School me on air compressors please!

[M3_Power 636]

Okay am looking at getting a small compressor for small odd jobs around home - little spray touch up painting, perhaps some rattle gun work, tyre pumping ect ...

Not going into trade of course, so don't need or want to be spending thousands on an industrial compressor.

Saw this special with supercheap and it seemed pretty decent for what I might need it for - any feedback or reviews on one of these?? Or perhaps other suggestions on what I should spend my money on?

Advance appreciation for all advice given!

http://catalogue.supercheapauto.co.nz/offe...ssor+Combo+Deal

Edited June 5, 2013 by M3_Power

[Etwenty1 45]

When i bought one, advice from my neighbour who has a full professional workshop sqeezed into a 2 car garage is was to go a minimum 15 cfm. I went 12cfm instead and it shows when using tools that need a lot of air like random orbital sander. If you have some electrical tools or are happy to hire a real compressor for the big jobs it'll be fine to pump up tyres on your bike....

Look on TM for a Hindin Marquip 15 that has been loooked after.

FYI - 180l/m converts to 6.35 cfm - pressure also matter so perhaps a tradie can chip in with the real story.

[Ultrarandom 3]

Working for Supercheap myself, we hardly have any of these come back so the build quality definitely seems to be good but I don't know why it comes with the paint kit as for extended painting you want to use a belt driven compressor.

Not right up with the trade knowledge only the limited that we are taught at work, they definitely seem to be a decent compressor for home use though.

I know the tools we sell also say the recommended amount of L/min on the packaging for using them.

[M3_Power 636]

Appreciate the feedback Chris and Reed, mighty helpful.

I might pop into supercheap to have a look in person and then decide. Just seems like a really good deal for what you get in the kit.

[jeffbebe 1559]

If you buy it can you help me paint my valve box covers, Tom? I'll buy the coffees (and the paint, of course!!)

[bellicose 9]

Look on TM for a Hindin Marquip 15 that has been loooked after.

FYI - 180l/m converts to 6.35 cfm

Chris is correct, a good 2nd hand one will be the best option.

6 CFM will NOT drive any air powered tools, also the bigger the tank the better.

Direct drive compressors are notoriously (sp?) bad for sh1tting shafts and seals as after a not too long period the stress of directly driving the shaft takes a toll.

A quick search on TM,

This is the kind of thing you need to look at mate, although i'm a bit suspect where it says 3hp as from what i know 2.5hp is 'bout the max on a 10 amp (household) plug because the draw on start up is huge with a compressor. But even if it is really a 2.5hp it will be perfect for what you want.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-...n-600552207.htm

Please do not buy a SC one, spend a little more and you won't be disappointed.

Just my 2c

[bellicose 9]

Just seems like a really good deal for what you get in the kit.

Those spray guns are CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP. A mate bought that kit and brought them around home for me to see why they weren't working properly. The fluid tip was bigger than the needle (so liquid poured out without pulling trigger) The needles in all 3 guns were bent & the caps wouldn't fit (shrunk) after they were exposed to thinners..................hello, they're are spray guns.

[Neal 512]

Appreciate the feedback Chris and Reed, mighty helpful.

I might pop into supercheap to have a look in person and then decide. Just seems like a really good deal for what you get in the kit.

Brought one similar from sc a couple of years back. It's had light use but has had everything from staplers to air tools and media blasting connected to it. Only thing I hadn't tried is using a spray gun yet although I have one to try, an entry level job from a pro paint shop for similar reasons to other posts here.

Forgot to add, I have two air lines. One for air tools that lub via the air line . Another for media blasting painting etc.

Would also have brought a retractable hose reel and mounted it on the garage wall if I'd given it more thought upfront.

Edited June 6, 2013 by Neal

[M3_Power 636]

Really appreciate all the great suggestions and opinions everyone - learning a lot as I go!!

Went and checked out what the local hardware stores had - are Air Command or Remington Air any good? Seems they have quite a good range of compressors that seem to have much better quality fittings and FAD volume than the SCA compressor I was looking at above.

Seems like the old saying buy once, buy right might be the way to go on this!

Had a look at second hand Marquip .... hmmmm maybe if I was to open a shop I might spend that sort of money!! There must be like a mid range model some where?

Sure Julian - happy to do a bit of spraying!!! If you trust an amateur like me : P

[hybrid 1039]

Chat to Ray about the ones he gets ... cost about 1k but are decent and drive tools till the cows come home. Also have put up with the workshop / wrecker beating.

[HELLBM 1530]

Try these guys Tom. Ash Air.Our compressors are used intensively on a daily basis. Great after sales service on the occasion it was needed.

[bellicose 9]

The minimum you should get mate is a belt driven one with at least 50lt tank, with air tools it's not so much the flow rate but the initial oomph when the trigger is pulled that you need. The biggest drain on a compressor tool wise is, spray gun, sander, rattle gun & media blasting. Yes you will have people sayin' "yeah bro, i blasted &/or painted all this stuff with my little compressor", the main question then is 'How many weeks did it take you?'

Also something to consider is 'cycle rate', that's how often a compressor starts & stops during a given period (usually measured by the hour) with something like a spray gun or media blasting gun attached. There's nothing more frustrating then doing a job and constantly having to stop to wait for compressor to catch up.

One trick is find an old LPG/CNG tank and tee it in and use that as the reciever, so you have the compressor tank with a hose going to the extra tank, you take your hose off the extra tank, works ok for high consumption tools.

Attached a (not very good) pic' of mine.

It's one i kinda did myself, the pump is only xmall being 12cfm and the motor is a 2.5hp BUT the tank is 160lt. It gives me FAD of 550 litres per minute (19 cfm) which is perfect for me. Cycle rate is 6 per hour at 50 psi, that means it starts & fills 6 times in an hour when it's constantly providing 50 psi at the gun.

AND another thing to watch is hose length, most hoses you'll get with the home hobby compressor will lose between 3 and 8 psi per 10 foot of length. So if you have a 20ft hose on a retractable roller there goes between 6 & 16 psi before it even gets to your tool.

Hope this hasn't confused ya even more mate.

(all this has been trial & error for me over the last 30 years)

[APT 179]

I think people are really getting off track here, Tom is not going to use this for commercial purposes I've got a SCA one and I've used it a lot of times with all my conversions, engine, 5 stud swaps, struts, etc and it hasn't let me down (I also use SCA air tools) to some people in the trade these compressors are "sh*t" but I think they are pretty well priced for the hobby mechanic that won't use it every day.

I haven't used any of the paint guns so I can't comment, I've had mine for 3+ years now.

Just my 2 cents - I also use to work at SCA many moons ago...

[bellicose 9]

I think people are really getting off track here, Tom is not going to use this for commercial purposes I've got a SCA one and I've used it a lot of times with all my conversions, engine, 5 stud swaps, struts, etc and it hasn't let me down (I also use SCA air tools) to some people in the trade these compressors are "sh*t" but I think they are pretty well priced for the hobby mechanic that won't use it every day.

I haven't used any of the paint guns so I can't comment, I've had mine for 3+ years now.

Just my 2 cents - I also use to work at SCA many moons ago...

He asked for advice, so that's what i've given based on 30 years of using compressors. Would you rather we all said "yeah mate, those SC ones are fantastic nad perfect for rattle guns and what not" or would you rather we all give advice based on experience?

I know what i'd rather.

[huff3r 347]

He asked for advice, so that's what i've given based on 30 years of using compressors. Would you rather we all said "yeah mate, those SC ones are fantastic nad perfect for rattle guns and what not" or would you rather we all give advice based on experience?

I know what i'd rather.

They do work with rattle guns though. Maybe not perfect for them, but they definitely do work. A friend has the much smaller 2HP one, and has a rattle gun and a pneumatic ratchet and it is perfectly fine with both of them. So largely for a cheap home compressor they are pretty good.

I also worked at SCA a while back and we never had a customer come back complaining it didn't drive any of our tools.

[bellicose 9]

They do work with rattle guns though. Maybe not perfect for them, but they definitely do work. A friend has the much smaller 2HP one, and has a rattle gun and a pneumatic ratchet and it is perfectly fine with both of them. So largely for a cheap home compressor they are pretty good.

I also worked at SCA a while back and we never had a customer come back complaining it didn't drive any of our tools.

Point taken.

[APT 179]

So the 3 people that have worked at SCA present or in the past (+Neal) have answered Tom's first question, yes they are good for home use and odd jobs.

I guess it really comes down to what your going to use it for.

Edited June 6, 2013 by APT

[Neal 512]

Food for thought

I did consider getting an entry level commercial grade compressor.

My brother who's been a mechanic for 30 odd years point out that for a similar price I could get a sidchrome socket set ,screwdriver set, an 1200kg engine crane , a floor crawler , a grinder , axle stands, alloy race jack , roller seat , a compressor , various air tools, spray gun , a power drill , router , jigsaw , circular saw and a host of other tools for the same price.

The only thing that has failed has been the rollers on the roller seat seat which SCA replaced out of warranty.

Brother thinks the compressor is fine for non commercial use.

Other use is tyre pressure management for 4 sets of mini rims , 2 x motorbikes and 4 x cars.

[Allanw 1051]

A cheap new one will have a waranty.

A used old one won't..... but they're reliable and easy to fix anyway (usually).

It really depends on the money you want to spend.

I've got a big belt driven Ingersoll Rand from the very early 80's?? Dad had it in his Boat Worshop for YEARS... 15+ and it's been at home for 15 ish. I don't know it's size, but it's a big single cylinder with a 3/4 HP I think I've since used it to "paint" a number of cars (badly - I'm crap at painting). rattle guns, undersealing, texture coating a van roof, sand blasting and spot and blasting and a 750NM rattle gun a cuople of times, plus tyres and all the usual stuff. It's never had any work done to it, but is probably due a set of rings - Surely by now it must???

At another job, we had a supercheap type one, which cracked a head and was replaced no questions asked - the replacement was fine and never had any issues in the time I was still there, but it's probably not going to be with you for life. I don't knnow if you can even gets parts, like rings etc???

[M3_Power 636]

Some seriously good feedbacks and suggestions on here!! Making the decision even harder haha!!!

Going to go take a look at a few more options before I commit.

I think we all want the best money can buy, but there's obiously a practicality element here. As with anything, there will always have to be compromises.

Just one more question - Sumake ones from Sulco - anyone have experience with these?

The Ash air ones look really good spec wise Ray - thank you - might see what sort of deals they can do.

Cheers all!!!