compressors

farmerpsv · Nov 7, 2003

Hey all.
bought a 6gal 2hp pancake compressor to do my roof with. I'm afraid I just took the sales guys advice at Lowes and ran since I've never used a compressor before, and it worked fine for the roofing nail gun. I have two chimnies i want to remove and bought a air hammer, but the air hammer instructions state that i need a bigger air tank /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif. any suggestions? can i still use the hammer, just not continuously? can i add another tank to the compressor to increase capacity? can that be done in tandem? should i take this compressor back to Lowes and give the sales guy (he's in contractor sales, he should have known better) some grief and get a 25gal compressor?
thanks
paul

Bird · Nov 7, 2003

( can i still use the hammer, just not continuously? )

Yes, but most likely for such short periods of time that you probably won't like it; have to spend too much time waiting for the compressor to catch up.

If you told the sales guy what you were going to use the compressor for, he probably gave you the right advice, so I wouldn't try to give him too much grief. But once we have a compressor, we invariably find lots of uses for it that we didn't anticipate originally. You'll definitely be happier with a 25 gallon (or even bigger) compressor.

BB_TX · Nov 7, 2003

give the sales guy (he's in contractor sales, he should have known better) some grief 
If you told him you needed something to operate a roofing nailer, and he recommended this, and it worked well for that purpose, then he deserves no grief. You got what you asked for.
However, overall I think you would be happier with a larger capacity unit. Go back and explain that you found you have more uses for a compressor than you initiallly intended and you would like to return the smaller one and get a larger one. I don't think they would give you any problem.

BubbaJr · Nov 7, 2003

Maybe I'm missing something here (wouldn't be the first time), but why should the store take a return on an item that has been used quite a bit (unless you were roofing a dog house or something small) and probably does not look anywhere close to new. It worked for the intended purpose and now he needs a bigger unit for something else. Why should that be the stores problem? Now if the store would offer him a used trade-in price against a bigger unit that would be fair for all concerned. It really gripes me when people return stuff to the store after they used it, just because they bought the wrong thing or found a better deal elsewhere. Then the store has to continually raise prices to cover their losses on all the returns, (and thefts). Whenever I find an opened package that was obviously returned, I won't buy it even if it's the only one. Inevitably something is missing or broken inside the packaging.
Don't take offense as none was intended, I'm just venting about one of my pet peeves.

farmerpsv · Nov 7, 2003

BubbaJr,
No offense taken. I really agree with you. I should have been clearer in my initial post. when i made my purchase i was approached by a contrator salesman, so i gave him my list. i restore victorian houses and told him it was time to get a compressor. while the current project was a roof, i was clear i'd want to use it for a variety of purposes. he even said that i could add a tank to increase capacity if i needed. i wouldn't really give him grief...well i would, but with a smile. i don't think either of us thought it through, though given the info i did give him, he really should have recommended a bigger unit. this one isn't even recommended for a framing nailer, which he thought it would work on just fine. i was in a hurry. fact is i had already done some homework in a previous life and thought i'd need a bigger unit, but when i said as much, i let him steer me as the voice of experience.
/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gifpaul

BubbaJr · Nov 7, 2003

Well Paul that puts a totally different light on the subject. Given that extra info, I would take it back and explain all the pertinent facts to him, and ask if they would let you upgrade since the salesman steered you to the wrong unit. Then if they won't swap you, I'll let you borrow my #11 DDD boot and kick him where the sun don't shine (that is after I remove it from my cakehole). /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
If you are able to make a swap, get the largest one you can, because before you know it you'll want to sandblast something or use a 1/2 impact wrench to remove your mower blades, or some other air gobbling tool.
Good Luck.

farmerpsv · Nov 10, 2003

well, the end of the story. Lowes actually remembered me, admited their mistake and took it back without a problem. got a bigger unit and was able to do stuff this weekend i couldn't with the smaller unit.
paul