paying attention to the CFM requirements of your air tools is also a good idea.I usually find that even if they use more air the work better quality tools provide offsets that.They work more efficiently I guess.

[68K30]

I have a 1947 80 gallon Quincy that I have owned for over 30 years, it is quiet (pump rpm is 640) strong and reliable. I put piston rings and some gaskets about 20 years ago and I know my boys and possibly my grandchildren will still be using it. My advice save up and buy the best and only buy once.
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[MLB57]

I would should have spent the other 200 bucks for the 5hp ingersol rand. the 3hp keeps up but runs all the time when using my da. Will not keep up with my die grinder if I use it a lot, had to wait on the compressor when cutting bed bolts. Good luck spend all ya got

[joel.e]

I ended up with an Eaton due to the lower speed of the compressor. My compressor is in the garage with me so noise was a concern. It is a 5 hp 80 gallon single stage that runs at 150 psi. It also has an unloader valve which is nice to have on larger compressors when you are running something at a high air volume demand. It keeps up with my blast cabinet which is probably the most air demanding tool I have but it does run a lot if not continuously why I'm using it.

[RanchFlyer]

There seems to be a theme going those who buy a good machine once, and those who wish they would have. I will warn to not buy on the manufacture name only. Most of the big name compressors companies have introduced "value" lines in the last 10 or so years. On the Champion ( owned by Gardner Denver ), the R series pump is the go to. On IR stay away from the model numbers starting with SS or TS. The 242 from IR was a beast in it's day but hasn't been produced in 15 or 20 years, I still buy and rebuild any I can find. If you have to buy bottom dollar the Campbell Hausfeld VT ( also marketed by many other machine is the single stage I recommend. However it is limited because it is only a single stage. The biggest pump, smallest hp motor, combo will always give you a slower pump speed = long happy life.

[Skruffy]

I agree with that. I had an R-series from Champion and they have been selling basically the same pump for years.

I'm not saying it's always true, but it seems a lot of the "value" lines have the 3400 RPM electric motors, and go down from there --> single stage --> cast iron --> aluminum.

If you just want to use an impact wrench or air ratchet those are just fine, but if you want to use body tools - grinders, D/As, Inline Sander, etc. the cheaper compressors will work themselves to death. Like someone else said, a blasting cabinet is a huge air hog, but so handy.

Also, when they work so hard they create excessive water, which is not good.

In short, I would get the best compressor I could, even if it was used. Keep in mind that the 1740 RPM motor will almost certainly have a starter and will probably need 30A service.