Air Compressor

[toy1]

I am in the market for a new air compressor. my 35+ years old compressor is on it's final legs. It is a speedair sold by Granger. I was thinking I should get a unit in the 20 cfm area. I would appreciate any feed back on what the pro and cons of different brands.

 

[gsganzer]

Do you need the entire thing including the tank and motor? Or just a new compressor? Can you rebuild the old compressor?

 

[automech]

If you got 35 years out of your Speedaire, I'd say that's a decent brand! How hard was it used?

 

[CT_Tree_Guy]

Toy1 -

I agree that it sounds as if your Speedaire has served you well - 35 years is a long time. I think you might have the right idea in simply replacing it rather than repairing it; for one thing, the tank is probably wearing a little thin in spots from the inevitable rust.

I've always been a huge fan of Quincy compressors. As far as I know, they still build them like they used to, with beefy cast-iron pumps. I'm sure many other brands are great too: Ingersoll-Rand, Kellogg, and of course Speedaire/Grainger. I'd stay away from the oil-less units like some Campbell-Hausfields or Craftsman, and stick to a nice beefy two-stage, cast-iron unit, preferably with pressurized lubrication. My old Quincy QE-5 has the "dipper"-style splash lubrication which I suppose is fine, but I would think pressure would have to be better.

Here's a thread that might help: Air Compressor Decision

Happy shopping, John

 

[kenmac]

I purchased a belair air compressor on the net. about 2 yrs ago . It's made by a major air compressor co. It produces 25.5cfm @ 100 psi.7.5 h.p. motor 80 gallon tank .I use it on a large glass bead machine that I have . So far it's worked great !

 

[toy1]

I think it is time to replace the entire unit I think the tank might be getting questional. It looks good on the outside but the inside is most likely rusted when I drain the tank it is loaded with rust. The compressor is just not putting out air like it did in the past. When I got this compressor I got it for free I had to go to a factory we were closing down and remove a wall to get it out. I dont think I will get the same deal today.

 

[RobertN]

Maybe just a fresh set of rings or reeds? Most of the cast iron compressers are rebuildable. Assuming here the air filter is clean. The filters on the outgoing air are good?

Re the rusty tank, my old 2hp 22gal compressor rusted out. Mostly, it was because I hardly ever drained it. I hardly ever drained it, because it was a pain in the rear to get to the little petcock; it was at the bottom of the tank of course, sandwiched by the the front "foot" on the tank. And, that was where spiders and other things like to hang out...

On my new compressor(got about 5 years ago), I went with a 60gal upright. There was NO WAY I could get to the petcock on this thing /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif Before even using it, I pulled the petcock out. I used a short piece of pipe in it's place. I put an elbow on it, and another piece of pipe to get to the front of the tank. On that, I put a blow-nozzle.

Now, every time I use it, I push the handle on the blow nozzle with my toe, while I roll the hose up. Presto, tank is drained of water every time it is used.