Need recommends for continuous duty compressor

[Bird]

Now there may be some I haven't seen, but every oilless I've seen had a nice plastic cowling over the motor and compressor. And I've always told people that cowling is there for two reasons:
1) If you saw what was under there, you'd never buy it, and
2) It keeps it from throwing parts at you when it blows up.

Actually, the oilless are quite good and handy for many purposes. I carried a 2 gallon DeVibliss oilless in the motorhome when we were full time RVers. Everyone needs an air-compressor to air up a tire and/or blow the dust and dirt off something periodically. I never had a problem with that little compressor, but it was never run except for occasional short periods of time.

But then when I bought the place in the country, I bought the 30 gallon Craftsman (made by DeVilbiss). I tried to use it to run a small (one quart can) sandblaster and the reed valves broke. It was still under warranty, so I took it to a Sears service center. Naturally, their mechanic was on vacation, but they did give me the parts that would have cost $13 (in 1995) and I fixed it myself (very simple job). Then when it got so noisy and slow to build up pressure, I replaced the "cylinder" (a thin little teflon coated aluminum cup) and gaskets. Then when the cooling fan broke loose, it was really noisy with it banging around in there, and even cracked the cowling, but as I said, it kept it from throwing the parts at me.

As a real compressor mechanic told me, you can figure on the oilless being about one-tenth the life of an oiled compressor; for instance, about 1,000 hours vs. 10,000 hours.

The good part was that I could completely rebuild one in less than an hour and at a cost of $40 or less for parts in the late '90s.

 

[automech]

I have a 110v unit in my garage at home. It is great for what I need but I don't think it's made for 100% duty cycle. I'm sure I've used it hard where it runs constantly for long stretches but it's not made for that. I like the specs on these Eaton Compressor & Fabrication Inc.

 

[Bird]

I have a 110v unit in my garage at home. It is great for what I need but I don't think it's made for 100% duty cycle. I'm sure I've used it hard where it runs constantly for long stretches but it's not made for that.

That might depend on who made it, how it's made, etc. Even some of the oiled compressors, such as the aluminum ones from DeVilbiss, have very shallow crankcases, hold very little oil, and have manuals saying to limit the run time to 10 minutes or less.

On the other hand, even my cheap Industrial Air compressor by Coleman Powermate has no limitations in the manual on run time. The "break in" that the manual recommends is to run it 30 minutes with the drain valve open. So I just never worry about how long I run it. Of course, it's only a little over 2 years old (had a 2 year warranty), so it remains to be seen how long it'll last. Another thing I like about it is that the manuals include a parts list, exploded view, etc., as with many Sears products. Naturally, I hope to never need it, but sure do like to have it available.

I'm sure the Eaton is good and another one I think is high quality (and high priced) is the Saylor-Beall although I've not owned or worked on any of them.

 

[kenmac]

These are good compressors.Professional quality air compressor, air compressors at discount prices I own 1 and have never had any problems

 

[TractorDale]

I noticed the higher power units will pressure to 175psi or better. I only have a few air tools but all of the limit the working pressure well below that. What would one do with 175 psi?

 

[Bird]

I noticed the higher power units will pressure to 175psi or better. I only have a few air tools but all of the limit the working pressure well below that. What would one do with 175 psi?

Yep, nearly all air tools are "rated" at 90 psi and that's what the manufacturers recommend. However, if you run them on the higher pressure, you'll have more power than what the manual says that tool has, so many mechanics do just that. Of course, you'll wear the tool out much faster, or possibly break it, so you have to decide whether the additional power is worth the additional repair and/or replacement costs. In some circumstances, maybe it is.

I use my air compressor (155 maximum psi), instead of a gas or electric blower, to blow the leaves and grass off the sidewalk and driveways, to blow debris out of the garage instead of sweeping, to blow leaves out of the rain gutters, etc. The higher pressure makes the work go faster.

On the Gehl hay baler (round baler) that I used, there's cylinder on each side that's air over hydraulic and is supposed to have 150 psi on the air.

There are some big truck tires than run over 100 psi air pressure. Even my motorhome used to run 90 psi. Higher pressure from the compressor fills them quicker.

So, yep, most of the time, most of us only need 90 psi, but there are times when the higher pressure is needed; other times when it's just nice to have.

 

[kenmac]

I noticed the higher power units will pressure to 175psi or better. I only have a few air tools but all of the limit the working pressure well below that. What would one do with 175 psi?

I use my 1/2 inpact on 175 PSI when I come across a nut/bolt that just won't come off with lower pressures

 

[bx24]

When the units are built to pressure up to 175 psi, they work much better for things like sandblasting. With lower pressure units, they won't be able to keep up where the higher pressure units (with typically higher CFMs) will work much better

 

[charlz]

On the other hand, even my cheap Industrial Air compressor by Coleman Powermate has no limitations in the manual on run time. The "break in" that the manual recommends is to run it 30 minutes with the drain valve open.

My 'homeowner' 6hp/27gal version I bought at Costco doesn't say anything about limiting run time in the manual. It also has the same break in procedures.

I have a small compressor that runs air to my pond, it ran for over 3 years continuous before it wouldn't move air anymore. Threw in a rebuild kit and new cylinder and it is good as new. Obviously it doesn't build pressure so it could 'move air' far longer than if it needed to actually compress.

My biggest use of air is in the fall when I blow out my sprinklers. My Coleman runs _a lot_ to do that. I really need something that can just put out a lot of cfm at a decent pressure. I am curious if a Harbor Freight compressor head could be run using my 3-speed PTO. I'd only need to use it once a year for a an hour or two.

 

[TractorDale]

I have two small compressors now- one Porter Cable pancake oiless noisemaker and the other a nice little Makita- which I connected in parallel to blow out my sprinklers-both turned down to 50 PSI. Still takes a few hours.

I have a ton of work to do on my house this Spring-sanding of wooden trim and sandblasting of original steel casements. I need to decide on either the largest portable or a big stationary one with a lot of hose-would be 300' from the garage to the farthest corner 3rd story window.

Dale