Air Compressor Recommendations?

firefighter9208 · Sep 10, 2007

I bought a compressor similar to this Craftsman Professional 60 gal. Air Compressor, 3.2 hp, Vertical Tank, Oillube Pump - Model 18419 at Sears.com at Sams about 8 years ago. You can't go wrong with a 60 gallon upright. The brand I bought was a Black Max and I paid about $399.00 for it. I do a lot of sanding and painting and haven't been disappointed.

One thing to watch for is the CFM requirements of the air tools you buy. I had a cheap (Walmart) dual action sander that cost about $20.00, but it used 8 cfm. I replaced it with a Craftsman model that was $49.00 that only uses 4 cfm. Cheap air tools often use a large quantity of air to turn them versus more expensive air tools.

Chris

Bird · Sep 10, 2007

Chris, I might be wrong, but I don't think there's much comparison between your Black Max and the Craftsman you posted the link for, except for both of them being 60 gallon uprights.

Did you read the reviews posted for that Craftsman?

I'm not absolutely sure on that particular Craftsman, but I think that's one of the aluminum compressors I mentioned, made by DeVilbiss, with a very shallow crankcase; usually no problem if you keep it full of oil.

You can see the Puma I had and it's a type that I never worried about it running continuously. I guess you know that Sanborn (which made your Black Max from Sam's Club) and Coleman PowerMate (which made my "Industrial Air" compressor from Northern Tool) are the same company.

schmism · Sep 10, 2007

the crapsman compressor (reviews) highlight the most important part of the compressor. The pump head.

Even if you put a cheep chiese motor on a IR or quincy pump head, youll have a compressor that will put out reliable good compressed air. Shure the cheep motor might burn up, but they are a dime a dozzen vs a good pump head.

ragkar · Sep 10, 2007

The first thing you need to do is determine your requirements both current and future. Check the ads for the cfm of all the attachments that you might reasonably want to buy in the future.
Also do you want portability? Would you sometimes want to take it out of the garage and bring it to the other side of the house for painting or something. I'm talking wheels.
I'm told that the oil type compressors are a lot quieter than the oil-less. Is that a consideration?

Iplayfarmer · Sep 10, 2007

ragkar said:
The first thing you need to do is determine your requirements both current and future. Check the ads for the cfm of all the attachments that you might reasonably want to buy in the future.
Also do you want portability? Would you sometimes want to take it out of the garage and bring it to the other side of the house for painting or something. I'm talking wheels.
I'm told that the oil type compressors are a lot quieter than the oil-less. Is that a consideration?

Quiet is a consideration, but not paramount. I'd pay a little more for quiet, but I won't trade power or durability for quiet.

As for CFM of the tools, the biggest air user I'd have right now is the CH paint sprayer. It's advertised at about 4 CFM. The biggest thing about the sprayer is that when I go to use it, I'm running it constantly for an hour or more. That's the big appeal to the IR one I posted the link to. It's rated for continuous use.

I suppose the same result can be achieved by a larger compressor and a bigger tank. I'd still have the same amount of available air, but the compressor would cycle on and off.

For now, though, you've all effectively talked me out of the oilless one that I was looking at to begin with. That being the case, It'll be a little while before I can round up the money in my hobbies budget to get what I really want.

Anyone want a snowblower? Ditch Pump? XM Radio?

schmism · Sep 10, 2007

Iplayfarmer said:
For now, though, you've all effectively talked me out of the oilless one that I was looking at to begin with. That being the case, It'll be a little while before I can round up the money in my hobbies budget to get what I really want.

Anyone want a snowblower? Ditch Pump? XM Radio?

i thought we all had side jobs JUST to pay for new toys... i do, my neighbor does... (his is a sizeable side job bulding custom bikes and to support that he does cusome paint for the local neighborhood body shop)

Bill_C · Sep 10, 2007

I bought a Craftsman about 15 years ago. It claimed 3-1/2 horsepower, but a close look at the motor amps revealed that the motor was indeed only 2 hp. How they can stick a 2 hp motor on something and label it 3-1/2, is beyond me...

Now the compressor has held up fairly well for occassional use, but now that I've bought a sandblasting cabinet, I can plainly tell this "3-1/2" thing ain't gonna last long. I'm leaning towards the "buy the biggest I-R you can afford" approach, in this case maybe a true 5 hp, 60 gallon. Big bucks but I don't wanna buy another compressor in my lifetime.

automech · Sep 10, 2007

These guys seem to have a nice product. Eaton Compressor & Fabrication Inc. I don't have one but I would consider them. We use a 10 horse Champion compressor at work, and I have a 4.5 horse 110v Big Red type at home, both over 20 years old. I would recommend either of them.

Bird · Sep 10, 2007

Bill_C said:
I bought a Craftsman about 15 years ago. It claimed 3-1/2 horsepower, but a close look at the motor amps revealed that the motor was indeed only 2 hp. How they can stick a 2 hp motor on something and label it 3-1/2, is beyond me...

Now the compressor has held up fairly well for occassional use, but now that I've bought a sandblasting cabinet, I can plainly tell this "3-1/2" thing ain't gonna last long. I'm leaning towards the "buy the biggest I-R you can afford" approach, in this case maybe a true 5 hp, 60 gallon. Big bucks but I don't wanna buy another compressor in my lifetime.

Bill, most, if not all, of the Craftsman compressors are/were made by DeVibiss. The first of 1995, I bought a 30 gallon, 3.5 hp, horizontal tank, oilless. The first time I used my sandblaster was the first time it broke (still in warranty), but after rebuilding it 3 times in a short time period, I sold it and bought the Puma.

Now I don't remember all the details, and just who decided on the horsepower ratings to claim, but a year or so after I bought that 3.5 hp Craftsman, they were selling the exact same thing with a 4 hp label on it. My Puma was labelled as a 6 hp, although the dealer said they called it an "imitation 6" and showed me one with a true 5 hp motor that was twice the size of the imitation 6. It seems that most of the compressor companies were doing that with the labels and claims until a lawsuit and the government got involved, and you'll notice now how much lower the horsepower ratings are on all the compressors; much closer to the truth.

firefighter9208 · Sep 11, 2007

Bird said:
Chris, I might be wrong, but I don't think there's much comparison between your Black Max and the Craftsman you posted the link for, except for both of them being 60 gallon uprights. Did you read the reviews posted for that Craftsman? I'm not absolutely sure on that particular Craftsman, but I think that's one of the aluminum compressors I mentioned, made by DeVilbiss, with a very shallow crankcase; usually no problem if you keep it full of oil.

You can see the Puma I had and it's a type that I never worried about it running continuously. I guess you know that Sanborn (which made your Black Max from Sam's Club) and Coleman PowerMate (which made my "Industrial Air" compressor from Northern Tool) are the same company.

Bird,

I wasn't suggesting that he buy a craftsman, just that that type compressor can be had reasonably. Didn't mean to start a brand war.

BTW we do have a 60 gallon upright Craftsman "oilless" at our fire department. Bought it brand new for $200.00 still on the crate. I have painted several fire trucks with it and we use it often and have not had any problems? Could just be lucky.

Also, not everyone can afford an I-R. Wish I could. My dream would be an 80 gallon upright 2 stage with about 15 cfm. Oh well, I'll wake up now.

Chris