Air compressor

[rhino_50]

I want put either a 60 or 80 gallon air compressor in my shop. Any advice on different makes. Thanks Rhino50

 

[RHARVEY]

Funny you should mention it... Last night we made a little tool buying trip to Lowes. Came home with the 60 gal. 7 hp compressor. It will deliver 13. 5 cfm @90lbs... Should run some air tools real nice which also came home with us and along with a Lincoln Mig 140 welder.



Kobalt®

7 HP (Peak) 60 Gallon Stationary Oil Lubricated Air Compressor

Item #: 134819 Model: K7060HFV



Rick

 

[Dl5treez]

Quincy. Of the 5 big compressors we have at the plant the lone Quincy seems to be the unit that we rely most upon, as the 3 IR units always seem to be down for something and the Kaeser is too new for me to trust yet.



There is a legitimate bias in me towards them, as I "grew up" around a 20hp horizontal 2 stage Quincy compressor. I vividly remember the sound of that one... ... .



Even though they're new to me, Kaeser compressors have really peaked my interest, too.

 

[paccool]

I have an IR 5HP belt drive unit and it has been a good one. DON"T get one of the light duty "oil less" Compressors as they are not made for continuous use. I'm talking about the ones you can buy at Sears or some of the tool places. I had one that I used for just light duty stuff until my Son started doing body work on his 57 Chevy. After a month or so of running air sanders, etc, the compressor literally blew up. Scattered piston and rod parts all over the garage! :--)



A belt driven unit is much quieter and will run for a long time if taken care of.



Also, be sure to look at what you will be running and get one that will handle the CFM requirements.

 

[rbattelle]

Based on a recommendation from someone at TDR, I will probably buy this one . Of course, those guys are less than 1 hour from my house, so I can pick it up and avoid shipping. But the specs on their stuff are impressive. And most of them come with a magnetic starter (more reliable).



-Ryan

 

[RonA]

Kaeser is probably the best compressor there is. I have had two of them. The first was a v-twin piston type that sounded like a Ducati idling in the next room. I ran it for 8 years at my old shop and sold it to the guy that rented the building when i left 14 years ago. It still runs 6 days a week. My SM11 has been running 7days a week for the last 13 years and besides normal maintainence once a year it has had 1 blown fuse that cost $1. 79. I also have a twin cylinder Quincy that is almost 30 years old. But it is the size of a small car and puts out about 1/2 what the Kaeser does. They are a bit pricey, but worth it in the long run if you use air all day. More for Business use than filling tires once a week in your garage.

 

[lil red cummins]

i am putting my vote in for the champion brand (division of gardner-denver)



i ended up getting one of these from my friends body shop. he ran this 5 days a week for 5 years and then he had a fire in his shop and every non metal part on the compressor was singed or melted or burned off.



i put on a new belt, air filter, switch, gauge, fan blade and put it to work.



it still hits 200 psi without any trouble. i especially like their one piece cylinder & head assembly. no gasket to blow out. valve assemblies come out very easily for cleaning.



the 5 hp motor on this unit is exceptionally beefy. it is rated continuous duty at 40C rise. i am guessing this motor is equivalent to most 7 1/2 hp motors



good luck on your decision



jim

 

[MKinner]

If you have the money, i would choose a rotary type air compressor. although I haven't had a chance to use one or look at one up close, everything i've been reading about them seems to be very good. Running sound decible of between 65 and 70 is pretty good, not to mention the other pluses.



http://air. irco.com/products/rotary/?id=50,188,51 #ad

 

[PDM]

I bought a 2 stage 4 cyl 7. 5 HP 80 gal unit from NAPA auto parts.

Has a Baldor motor, came with a magnetic starter, and was on sale at the time.

Only runs at 600 rpm, and so is fairly quiet. Has stainless valves, and seems well made. Puts out 24SCFM@175psi Single phase 7. 5 HP is ~$2500.



NAPA also has a 5HP, also in the "Professional Series", which is ~$1800.



I would go with any of the industrial units, as they will keep up, hold up, have parts

available for decades, and have lasting high resale value.



It is a pleasure to be able to spray paint, or use hungry air tools, and not ever

run short of air.

 

[Dieselnut59]

My recommendation, by personal experience, is for Champion. We have three diesel engine driven Champion compressors and one Ingrosoll-Rand gasoline engine driven compressor on our service trucks. All have been great. The advantage I see of the Champion is the valve setup on the pump. Although not an issue on an electric motor driven type, when the engine driven type goes to idle (after peak air pressure is reached), the Champion opens the intake valve on the pump so air is not compressed, thus reducing wear and heat build up. The Ingrosoll unit goes into "bypass" mode at idle. It still compresses the air, but dumps it out a valve instead of into the tank when pressure is reached. The IR/gasoline unit is our oldest compressor and the idle/bypass situation would not be an issue on a stationary shop compressor and we have had no trouble out of any of the engine powered service truck compressors. The Champion and commercial Ingrosoll pumps are made in USA. If you get a compressor, no matter what brand, get a commercial line, as mentioned before.

 

[LesStallings]

First consideration is what tool do you have that uses the greatest amount of air?? For me it is a bead blasting booth.



Be VERY sure that your compressor will keep up with your tools. Trying to rely on tank storage just does not work. If you have to take frequent breaks while your compressor "catches up", not much gets done and it make you mad every time.



Yep, I've got a big one... got it a Sam's Club for a great price. Black Max. Works fine for my hobby work, but since I'm retired, my hobby work is pretty intense. If I was running a commercial shop, one of the big name brands would be my choice.



Check out the TP Tools website for the recommended way to plumb your compressor. Filtering, water removal, and safety are a must.

 

["Mad Max"]

Well, I recently finished installing the last compressor I'll ever need. It's an Ingersoll Rand, 2-stage, 80 gal monster. It's rated at 26 cfm at 175 psi with 100% duty cycle. I'll never need more, and it'll never eat itself. It's big, bad, and incredibly powerful. It cost ~$1800 - worth every penny, and it'll outpower my sandblaster... not the cabinette one... I'm talking about the outdoor pressure pot one. Incredible, and the IR reputation is rock solid.

- Max

 

[Dan_69GTX]

Everyone has a an opinion and a butt... . so here is my ... opinion.



Compressors are not equal!!! And the ratings on them are also not equal. Whatever you look at do the following for comparison.



1. make sure max CFM is rated at the same PSI. A LOT of comressors will have a max PSI above 100, but the cheaper compressors will rate CFM a lot LOWER than the at the max PSI - ex: 24. 7CFM @ 175PSI vs 24. 7CFM @ 100PSI. The first rating is a much better compressor.



2. As said before, make sure you CFM rating is GREATER than the max cfm used by your current tool (sand blasting/bead blasting will almost always take more than anything else.



3. HP ratings - make sure you are comparing apples to apples. Most cheaper compressors are rated at PEAK HP, whereas the better are rated at "true" HP (torque and HP are much greater on better motors).



4. Rotory vs screw compressors - screw have much greater CFM, quieter, cost more, and generally have lower operating pressure (say 125 vs 175 for the rotory) - so know what you need for all the above.





All this being said - last year I bought the Champion Centurion II 7. 5HP 80 gal compressor. If I had it to do over again - I would have bought the Advantage series since there are no head gaskets to deal with (yes, I already had a head gasket blow out). I have several large propane tanks plumbed in line to cool the air and remove moisture. This give me a total of over 310 gal air storage so the compressor runs longer, but the # of start cycles are reduced. It has a brand name motor (baldor) that weights 134lb, 31amps full load, 184 amps start load.



Whatever you do, good luck!

Dan

 

[jwduke]

Another vote for Champion. We have have one at work, and I don't think it has EVER been down!