Air compressors - created 11-09-2009

Martirena, Ivan - 11/09/2009.18:06:17

Hello, I'm on the market for a air compressor from Grizzly, they have good prices and the CFM x psi are the ones the guns require. Just wanted to see if anyone has any advise or experience with these kind of compressors. Also, I notice some models have oil lubricated pumps and some not...what's the differences/pros and cons between them?

Anyways, thanks!

Oil-less compressors make a *loud* noise that is one of the worst machine sounds that there is, IMO. I'd stick with the piston type.

I assume imported compressors of similar price and performance are of similar quality. My compressor is a Charge Air by DiVilbiss. It's an import made somewhere (China?) for DiVilbiss, I bought it used at an auction, and it has served me well for probably 15 years. I assume it is similar quality to the Grizzly units.

I have an oil-less compressor, and can vouch for what John just said; damn loud, and high pitched! But, it's 10 years old(if not more) and still does what I ask of it.

Go with a good cast iron, oil lube unit if you can...

So should I look at the gallons or HP? Is 1,5 gallons enough, or I would be refilling it every hour? How does the HP affect the spraying?

Thanks guys!

CFM is all that counts. A larger tank will allow you to get by with a smaller compressor for spraying by acting as a flywheel of sorts, but it will cycle more often.

Are you only going to use it to spray with? If so, you can get by with a quite smaller compressor than the gun specifies, because the gun manufacturer assumes you're spraying continuously, or near so, for long periods, where we shoot a guitar or two at a time, one coat + clean the gun then walk away for a while, return, repeat...... A small compressor can keep up with cycles like that because of the tank. If you plan on adding air powered tools now, or in the future, go big.

My compressor would be a joke if I were trying to spray a car or truck, and no way would it ever power up a air sander or other tool, but it's fine for luthin' type finishing....

I see...thanks Mario. I guess I'll be using it mainly for spraying: color and lacquer mostly, shellac and other types. No powered tools. I guess I'll give the grizzly compressors a shot and see how they do. I will probably get the gun from them as well.

I've been using an older version of the Ingersoll Rand 5.3 CFM @ 40 PSI, 2 HP Air Compressor, Model# DD2T2. It's under $300 at Northern Tool with free shipping. My shop is small and I was looking for a continuous-duty oil-type compressor that would fit in my space. I have no problem using a spray gun or nail guns. I doubt it would run much in the way of air tools but I haven't tried.

I've got a 12 gallon Craftsman 1.5hp oil less compressor, and while it's not highly rated for lots of tools, it will hold it's own against most of them. It does fine for my spray gun, though it does fire up once or so during a spray session, and it is noisy. It does fine with my pin nailer, my brad nailer, my air rotary tool, and pretty much every other tool I've tried it with. And the price was right (inherited when Dad got rid of his tools). It's been a great tool that I didn't know I needed until I got one.

I have a 6hp 33gallon craftsman oiless. It's loud and not fun to move. It seems to do the trick fairly well, I have a few different spray guns and I seem to have trouble with them when I try and make the spray pattern very wide.

Is that CFM?

I have a 50 ft hose, should I get a shorter one for spraying?

or maybe a larger diameter?

thanks

If you are controlling the spraying pressure with a regulator located at the compressor, then turning the pattern wider on the gun could be asking for too much air to move through the hose. One fix would be a larger hose. Even better is to install a small secondary regulator at your gun and turn the pressure up on the primary so your hose has plenty of air.

I have a 6 gallon Makita that puts out 6.5 CFM at 90 psi. It works well with my HVLP gun and a 15' x 3/8" hose. The shorter hose definitely helps reduce pressure drop.

I picked up an old dental compressor off craigslist. It's almost quiet with the door shut. It has two Coplematic 1HP oil bath compressors on a 40 Gallon tank and they can be used singly or together if I need the airflow. I get 6.5 cfm with one or 13cfm with both going. I think those ratings are at 90 PSI which makes it pretty efficient as compressors go. I'd say if you can find one of those for the same price of a new Grizzly you could do worse.

BTW, it's important to filter the air coming out of an oil bath compressor as the oil will contaminate your airhoses and make a mess of all future finish work until you replace the hoses.

Surprised it got to #12 before the main reason for having oil-less compressors came up! Mine are both oiled and as yet have not given any problems. One definitely has a full lip seal on the piston' but a piston with more traditional split piston rings may cause problems as wear becomes an issue.