What are you running in the "home" shop?

First, stay away from any "oiless" compressor. I have one and it is LOUD!!!!! I have to wear hearing protection while it is running. That having been said, I have been running a 4HP, 22 gal. 110V compressor for 15 years. I use it for my air tools, paint gun, benchtop blast cabinet, well, everything I have. While I read about mega pounds of pressure and CFM's, etc., this thing has worked well for me and it was inexpensive. It also runs on 110 v so i did not have to run a 220v line. Hell, I just got done spot painting (with my HF spray gun) a 45' enclosed trailer. My compressor never let me down. So, go as big as you want and can afford. This one works for me and works well. Just avoid the oiless.

I purchased a Husky 60 gal 7.5 peak hp from Home Depot and hard plumbed that in my garage and I must say it handels everything I have have in my shop. Pressure blaster,,paint,,Sandblasting cabinet. Not bad for $399. I think you can see it in one of my pictures.

I bought the highest CFM that fit my $1000 budget 20 years ago. I think it's about 12 @ 90 PSI. I have always wished I could have afforded more CFM but I haven't found the money or justification to replace it. I sand blast with a pressure pot blaster I built and those really use the volume, if you're not sand blasting you can get by with less. My recomendation is by the highest CFM and largest tank that fits your budget.

Jeff

Sears 4HP with a 25 gallon tank. For under $300 it gets the job done.

Keep 'em coming...........:thumbsup:

5HP 60 gal Black Max. 10.5CFM@90PSI. It gets the job done, but it's marginal when spraying an entire car or using a DA for long periods. Get the most CFM@90 you can afford. No one ever complains that they have to much air.

I have a Ingersoll Rand. It is 80 gallons and puts out 18.1 scfm @ 90 psi. I have run 2 DA sanders at the same time, no problems. Small scale sandblasting, painting and air tools no probs. Definitely the best thousand dollars I have spent as far as shop tools for the home. Runs on 220v.

Spend a few extra dollars and hard pipe it in. Use a good water separator as far down the line as you can. Water condenses as it cools and the further you get it from the compressor the more moisture it will pull from the air.

Chris

If you plan to do any painting, I recommend you buy 5 HP (230 VAC) or better. You might be willing to wait for the compressor to catch up to the impact wrench, but you can't wait for more air to paint with. If it doesn't have a genuine 5HP motor, it's weasle worded capability. Look for CFM at 40 and 90 PSI for comparisons. Given a choice between single stage and two stage, I went with the two stage and a 60 gallon tank vs a single stage and an 80 gallon tank. It cost somewhat more. It saved me some shop space. From this vendor, the two produced similar CFM @ 90 PSI and size or weight savings were important factors.

Eaton and Qunicy are tops. Ingersol is next and what I bought. Below that price point, I think things deteriorate in quality quickly. You want a known motor vendor, belt drive, crankcase oiling and that sort of thing. I would look for old iron on Craigslist before I shopped at the exits of the home centers.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i86/dparks69/compressor.jpg

wifey got me this for Christmas to help with the Camaro project --- Husky 60 gal, 7HP, 220V, (and I think its 12.4 SCFM @ 90 PSI) :thumbsup:

Like picture above but two stage, large bull wheel. Capacitors on motor.

Depends on what you want to do with it? Paint? run air tools, etc. that will set your minimum requriements for CFM's. I have a sears 4hp 30 gallon. Runs small air tools and is good for painting...make sure you match your gun tothe CFM output if your thinking about painting.

Buy a 2 stage and be done with it. I have an 80 gallon, 7.5 hp compressor, bought 10 years ago, it can't come close to keeping up with a DA sander and I'm considering upgrading to the 2 stage. I thought about it at the time of the original purchase and backed off and I've regretted it since.

I have an oilless that I let my fiance' talk me into.

Here soon it's going to be a present for my mom and I'm buying an oiled 60 gallon.

The oilless one said "Quiet Series" on the side. I thought, "fricken cool...I hate how loud other compressors are".

It is THE loudest, most annoying piece of crap ever. It wasn't even about the money (for me) because we spent about $1,500 on different tools and stuff that day. I hate my compressor and wish lightning would strike it.

I have an oilless that I let my fiance' talk me into.

Here soon it's going to be a present for my mom and I'm buying an oiled 60 gallon.

The oilless one said "Quiet Series" on the side. I thought, "fricken cool...I hate how loud other compressors are".

It is THE loudest, most annoying piece of crap ever. It wasn't even about the money (for me) because we spent about $1,500 on different tools and stuff that day. I hate my compressor and wish lightning would strike it.
That is funny!!!
Now, tell us how you really feel....:yes::thumbsup: LOL

Depends on what you want to do with it? I thought it would better if I asked what everyone here has, so it would help me form an opinion based on the experience.
If I were to guess, everyone that reads this thread has one or more comp., and has a history and experience to back up the solution they found to fit their own needs.


FWIW- I intend on doing everything a one man operation can possibly handle. IOW-One tool at a time.:beers:

I scored a compressor similar to this one from Grainger...

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/1WD74

for $200.00 bucks on Ebay (only mine has a 7.5 hp motor). It was slightly used from a metal shop in Atlanta. It wasn't big enough for the guys shop. So he bought a bigger compressor. The only problem is that it is 3 phase. I found a 10hp single phase motor (rebuilt) in town for $400.00. So I have all the air any home shop would ever need for less than $700.00. You might want to keep your eye on Craigslist or Ebay.

I've had this for over 10 years and it rocks.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b77/HAWGDADDY/DSCN0535.jpg

Hogdaddy, did you pipe the air inlet to another location? If you did, how much did that reduce the noise?

Yea I piped it outside and it helps a lot but compressor is still pretty loud but the 80 gal tanks helps keep it from runnin all time.

I got a Sears 30 Gal. up right that I bought about 4 or 5 years ago. I beat the tar out of the thing and it just keeps on working. Yeah, it's loud and scares the pi$$ out me every time it turns on, but I can't complain about it. It's been a work horse.

A buddy of mine bought the same Sears compressor but in the horizontal 33 Gal. model, a few month before I got mine. He completely restored his '73 Vette from top to bottom and primed and painted it with his Sears compressor. The thing is still going strong.

I know that these Sears compressors aren't the sexiest compressors going, but for our $$$ (my friend and I) they more then fit the bill for a Home Shop.

If you did, how much did that reduce the noise?
I was going to ask the same thing. :thumbsup:

I have an 80g two stage IR. Love it.

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/9205/img0231sms1.th.jpg (http://img257.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0231sms1.jpg)
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/6622/img0133sxl8.th.jpg (http://img73.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0133sxl8.jpg)

I love the Frige next to the compressor..I wish I had the room in my garage for a full size one. I rate the size of the job in relation to how many Beers it will take to complete it...... I always run out of Beers...

I have an Eagle 3cyc 60 gal tank.It also has a 23 amp motor,

(thats what you look for first) It puts out 18.5 cfm's of air.

It flat gets with the program:beers:


www.howardsbackyardautobody.com (http://www.howardsbackyardautobody.com)

Buy the best compressor you can afford. I pieced mine together with all new parts. I did it that way because I was able to get some of the parts from work. It is a pressure lubed 2 stage pump with a car-type screw-on oil filter. I spin it with a 5hp Baldor motor, but the pump is rated to run up to 10hp. Be VERY careful in looking at hp ratings. Almost every manufacturer claims "max developed hp" which is total BS. Look at CFM. That is the number that REALLY matters. My pump puts out 19 CFM at 175 psi. That's somewhere around 35 CFM at 90 psi.

Do you have a shed? One of the best things I have done in my garage is to move the compressor into my shed. It is about 40' away from my garage. I can't even hear it run. It is absolutely awesome! I can actually hear my radio again! PM me if you want me to go into detail as to how I did it.

I thought about locating it outside (in the shed), but it isn't feasible here. I am not sure where you are located, but it gets well below zero here. And while it would be great to do for the noise, I can't see it doing well in an unheated area with those temps. And no I am not going to heat the shed.;)
But I am considering some type of enclosure for it. Sort of like an insulated closet.

I've got a 7.5 two stage at home that puts out 21.5cfm @ 90 psi & 17.5 @ 125 psi , best investment yet. Save untill you can afford a good one ,you won't regret it. I also have a spare T-30 at my body shop I paid $ 450.00 with the starter, the guy bought it at a parts store auction ,they used it to blow off the core returns, not much use. He didn't know it was three phase (that he didn't have) until he got it home.