Air Compressor Recommendations

[grover]

quote FrankR:

You use a pressure regulator at the tank outlet to control lower pressures than what is in the air storage tank. In other words, 100 psi in the tank can be regulated to 10psi (or whatever) at the job/tool.

Just an opinion—I bought a new oiless compressor to replace my old Sears piston type. I hated it. It was LOUD! I wound up selling it at a loss and buying parts to repair the Sears put-put. Still puttin’.

I’ll second that; get a pump, not an oil-free diaphragm. Their noise level is ridiculous!

[gearhead4]

If you’re going to do any sort of blasting or anything that will use a continuous flow of air such as cut-off wheels then I’d highly recommend finding a 2 Stage compressor rather than just a Craftsman 2 cylinder single stage compressor. I have 2 80 gallon compressors that I set up at both my parents’ places and they’re more than adequate for anything I’ll ever do. Both were found on Craigslist and are awesome high quality machines. The first was an older Curtis 5 HP that was in great shape but once hooked up, had slow recovery. I only paid $300 for it and it was very clean so the pump came off for inspection and all springs, seats and rings were shot as well as the high pressure piston being pretty scuffed up. The cylinders were mint so a light honing took care of that and for another $300 I got a rebuild kit from OEM Air Compressor in Chicago and did the whole job myself. It’s just a belt driven engine and has all the same principles minus a head with one way valves. After the rebuild this machine fills from 0 to 150 PSI in just under 12 minutes.

The other one I have was a backup of a backup and about 8 years old but it had only been run about 10 hours its whole life so for $700, I picked that up and its been great ever since! This one was a BelAire and it’s a great machine that fills even faster than the older Curtis but needs a little pressure switch adjustment as it cuts out at around 120 which for certain tools I have isn’t quite enough. Overall I’d do it all over again either way with both these machines! When I get my own house, I think I’ll be finding myself another one so I can hard plumb the air throughout the garage/barn/basement or whatever I end up setting up!

That’s just my story but I’ve seen many air compressors on Craigslist that were cheap and needed some head work. As long as the parts are available I would go for it and that way you can steer away from going for a new 4 figure Ingersol Rand compressor! My preference would be to steer away from Harbor Freight on an item like this because with that kind of money being spent, I’d want to be sure it’s quality and if possible, made in USA. That’s why I bought my PowerMatic drill press off Craigslist and it’s a 1966, also an awesome US product from back in the day!

Hope this is insightful to anyone looking for info!

[Author]

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