Small Compressors

[nospambob]

[Doug Kanter]

I haven't begun shopping for this, but I'd like to have a small compressor in my garage for topping off tire pressure, and for times when I need to blast dirt/dust out of engine & boat crevices. I'd prefer something that doesn't take up as much floor space as a gas grill, and it should be AC powered, not one of those portable that you keep in the trunk of the car. Anyone have purchasing/feature advice, and perhaps some brands to look for, or avoid?

[SQLit]

Try harbor freight

[Doug Kanter]

If short-lived is based on hours used, something like that should last me long enough!

[Charles Spitzer]

avoid harbor freight. i have one of their compressors. it needs a part, and parts are near impossible to get.

[KLM]

Too late. Got one of these oilless ones already. I understand the piston rings are teflon or graphite which is how they can be "oilless." What is the best maintenance rountine? Release all air pressure if not in use or can I leave it pressurized? How hard or easy is it to replace those piston rings? I love the pneumatic tools.

[Doug Kanter]

Yeah...I'm wary of that place. If Sears starts making tools in China, at least I can walk into the store and either have the problem dealt with, or introduce the manager to a new way of thinking.

[Yep]

Oiless use a diaphram so there are no piston rings hence no need for oil!

[Charles Spitzer]

well, let me modify what i stated. avoid the cheap noname compressors at harbor freight. they do sell other makes, like ingersoll-rand and cambell-hausfeld, which you can get parts for pretty easily. their brand comes from anywhere where they feel like this week. mine actually comes from italy i found out, and parts are 10-14 weeks away. so far, i've called 4 times, and they've sent me 3 parts, all the wrong one, and all taking between 10-14 weeks to get to me.

to say i'm annoyed is putting it mildly. however, i've found that the axiom 'you get what you pay for' pertains in this case.

regards, charlie cave creek, az

[Bryan]

I believe the cylinder liner is teflon. There isn't any pressure in the cylinder when it isn't on, so you can leave the pressure up when not using it. If you bleed the pressure to zero, you'll have to pump it up again next time you use it - that's where wear would come from.

I haven't needed to replace any parts in mine, so I can't tell you how difficult it might be. Looks easy from the parts diagram.

- Bryan

[AC/DCdude17]

X-No-Archive: Yes

Doug Kanter wrote:

Are you looking at a tankless or tank type? You can get an AC powered tankless type in a shape similar to the 12V powered one for $40 or so. If you want one with a tank, there's a type with a hamburger shaped tank below the motor with the foot print of a 15" TV, although it cost about $200.

[Doug Kanter]

No idea. What's the advantage of a tank? Pressured air available, without the motor having to run the whole time?

[Edwin Pawlowski]

You have the idea. You want a tank. It is a reservoir of compressed air. Filling a tire with a small unit could take a very long time but the tank already has the air available to be transferred.

There are many small compressors that are able to fill tires, do a quick cleanup, power a nail gun and even small spray setups. They are not suitable for air tools with repeated heavy use or constant use. I have a Porter Cable "pancake" model that suites me fine. Takes little space, can fit under a bench or cabinet, is light enough to take to the place you want to use it. I paid less than $200 with a brad nailer kit.

If you have aspirations of painting cars with it, you need much bigger.

[Doug Kanter]

Nah....just tires, and blowing crud out of crevices, like certain tight spots in my boat. I might use it once in a blue moon to try spraying paint on a small project, but I'm not a big fan of spraying entire houses.

[wayne]

Surprisingly the Porter Cable unit sucks at this. It's not good at cleaning up at all.

[Doug Kanter]

Too bad. I might also want to use the thing to blow out the empty channel between my 15 yr old son's ears. Perhaps mental floss is better for that. :-)

[DaveC]

On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 09:17:57 -0700, [e-mail] wrote (in article ):

Is it the belt-drive kind? These are the most quiet type. The direct-drive kind are *noisy*, and you'll not want to be in the same room when you're running it.

[Jeff Wisnia]

The first four articles on this page have a lot of good stuff about small compressors.

Also, beware the phony "peak horsepower" rating on some compressors. Things got so out of hand that class action settlemsnts resulted.

Good luck,

Jeff

[TURTLE]

This is Turtle.

Look at what is called the Pan Cake type air compressors. Cheap ,Small , and AC powered.

TURTLE

[TURTLE]

This is Turtle.

No , everybody I know just use a 2 X 4 for that job.

TURTLE