# Air Compressor Opinions



## Josh.AZ.GTO (Jul 11, 2009)

Does anyone have this one? I am about to buy it here tonight. I have $150 in Sears gift cards and its on sale for $449. Out of pocket I would spend $300. 

Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more

Just looking for thoughts on this particular model or any experience with using it. 

Thank you all in advance.


----------



## Josh.AZ.GTO (Jul 11, 2009)

Also...do you think a $200 warranty for the next 3 years would be worth it?


----------



## Josh.AZ.GTO (Jul 11, 2009)

Josh.AZ.GTO said:


> Does anyone have this one? I am about to buy it here tonight. I have $150 in Sears gift cards and its on sale for $449. Out of pocket I would spend $300.
> 
> Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more
> 
> ...


***Bought***


----------



## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Hey Josh,
I wish I'd seen your post sooner. The big question is: what do you plan to use it for?

I looked at the page with the specs for it, and saw "SCFM delivery at 90 PSI: 11.3 SCFM". If you're planning to use it to paint or to run air tools, that's going to be a little "light". You want 15 SCFM at 90 PSI, minimum for those jobs. Otherwise the compressor is going to tend to run "all the time" and that's going to result in "hot" air with a lot of condensation/water in it. The air system you plumb it into is also very important. You want at least 20 feet of line between the compressor and your first delivery point, and that line should be hard pipe - steel is ok, copper is better - and it needs to slope "downhill" back towards the compressor. Purpose being: the metal will help cool the air so the condensation will tend to drop out of it, and the slope will help it tend to run back towards the compressor instead of out through whatever you'r using the air for. If you're going to be painting with it, this is very important as is having a very good moisture removal system prior to your gun. Here's what I'm using.. Also when you plumb your air system, linclude "drops" that are low points with valves at the end of them so that you'll have places where you can drain the water out of the lines - here's an example. My air system has three such drops like this - one near the feed for my air tools (that's the one in the previous photo), another at the feed for my paint gun, and a third that's below the point where my compressor connects to the air line. You'ld be surprised to see how quickly these points need to be drained when you're using the compressor a lot on a hot, humid day. It's quite possible to spend as much on your air-line system as you do on the compressor, if not more.

EDIT: There's a guy over on the Paintucation forums, GaryL, who's a real expert in air systems. It'd pay you to go over there and search out all his posts on the topic. I'm no expert on the topic - everything I wrote above is basically an echo of things I learned from him 
When I upgraded my air system last year and put in this compressor, I followed his advice. It's big enough, but just barely. When I was running the air sander here recently, wet sanding the paint getting ready to buff it, the compressor ran quite a bit and I still had to pay attention to keeping the system drained fairly often.

Another edit: (Just because I don't want you to think I'm being a "negative Nelly"  I used a tiny 2hp portable 110v Campbell Hausfeld for 15 years or more, and ran air tools and everything with it. I had it plumbed about as "wrong" as you can do it, with PVC pipe, because I just didn't know any better. I even used it to apply all the primer coats to my car. I just had to "adapt" - i.e. pay close attention to keeping it drained and also spend lots of time waiting for it to "catch up". It didn't matter for the primer because I knew I was going to sand all that anyway. I only upgraded because I didn't want to be in the position of having put in hundreds of hours getting the car finally ready to paint, then have the paint job messed up (and "waste" all that expensive paint and clear) by a compressor that wasn't up to it. 

Bear


----------



## jetstang (Nov 5, 2008)

Josh, That's a sweet compressor, I'm envious! That should do everything you need for a long time. I'm on my 3rd compressor, I do paint and bodywork and mine only has a 25 gallon tank, but I do have an extra 25 gallon tank hooked up to it.
Great price, nice!


----------



## Eric Animal (Oct 28, 2007)

Bigger than what I have (also a Craftsman). I don't paint, but I did try to blast with mine. It couldn't keep up, but I really didn't think it would. Mine works all my impact tools and air wrenches fine. It is 1/2 the size of yours. I never buy extended warranties. Nice compressor!:cheers Eric


----------



## ALKYGTO (Mar 29, 2010)

You did good IMO by not getting one of those oil-less compressors. They are a joke. You'll be able to leave this one to your kids someday....


----------



## Josh.AZ.GTO (Jul 11, 2009)

Thank you all for your input, I get to go pick it up tonight. I plan on using it for everything,....from air tools to stripping and primming. I hope it will do the job and then some. For $300, if it only lasts for this project.... I will consider it well worth it, but I hope for more. 

Bear, I will be definately plumbing it from another room. My garage has a small workshop built into the back of the garage. I plan on putting the compressor in that back shop area and pipe the hose out to the garage area. So I will most likely have future questions on what goes where and what I will need for moisture traps and how to run the lines. I do plan on painting my own car, cross that bridge when the time comes. I will definately check out that website you referred me to and The PaintUCation series is on my Xmas list.  

I have been looking into purchasing a mig welder as well to handle just a few patches I will need to be making. Probably buy some sheet metal and get a lot of practice under my belt before moving onto the patches on the car. I like the Eastwood Mig 135, does anyone have this particular unit? For the money it seems to be the best unit I have found.


----------



## jetstang (Nov 5, 2008)

I'm with Alky, I was scared you bought one of those noisy oil less compressors, that was #1 I had, lol.. You got a nice compressor. A multi stage compressor is better, and more efficient, but bang for the buck you got all the compressor you will ever need. And it will last beyond this project, and forever.
For Welders, I have a flux core welder, and want a true Mig, I am looking at getting the tank and reg for my Lincoln welder. If you are just welding body panels, you do need something with argon, but 110 V should work fine for body panels, so low end is OK. If you aren't doing panels and welds arent' showing, a flux $100 welder does work. I thought mine was crap, then my neighbor, a welder in the army used mine and it did great, gave me respect for my welder.. It's all about setting the welder up for the application and practice.


----------



## likethat (Oct 5, 2007)

So true but the flux splatter and the price of the wire is not to good once you start really using a welder. I have a nice 220v mig and have the regulator but still need to go down and get a tank plus a set for my acetylene torch. I have a 220 ac/dc stick welder also. I shopped around at pawn shops and craigslist till I found everything. The stick welder and the torch set where brand new. Still sealed up in there boxes. The mig had been used just for 6 months to weld on a few body panels. I don't have $500 in all of them. Now I am looking for a Tig and a Plasma cutter.


----------



## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Josh.AZ.GTO said:


> I have been looking into purchasing a mig welder as well to handle just a few patches I will need to be making. Probably buy some sheet metal and get a lot of practice under my belt before moving onto the patches on the car. I like the Eastwood Mig 135, does anyone have this particular unit? For the money it seems to be the best unit I have found.


I've got one of these. I think it must be a generic Chinese model because I've seen what has to be the exact same unit wearing several different brands. It's fine for sheet metal work, and I always use it with sheilding gas. If you plan to use it to make structural welds that need lots of strength and penetration, be prepared to carefully dress the joints first and also make multiple passes to lay in enough metal, and even then I'm not sure that it can penetrate as much as I'd like. I did use it to build an engine dolly for transporting my assembled motor to the machine shop for dyno testing, but I held my breath the whole way there and back 

Knowing what I know now, if I were to buy another one I'd probably opt for a larger, better quality unit like one of the Millers just so I could do more with it. I've also got an oxy-acetylene rig and a "plain old" stick welder, but a mig is so much nicer and faster to use, and I can make "prettier" welds with it. I used to be pretty decent with the gas rig but it's been so long that I've probably "lost it".

Bear


----------



## Josh.AZ.GTO (Jul 11, 2009)

Bringing back an older post of mine ... now that I have the air compressor ... what materials should I be using to run the lines.

Aside from connecting pneumatic connectors to the piping, will connecting the rest be like doing an ordinary plumbing job involving solder. Is there a preferred rating for holding compressed air in pipes I should be looking for, by this I mean thickness and gauge of piping. 

What makes copper better than steel for this application ... is it temperature differences?


----------



## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Josh.AZ.GTO said:


> What makes copper better than steel for this application ... is it temperature differences?


Yep. Copper is a great conductor of heat so it helps cool the air to dry it. Black pipe works well too, but it will eventually rust from the moisture in the air. When I installed my system, I used 3/4" hard copper pipe everywhere, along with the "Shark Bite" fittings. It's not that I can't solder copper, I can --- I just wanted to be able to disassemble the system easily and change it around. I forget the exact nomenclature on the copper that I used, but it's "one step up" from the cheapest/thinnest that you normally find at home improvement stores. If you're going to use the system to paint, make sure you have at least 20 feet of line from your compressor to the drop you use for paint and that everything slopes "downhill" back towards the compressor. This is to give the metal lots of opportunity to cool the air and to make sure that condensation runs back to the compressor, not out onto your paint job. You also want to install some ball valves at all the "low points" that you can open to drain water out of the system. Use some sort of flexible hose to connect the compressor to the hard line in order to isolate it from vibration so it won't crack the line. I'll attach some photos. One change I've made since the photos is that I've replaced the small regulator on the air hose reel with a larger and better Filter/Regulator/Lubricator combination, and changed the feed point for the reel so that it comes from the down leg instead of from the leg that runs horizontally across the ceiling. Doing that helped to greatly reduce the amount of moisture that the filter was having to deal with.


Bear


----------



## curtdan62 (Oct 27, 2010)

How is the compressor working out for you.. Does it meet your needs? Does it run a grinder/cutoff wheel efficently? Just asking because I am in the hunt for a compressor and also on a limted budget..


----------



## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

So far I'm liking it. I did have to get the pump replaced under warranty, but it was covered and at no cost to me. So far it has run everything I've asked it to, including grinders, sanders, and other tools.

Bear


----------



## Josh.AZ.GTO (Jul 11, 2009)

I'm getting ready to buy all the piping for my hard lines to my compressor. So here is what I am thinking and I am calling upon the experts amongst us to verify if this setup is ideal or should be reworked.

1. From compressor to hard line is about 1.5' of 3/8 hose (flexible) or greater.
2. First stretch of hard line shoots straight up the wall and bends at a rounded 90 degree angle (left). This line is about 3' to 4' long before turn. 
3. Hard line runs along ceiling for another 3' before coming to another turn and running along the ceiling (left). 
4. The next section will run about 9.5' along ceiling to corner of work shed before taking another 90 turn (left).
5. This next section runs about 6' over to another 90 turn (down).
6. Here the pipe drops down 5' where the hose line will enter into the garage area dead center for ease of access to both sides. 

So now I have a total of about 26.5' of 3/4" copper piping and I plan on using 3/8" inch hose. I'm not sure where I am going to put an inline air dryer filter, lubricator, and dryer. I have been looking at some campbell hausfeld units and sharkbite connectors.

So all that being said ... do I have too little or enough pipping to my access point and how far from the compressor should the filter, lubricator, and dryer be installed. I have a few other ideas for how I could set up my system but I'm just looking for some initial feedback as this is my first time attempting to set a compressed air system together. 

As always thank you for your advice.


----------



## Josh.AZ.GTO (Jul 11, 2009)

Or I could do something like this.


----------



## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Hi Josh, so far I'm liking your ideas. If were to add/change anything, it would be to go with flex hose from the compressor to the wall that's at least as large as your pipe (3/4"). I used fiber reinforced vinyl on mine that's clad in steel braid - I think it was originally a hot water heater flex hose, but I checked the pressure rating on it and it's plenty strong for this purpose. When you run your pipe, make sure that it has a slight slant "downhill" back towards the compressor so that condensation in the line will tend to run that direction instead of out of your air supply and through your tools, spray gun, etc. Also make sure that you put in a few drain valves at low points so you'll be able to purge water out of your lines (the tap(s) for your air supply to whatever you're using should never be at the lowest point because that's where the water is going to collect.) Also, if you're going to ever do any painting with your system, I'd make at least two separate air supply points: one is where you'd install your lubricator and use for 'normal' things like running air tools and such, the other would be dedicated to painting only and would be arranged such that it never 'sees' oil from the lubricator and has the best desiccant/filter/dryer system you can afford on it. 

Also get the biggest, nastiest compressor you can afford. Two stage if possible --- the reason is that the closer to max capacity that it operates, the more it's going to be running - and the more it runs, the "hotter" the air is going to be and that leads to more moisture in your air supply. That'll bite you at the worst possible time - like when you're almost done with the last coat of clear on an otherwise perfect paint job and everything's nice and warm - and you get a big old blob of water right in the middle of your hood.  That's another reason for using copper and for making sure you've got at least 20 - 25 feet of it between the compressor and your paint drop: it helps pull heat and moisture out of the air.

You'll like the shark bite fittings. They're pricey and not really necessary if you know how to solder a good joint, but one advantage is that they can be easily disassembled and reused if you ever want to change things around quickly.

There are several diagrams out on the web if you search... I'm including one that I found.

(EDITED: Added some photos of what I did on mine)

Bear


----------

