Is there an Air Compressor that is worth a darn??

[christopher]

I have spent the last several hours reading reviews of dozens of different air compressors and for the most part people tend to HATE the compressor they bought.

Everyone says buy BIGGER and buy BETTER, but the reality is, I need a unit for my garage that will only be used for sled projects and I am not interested in spending a ton of money on it.

On the other hand, I want a compressor that IS going to work and last for many years of trouble free use that puts out enough CFM/PSI to be useful in a Garage shop environment.

I am leaning towards something in the 25 gallon range.
110volt would be great, but I can wire up 220 if needed.

So I am looking for comments on compressors you have that you WOULD buy a 2nd time if you had to replace your current unit for whatever reason.

 

[KSH]

Here is my $.02

It takes CFM run air tools. The larger the tank the smaller the CFM the commpressor will need to put out to recover.

Die grinders will need a lot of CFM.

In our shop we have a old 115volt 5hp on a 100 gallon tank. It does 75% of what I need. Yes, I want a bigger one, but this one will not die. Plus we have large potable units I can use if I need to sandblast or run a 3/4" impact for a long time.

I guess what I'm trying to say is buy a larger tank "60 to 100 gallons" and buy the largest CFM compressor the budget allows.

 

[christopher]

Thats pretty much what everyone says.
And if you have a grand or more to spend, the world of compressors is your oyster.

But reality sets in and I need to find something in the $300-$400 dollar range.
Given the very limited amount of use that I will get out of it, its just not reasonable for me to spend a wad of cash on something that will mostly sit in the corner of the garage.

 

[KSH]

Have you checked out the Pawn Shops?

 

[KSH]

Thats pretty much what everyone says.
And if you have a grand or more to spend, the world of compressors is your oyster.

But reality sets in and I need to find something in the $300-$400 dollar range.
Given the very limited amount of use that I will get out of it, its just not reasonable for me to spend a wad of cash on something that will mostly sit in the corner of the garage.

What CFM are the units your looking at?


http://www.craftsman.com/shc/s/p_10155_12602_00916770000P?mv=rr

 

[christopher]

Someone just suggested this unit to me.

Kobalt 30-Gallon Cast Iron Oil Lubricated Air Compressor

30-Gallon Cast Iron Oil Lubricated Air Compressor

• Cast iron, V-twin cylinder, oil lubricated pump features: one-piece cast iron crankcase, thermally stable cast iron cylinder body, aluminum head and machined cast iron valve plate, automotive style ball bearings, and durable stainless steel reed valv
• Heavy duty induction motor for maximum performance and efficiency
• Fully assembled 30 gallon ASME tank with pre-attached pneumatic wheels, quick-set regulator, tank and working pressure gauges, quick connect air outlet and on/off switch for ease of use
• 155 PSI max pressure, 6.2 SCFM @ 40 PSI, 5.3 SCFM @ 90 PSI, 1.6 running HP

I Found an amazing 27 positive reviews.
First compressor I have seen with such strong support.

 

[christopher]

Have you checked out the Pawn Shops?

Hadn't even considered it.
Compressor seems like a big item for a pawn shop???

 

[KSH]

Hadn't even considered it.
Compressor seems like a big item for a pawn shop???

I see them here locally from time to time, the larger shops will take anything.

 

[sobfrogg]

I found mine at an auction for a shop that went out of business. It is an Air America.
80 gal vertical tank. It does run on 220V. However this thing is huge. Will run 35.5cfm at 175psi. It is a 2-stage pump. As I said this thing is huge.

It will run ANYTHING I have. All my air tools, plasma cutter, ANYTHING!

The best part is I only paid $600 for it. Most people that were looking did not want to touch it because it runs off of 220.

My best suggestion is find one you like and then find one that is twice as big. Can never have enough air in the shop

 

[IDspud]

Any light duty compressor is a ticking time bomb. I have had better luck with commercial duty compressors that are thirty years old than with three year old cheapies. The ability of a high cfm compressor is beyond anything you can imagine.

In your area you should have a LOT of options to choose from in old potato packing sheds, old gas stations, old construction sights, etc.

I have one that I found that needed a motor, and for the $350 motor, I now have a compressor that is worth $3500. I have now converted most of my electric power tools to air and love the results.

 

[Engine Pro 5x]

If you buy a knew one look at a Craftsman. They have good customer service >>>>.

 

[christopher]

If you buy a knew one look at a Craftsman. They have good customer service >>>>.

To be honest that was the very first one I looked at.
But the reviews of the new ones are HIGHLY mixed.
By and by it looks like the quality we grew up with back in the day is a thing of the past!


===
DON"T WASTE YOUR MONEY April 01, 2009

Had to tighten all the air fittings on it first to get it to hold psi. Found the drain to be so special...ya gotta love that one.....wonder what chinese design engineer brain farted that one.


This one doesn't have the scfm as stated...but what the heck, I've had 3 Craftsman air compressors now and found that MOST CRAFTSMAN AIR COMPRESSORS DO NOT PUT OUT THE SCFM THEY CLAIM. and yes i used this one and the others for several different tools that have very defined scfm ratings so i'm not guessing when i make that statement. so if that is an item of interest to you BEWARE.


At the 62 day mark of NOT MUCH USE it started to make a noise. didn't sound metalic but thats water under the bridge now because at that point the motor decided to spin without compressing anything and was kind enough to to spread a foul odoir (lol) around my shop.


I moved away from Craftsman power tools a while back and will move away from their compressors when i need another one. QUALITY might have been good once but it has been my hands on experience ( 30yr engineer ) that it has dropped off.


===
26 gallons of ***** July 07, 2010
By treetrashish of Warren, OH
See all of this author's reviews
Cons:

drain is a joke on many levels, cheap chinese junk


never had enough power then after 3 months past warranty the pressure relief tube blew. the new tube was inexpensive but the elbow where it goes into the regulator is unavailable( when you remove the tube it ruins this) although they will send you the wrong part as many times as you call them... this machine would be good for anyone wanting to blow air at their face after a long hot day.. otherwise don't waste your money. It does however make a good shiny red garage ornament. I'm done messing with this piece of **** and am going tomorrow to buy a real air compressor. trust me, adding oil once in a while is far better than dealing with this P.O.S. oh by the way as someone else said be prpared to change the drain valve as it leaks air from the very start.


===


good but you will have to pay extra to make the drain workableOctober 12, 2009
By diymikef135 of San Diego, CA
See all of this author's reviews
Pros:

low maint (no oil changes), easy to move around
Cons:

loud, drain is a joke on many levels


I bought this compressor to replace an older craftsman 3.5HP, 125PSI, 25 gallon that developed a pinhole leak due to lack of draining on my part (draining is a pain). Overall I can't say this is any quieter than the old model. The drain design sucks and I knew this going in after reading the reviews here. My solution was to use the slightly larger wheels from the old compressor (I just scrapped the tank) which gets the drain off the floor a bit. Then I added the "enhanced" drain system at the link below with some parts at **********.


http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/workshop/compressor/drain/ball_valve.htm


The one thing that ****** me off was the initial break in. I thought I had the drain valve open (I turned it as far as I could with my fingers) and turned it on but then realized the drain was NOT open!!! I didn't run it that long so not much pressure built up but still irritating. I then got some pliers and opened it all the way and of course rust shot up in my face. When I pulled the drain to replace with the ball valve I noticed it looked all mangled so on top of everything else the drain valve itself was defective which is why it was so difficult to use. So for the initial break in I recommend just removing that valve up front.


So the modded unit is pretty nice now ... the handle placement is great for a 6ft guy like myself so moving it around is not too bad. It came with 50ft of hose and a note saying they replaced the 25ft specified length so that was a plus.


===

 

[Blaine]

Sears just had their 30 gallon 150 PSI on clearance.

 

[diggerdown]

I would recommend one with either a baldor or leeson motor and adjustable regulator. Some of the regulators can be adjusted for more pressure but they fail to kick in until the pressure is too low, you need to be able to adjust the low pressure setting too. You can get by with a smaller tank and more cfm is you plumb your shop with pvc pipe. It is cheap and you can increase you capacity all you want. When you neck down to a quick connect use teflon paste between the plastic and metal. I run 175 lbs. of pressure in my line with an IMC 7 1/2 HP compressor, but I do run 1" impacts.

 

[christopher]

Sears just had their 30 gallon 150 PSI on clearance.

Ya, I saw it as well.
But the reviews of Craftsman have me worried that they are not the same quality they were years ago.

http://www.craftsman.com/shc/s/p_10...&+Air+Tools&prdNo=26&blockNo=26&blockType=L26
$279.00
Craftsman 33 gal. Air Compressor, 1.6 hp, Horizontal Tank, 150 Max PSI

 

[KSH]

Christopher, with your budget you need to make a decision, new or quality.

The other thing to keep in mind is that these cheaper units do not like to be started when they are cold, lack of lubrication, that's what causes a lot of them to fail. I have a cheap Porter Cable pancake unit that is 10 years old and has been totally abused and still runs like a champ, so they are not all junk.

Personally I would find a portable unit that supplies enough CFM that will run what you want it to and your generator will run it if you have one.

Then just keep looking for a good shop unit.

 

[christopher]

That 30 Gallon Koblat is looking pretty good right now.
All of the reviewers were pretty happy with it, which is rare for any affordable compressor.

 

[AKSNOWRIDER]

hers a good place to search for a compressor..I have found over the years that to run air tools such as grinders and such you need to be over 20 cfm..for just a home shop and if you will give the compressor a chance to catch up you can get away with 7-15 cfm .....but to change the tires on a 1 ton truck you need to let it recover on every wheel.....I have also found its very hard to beat ingersol rand..especially their commercial HD compressors......
http://www.aircompressorsdirect.com/cfm/7-13.php

 

[Kraven]

That 30 Gallon Koblat is looking pretty good right now.
All of the reviewers were pretty happy with it, which is rare for any affordable compressor.

The thing I didn't see mentioned is the noise factor.

As a general rule the cast iron (like the Kobalt you posted) compressors are quieter that the aluminum compressors.

 

[Engine Pro 5x]

A little story on Craftsman. I purchased a 5hp direct drive compressor from them. I took it home and installed in my race hauler. My onboard generator wasn't big enough to run it without tripping the breaker. I took it back to the store for a complete refund. I then bought there 3hp unit and it worked fine. I have since quit racing and sold the hauler and I now use the 3hp unit in my home shop >>>>.