Thread: Air compressors - is this good?

10cfm and 40 ltr is about minimum for air tools and spraying.

Originally Posted by LandyAndy

A direct drive compressor is no good for spraypainting unless you dont mind a real dodgy job,the tank is too small,the air is too hot wich means alot of moisture is in the air,because of the airtemp a moisture trap wont get much of it.You will end up with plenty of moisture bubbles in your paintjob!!!
Andrew

I disagree, direct drive or belt drive most have the same size tank unless its a commercial size compressor, i have sprayed many cars in acrylic and enamel with a direct drive with no problems.

Originally Posted by Phoenix

Repco has on sale for $299 (ok, $300 basically) an air compressor on sale at the moment, and i've no idea if it would be any good for what I want.

I'd be using it for painting, airing up tyres, probably a rattle gun, and possibly a nail gun down the track. Maybe even some small scale sandblasting.

It's a SRI Air brand by tyhe looks of it, it's 2.2 hp, 40L capacity, belt drive, 149L/min at 700 kpa. it comes with a 5 piece accessory kit comprising of what looks like a puffer thyingo, tyre inflator a hose, I think a spray painter and what looks like a little oil can with a blower attached (looking at the catalouge).

Crap or not bad?

Close coupled compressors have problems with overheating, the electric motor transfers it's heat to the compressor and vice-versa, if you want something to play with occasionally and not continous use as in spray painting, get a close coupled compressor. However if you wish to spray paint without having to stop all the time to wait for the compressor to catch up and the same goes for air powered tools you will need AT LEAST 55L tank and a 15cu. ft/min belt driven compressor, if you intend painting (cars, 4WDs) spend some extra money on good quality professional air pressure regulator, filter and drier and mount them off the compressor and higher, Regards Frank.

And expect everyone to want to borrow it then

I bought one of the cheapies a couple of years ago from Repco for $199, it lasted around a year and stopped........permanently. I had used it fairly well but I didn't consider it value for money. I've now got a 16 cuft three cylinder unit bought for about $650 and it is a good buy, plenty of capacity and hopefully will last many years.