Which Air Compresor to buy?

[Phoenix]

Ok,l i'm looking at air compressors and I thought i'd dulve into the forum knowledge to help me out.

at this stage $300 is the absolute max I want to spend, $200 or under would be better. Majority of it's use will be tyre inflation, spray painting, and the occasional other air tool like a die grinder, impact wrench etc etc.

The one's i can find at the moment are...

At Nubco they have peerless units which seem to be high quality.

00085, Direct Drive, 2.5 hp, 40L, 175 l/min@100psi. $299

compact 2500, direct drive, 2.5 hp, 30L, 154l/min@100psi. $219

At Bunnings they have trade air by spear and jackson

TD2540, Direct drive, 2.5 hp, 40L, free air 126 l/min. $189

at supercheap

SCA, belt drive, 2.75 hp, 50L, free load 250l/min . $299

black ridge, direct drive, 2.5 hp, 40L, 112l/min. 6-8 bar, $199

[isuzurover]

Ok,l i'm looking at air compressors and I thought i'd dulve into the forum knowledge to help me out.

at this stage $300 is the absolute max I want to spend, $200 or under would be better. Majority of it's use will be tyre inflation, spray painting, and the occasional other air tool like a die grinder, impact wrench etc etc.

The one's i can find at the moment are...

At Nubco they have peerless units which seem to be high quality.

00085, Direct Drive, 2.5 hp, 40L, 175 l/min@100psi. $299

At Bunnings they have trade air by spear and jackson

TD2540, Direct drive, 2.5 hp, 40L, free air 126 l/min. $189

at supercheap

SCA, belt drive, 2.75 hp, 50L, free load 250l/min . $299

black ridge, direct drive, 2.5 hp, 40L, 112l/min. 6-8 bar, $199

What about a second hand one? I bought a HUGE ex railways compressor for $100 from a garage sale. Twin piston, and the tank is about 1.2m long!

Alternately, how about fitting a york AC compressor to one of the landies? I have one on my IIA, and I have used it for all sorts of things, running air tools (put up a 20m x 2m timber fence using an industrial nail gun), painting, etc... At 2000 rpm it delivers about 10cfm.

[Fusion]

Hi Mate , I have the spear and jackson 40l 2.5hp compressor . I have used it flat out . painted goblin with it and have used heaps of air tools on it . Great little unit . i'm very happy with mine :cool:.

[Phoenix]

Not much of a 2nd hand market down here isuzurover :(

not ideal to have vehicle exhaust around when painting either.

[Shonky]

*Shonky watches with interest because he needs one too...*

[Phoenix]

Ok, i've added Ok, i've added another one from Nubco with good specs for the price.

Is it really worth going belt drive (SCA is the one one in this price bracket) over direct drive, and should I be more concerned with the size of the tank, or the l/min stats?

the big SCA one is about $200 off on sale at the moment, so if I want to get that one better do it soon!

[isuzurover]

not ideal to have vehicle exhaust around when painting either.

You can get a very long air hose with the money you save ;) :D

[isuzurover]

Ok, i've added Ok, i've added another one from Nubco with good specs for the price.

Is it really worth going belt drive (SCA is the one one in this price bracket) over direct drive, and should I be more concerned with the size of the tank, or the l/min stats?

the big SCA one is about $200 off on sale at the moment, so if I want to get that one better do it soon!

Belt drive is great if either the motor or the compressor dies. But for these bottom end compressors, if anything stuffs up you would probably buy a whole new one (as it would be cheaper).

e.g. a pressure switch is $30 trade. A decent oil/water separator is $60 - thise 2 small items are 1/3 the price of the entire compressor!!!

[LOVEMYRANGIE]

The thing with some of the smaller units is unless you have an exceptionally good dryer, you will get moisture coming thru the line. I get this with mine sometimes when painting and all the time with the sandblaster. Mine is a 40L Airworks which is multi brand of the small 40l type units that you get at Supercheap, Repco etc etc.
Even with an uprated dryer/regulator, I still get problems with moisture.
I have had mine for a few years now and it works fine with the above exceptions, but it some times struggles with the rattle gun also.
For general purpose though, is OK.

Why not hook up a York A/C compressor to a separate motor and a tank?? this has crossed my mind once or twice but dont have the bits or the time atm.....

[Phoenix]

Anybody else have any thoughts?

[numpty]

Not what you want to hear........but I bought a Renegade from TradeTools Direct here in Brisbane, 199l/min FAD, belt drive, heavy duty, twin cylinder.

Suits me and will spray and operate nail guns, which is what I want. $630 but.

[JohnF]

occasional use of airtools is okay on small compessors, but these often do not have the capacity for using tools all the time. But that can mean working a little bit slower to allow air to build up in the tank. We use a 8cfm compressor we purchased second hand from a pawn shop mainy to inflate tyres, but a little bit of spray painting and occasional tool use. Personally like the idea of an underbonnet compressor, if it will run a spray gun, if if we have to stop a little while to allow air to build up--sasdly cant afford one.

[EchiDna]

first thing is to determine the required duty cycle - from what you wrote, a few minutes every now and again waiting for it to build up pressure is no big deal?? this allows you to buy smaller/cheaper units... but the dryer issue can come up. IMHO, paying peanuts really does get you monkeys with air compressors... save up, ask for cash for Christmas or whatever it takes, but buy a good one and it will last for a lifetime if maintained.

[isuzurover]

Why not hook up a York A/C compressor to a separate motor and a tank?? this has crossed my mind once or twice but dont have the bits or the time atm.....

This is a good idea - a mate of mine did this. But you do need to be able to find a motor and tank 2nd hand - which may be difficult down there?

[LOVEMYRANGIE]

This is a good idea - a mate of mine did this. But you do need to be able to find a motor and tank 2nd hand - which may be difficult down there?

Auction house might be a good place to start for a tank or at least an old semi dud compressor, scrap metal yard, local tip even, and dont forget fleabay.
Any 240VAC motor would do the job, only need to run @ 2000ish rpm, but I would start with a dead compressor with a good tank and working switchgear. If they are under $200 new, you wouldnt expect to part with more than $50 or a carton of coldies at the tip!

[DeeJay]

I just bought the Black ridge 40l $198.00 jobbie you mention off Supacheap for $98.00:eek: as it was in thier catalogue.
I never buy big ticket items off them unless on special.
Its really light duty, not 100% duty more like 50% ie thier own web page says to run it for 2 min then rest for 5.
Suits me as I bought it for small jobs- got sick of lugging the belt drive one around.

[Tank]

Anybody else have any thoughts?
Direct coupled compressors get too hot, heat transfers from motor to compressor and vice-versa, small capacity means compressor is running for longer to do the job and waitng for pressure to build up is a PITA.
52L tank is minimum size and 15cfm is minimum airflow, if compressor has water seperator/trap/air regulator mounted on the compressor you will get better performance by mounting it seperately (say on the wall of the shed) and at least 1 metre above compressor tank outlet, excess heat causes moisture build up in tank and air line.
Save your pennies and buy a decent compressor that will do the job and last more than 5 minutes, Regards Frank.

[Phoenix]

Well I sorta took some advice, but sorta didn't LOL !!!

I ended up with a belt driven, 52L (I think) tank, 250l/min (I think, have to check) compressor. It is a supercheap auto brand (so generic) and it's normally $500. However it was on sale last week for $300, so 1 hour before the sale ended I dropped in and grabbed one :D

So I have a boxed compressor, now to get a moisture trap, air line, spray gun, and probably a die grinder and rattle gun, or maybe just borrow the later two.

I'll probably go to bunnings and spend about $200 on bits when I get the chance, althoguh $115 of that is for the gravity fed paint gun!

[Phoenix]

I did mention this one in the first thread (but not that it was on sale)

SCA, belt drive, 2.75 hp, 50L, free load 250l/min . $299

[ariddell]

There any decent deals on these kicking around at the moment?

Quite fancied one of the Supercheap ones when they were $300, but since they're now back up to $500 it's pushing it a bit.

Vaguely tempted by the deal they have on now of a 2hp direct drive compressor and set of tools for $165 - likely to be poor quality i know but may be ok for the basic use i need it for

Still - would rather get a decent one if there's anything good going at a decent price at the moment.

[Phoenix]

I think repco had some on sale at the moment, check there as well as nubco if you have one nearby.

[neophyteguy]

Just saw these on tradingpost. Just over $300 with 3hp and nearly 400l/min.........FYI.
Air Compressor 3 on Trading Post ? machinery, portable generators, milking machines, machinery parts, tractors, rural machinery, machinery services and earthmoving equipment at low prices. (http://www.tradingpost.com.au/Rural-Machinery/Machinery/Generators-Compressors/AdNumber=W49235550119?BackToResult=true)

[George130]

The bigger the tank the better off you will be for around the house. I bought a monster one 4 years ago. Best thing I ever did. Cost me $700 for the display unit though.
Trick friends have done is to have a few tanks. Turns the unit on before he even starts to get ready for the job and lets the tanks fill. Then by the time he is ready to work he has several tanks filled ready to go.

[XSiV]

I'm thinking of getting a compressor also, I found this one (http://www.bigshop.com.au/buy/Air-Compressor-Cara-3HP-Belt-Driven-50L-Tank-10-9CFM-Cara/Air-Tools-Compressors/BIG-AirLH305) and was wondering:

a) if anyone knows anything about this brand and whether or not they are ok?

b) if it has a 15 Amp plug, apart from a different power point would I need any form of upgrade to my wiring at home to account for this?

[Redback]

Looks like the one I have Josh, I got mine at Bunnings though, from memory it was $349, seems to work well, I've had no problems so far, It won't run anything that uses heaps of air like a sander, but it will run a rattle gun and ratchet spanner, air rivet/stapler and so on.

Baz.

[XSiV]

Looks like the one I have Josh, I got mine at Bunnings though, from memory it was $349, seems to work well, I've had no problems so far, It won't run anything that uses heaps of air like a sander, but it will run a rattle gun and ratchet spanner, air rivet/stapler and so on.

Baz.

Thanks Baz,

Does yours have the 15 amp plug? Do I require special cabling to account for that or some modification to the circuit breaker box at home? Or is it simply a case of putting on a different power point?

I think I'll have a look at Bunnings then if it's the same one cause it's cheaper.

Cheers

Josh

[Redback]

Thanks Baz,

Does yours have the 15 amp plug? Do I require special cabling to account for that or some modification to the circuit breaker box at home? Or is it simply a case of putting on a different power point?

I think I'll have a look at Bunnings then if it's the same one cause it's cheaper.

Cheers

Josh

No Josh mine has a 10 amp plug, also I don't think they sell them anymore, the one we bought was a display model and I haven't seen them again.

I'll have a look at the brand of mine when i get home and take a pic and show you.

Baz.

[XSiV]

Cheers Baz,

I think I might just head on down to bunnings and see what they have anyway when I get a chance and see what they have on offer. There's also a trade supply place I know of at kirrawee I might drop in there and see what they have on offer.

Josh

[Redback]

Here ya go Josh
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/bazzar/compressor003.jpg

Baz.

[Phoenix]

Baz, yours is twin cylinder, the other ine is a single cylinder. That said, the single cylinder looks identical to my supercheap one, which in turn is identical to a scorpion brand one I have seen

[Redback]

Yes it is a twin, at the moment it doesn't seem to be holding it pressure as well as it used too, using the rattle gun last night it was dieing very quickly and not undoing the nut, might need to look at the pressure reg to see what's going on.

I have 3 compressors the one pictured, a JUN-AIR button compressor MODEL 6-25 (mines 35yrs old) and a 10CFM Ingesol Rand.

http://www.jun-air.com/sw1386.asp

When it's on you can hardly hear it, used mostly in dentists surgerys and labs.

Baz.